History of Chinese Philosophy (2017-2018)
History of Chinese Philosophy (2017-2018)
Hoster: Kun WANG, Associate Professor
Chapter 1 (12 credit hours) – Introduction
In this lecture section, the lecturer is to introduce the objectives, the content and the structure of this course, and assign the relative content to each teaching unit. The introduction consists in elaborating the development of Chinese philosophy in several facets, and explaining the primary methods of studying, with highlights on the characteristics of Chinese philosophy in its historical narrative.
Chapter 2 (8 credit hours)– The Birth and Early Development of Chinese Philosophy.
This topic introduces some ancient classics including the Yi Jing (the Book of Changes ), Shi Jing (the Book of Odes ), and Shang Shu (the Book of History ), etc. and explores the origin and reason of the “Hundred Schools of Thought” in the Warring States (475-221 BCE) period that are thought to have established the ancient Chinese philosophy. While discussing this topic, we analyze several key philosophical terms ( Dao or Tao /the Way, Tian /Heaven, xin /mind-heart, qi /vital force, xing /human nature, ming /destiny, etc.), from which we can understand and grasp the characteristic and orientation of ancient Chinese thinking.
Chapter 3 (12 credit hours) Primordial Confucianism
This topic focuses on defining ren (humaneness), a key concept in the philosophy of Confucius, through elaborating relevant contents in the Analects. It also reveals and systematizes some important methods, put forward by Confucius, of realizing ren and becoming a junzi (a man full of ren ). Mencius developed the Confucius’philosophy of ren and established his philosophy of xin xing (mind-heart and [human] nature). This topic deals with the following issues in Mencius’ philosophy: (1) the relation between ren and xin xing ; (2) the coherence between xin xing and tian (heaven); (3) demonstration of the proposition that the human nature is originally good; (4) methods of cultivating our nature and maintaining its goodness; (5) the demonstration that a good government should be a “humane government” representing the character of ren ; (6) the challenge from Xun Zi, another Confucian master who insisted the idea that the human nature is originally evil, to the “mind-heart philosophy”of Mencius. The difficult point is the coherence and divergence between and among the three philosophers of Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi.
Chapter 4 (8 credit hours) Taoism
As the founder of philosophical Taoism ( dao jia ), Laozi’s thinking focused on three aspects concerning the Dao: (1) the definition of the Dao; (2) the characteristic and effect of the Dao; (3) the method of understanding and acquiring the Dao. Although Laozi and Zhuangzi are considered as the founders of Taoism, their thinking approaches are not always consistent. Zhuangzi definitely advanced beyond Laozi in various fields such as freedom, self-fulfillment, and epistemology. This topic reviews Zhuangzi’s philosophy in a comprehensive way and discusses the question whether Zhuangzi is a skeptic and relativist. It also introduces the commentary from QuoXiang, oneof the representatives of Neo-Taoism, on the Zhuangzi. This topic provides new horizons to interpret and explain Taoism of Laozi and Zhuangzi, while avoiding absolutely naturalistic interpretation which can not grasp the core value of the Dao. The difficult points include the coherence and difference between Laozi and Zhuangzi, and the creativity that GuoXiang manifests in the interpretation of Zhuangzi’s thoughts, especially in differentiating and analyzing the annotations of GuoXiang and that of other thinkers.
Chapter 5 (8 credit hours) Chinese Buddhism
Though Buddhism was born in India, it was immediately assimilated and melted into the Chinese culture and eventually it developed new types of Buddhist philosophy especially the Zen School. This topic (1) briefly reviews the history of Chinese Buddhism and (2) particularly sketches out the long-time interactive relationship between (Chinese) Buddhism and Confucianism from Han(206 BCE –220 CE) to Song (960–1279CE). This topic puts emphasis on interrelation between and among Chinese Buddhism and indigenous philosophy such as Confucianism and Taoism. The difficult point lies in recognizing the influence of Chinese Buddhism to Neo-Confucianism while discriminating the their difference.
Chapter 6 (12 credit hours) Neo-Confucianism
In Song (960-1279CE) and Ming (1368-1644CE) dynasties, China developed a new type of Confucian philosophy, which is widely accepted as Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism. Neo-Confucianism can be roughly divided into two schools: the School of li (principle) and the School of xin (mind-heart). As a synthesis of the li -learning, Zhu Xi’s philosophy comprehensively covers the following subjects: (1)the relation between li and qi (vital force); (2) the proposition that xin (mind-heart) unifies xing (human nature) and qing (emotion); (3) the demonstration that li (principle) is one while manifestations are many; (4) xing ji li (the principle of a thing or man is his very nature; nature and principle are the one) ; (5) the theory of ge wu (the investigation of things) and zhi zhi (the extension of knowledge); etc.. This topic explains the above subjects, places their values and discusses the question whether ZhuXi is a dualist. Wang Yangming developed the xin -learning, founded by Lu Xiangshan in Song dynasty, and made himself the leading figure in the School of xin.This topic deals with four subjects regarding Wang Yangming’s philosophy: (1) new interpretation on ge wu (the investigation of things); (2) xin ji li (principle and the mind-heart are one) instead of Zhu Xi’s xing ji li ; (3) the affirmation that all things are inside the mind-heart; (4) the theory of zhi liang zhi (the extension of the innate knowledge of the good) and zhi xing he yi (knowledge and action are unified as one). Modern New Confucianism is an innovative movement of Confucianism that began in the early 20th century. It is deeply influenced by Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism and Western philosophies. This topic is to outline the background for the emergence of Contemporary New Confucianism and introduce some representative figures as well as their philosophies in this movement. It includes four aspects: (1) Xiong Shili and his “New Doctrine of Consciousness-Only”; (2) Ma Yifu and his “Theory of the Six Arts ”; (3)Tang Junyi and his philosophy of “the Nine Horizons of the Mind-heart”;(4) Mou Zongsanand his “Two Layers of Ontology”. The difficult points include the coherence and difference between the school of li and that of xin, and the inheritance that modern Neo-Confucianism got from its predecessor in Song and Ming dynasty as well as the change it has made to this tradition.
Chapter 7 (12 credit hours) Analytic Method
Analytic thinking is a habit of reflecting, criticizing and organizing materials in a transparent clue. During this process, one’s ability of thinking has been promoted, as well as the capability of searching materials and practicing textual criticism. However, it does not mean that traditional studies of Confucian Classics have been assimilated in any universal theory of philosophical method. The topic about distinction between Studies of Confucian Classics and Chinese philosophy has always been the focus ever since late Qing dynasty or early-modern times till today, while it cannot be negated that the comparative perspective is necessary in today’s studies of Confucian Classics. This part would be explored through comparative studies in several relative spheres, through analyzing and evaluating the historical development of traditional disciplines in this time span. The main reading materials include works of Zhang Xuecheng, Yan Fu, Liang Qichao, and Zhang Tai Yan. The main point concerned are mainly Studies of Confucian Classics. The difficult point is to differentiate the method of traditional studies of Confucian Classics and that of Chinese philosophy.
一、课程简介 I. Basic Information
中国哲学史课程为本科生专业必修课，2017秋季课程由72学时构成。该课程的目标是帮助学生建立中国哲学学科的基本概念，理解和把握中国哲学的特点、范式以及主要哲学流派的思想方法，认识从古到今中国哲学思想在分析方法上的特征，了解中国哲学的当代价值。
二、课程基本内容 II. Course Content
（一）课程内容i. Course Content
这个章节以教师授课为主。教师简要介绍课程的目标、内容与结构，并将相关的内容布置给每个教学单元。绪论部分包括从几个侧面阐述中国哲学史的发展，解释主要的研究方法。这部分的重点在于中国哲学的特质，难点是对各种哲学范式的说明。
第一章 （8学时）中国哲学的诞生与早期发展
这一章以一些古典文本的介绍为主，包括《易经》《诗经》《尚书》，探索一直以来被认为是建立了最初中国哲学的诸子百家思想的起源与基本理念。在讨论这些主题时，重点在于分析几个核心的哲学概念（如：道、天、心、气、性、命，等），难点在于从中理解并把握古代中国思想的起源与发展方向。
第二章 （12学时）原始儒家
本章的主题是通过阐述《论语》里的相关内容，集中在孔子儒学的“仁”的概念上，揭示由孔子提出的实现“仁”、成为君子的重要方法，并使其系统化。孟子发展了孔子有关“仁”的哲学，并建立了他的心性理论。本章将重点处理孟子哲学中的如下问题：1）仁与心性；2）心性与天的一致；3）人性本善的命题；4）人性的养成与善的保持；5）好的政府应通过施行“仁政”以实现仁；6）荀子“性恶论”对孟子“心性哲学”的挑战。难点：孔子、孟子与荀子在思想脉路上的一致与分歧。
第三章 （8学时） 道家专题
作为道家哲学的创始人，老子思想集中在关于“道”的三个方面：1）道的定义；2）道的特点与效应；3）获得和理解道的方法。庄子与老子并不总是一致，不过在很多地方、如自由的理念上，对老子有所超越。对庄子的讨论可以集中于是否可以用怀疑主义、相对主义的视角看待他。同时介绍新道家代表，郭象，对庄子的注解。本章重点在于提供理解与解释老子、庄子道家的新视域，并避免完全的自然主义解释。难点在于理解老子与庄子思想的一贯与差异，郭象对庄子的解读中的创造性及其与其它注疏的不同之处。
第四章 （8学时） 中国佛教
诞生于印度的佛教很快融入了中国文化，并发展为新的佛家哲学，以禅宗为代表。本章简单回顾了中国佛教的历史，特别勾勒出了其与由汉至宋的儒家之间的关联。本章重点是中国佛教与本土哲学——儒家与道家之间的关系，难点是辨析中国佛教对宋明新儒家的影响并区分其中的不同。
第五章 （12学时） 新儒家
在宋明时期，中国发展了新的儒家哲学，被广泛接受为新儒家。它可以简单分为两个流派，即理学与心学。朱熹作为理学的代表，其哲学思想综合覆盖了以下主题：1）理气关系；2）心统性情；3）理一分殊；4）性即理；5）格物致知；等理论。本章将以如上主题为重点，讨论朱熹思想是否属于二元论。在宋代陆九渊的思想基础上，王阳明发展了心学理论，成为明代最著名的思想家。本章将重点介绍他的几个主要观点：1）格物的新解释；2）以“心即理”替代了朱熹的“性即理”；3）心外无理；4）致良知与知行合一。20世纪以来，现代新儒家在宋明儒学与西方思想的影响下，开始了儒学创新运动。本章将重点介绍新儒家产生的背景以及主要代表人物，包含四个方面：1）熊十力的“唯识论”；2）马一浮的“六艺论”；3）唐君毅的“心灵九境”；4）牟宗三的“两层存有论”。本章难点包括，厘清理学与心学的一致性与差异性，现代新儒家对宋明儒家的继承与转变。
第六章 （12学时） 分析方法
分析思维是以明显的线索进行反思批判与组织材料。在此过程中，个人的思维能力得以提升，组织材料以及文本批判的能力也得到提高。但这并不意味着传统儒家经典研究方法可以完全被吸收进入普遍的哲学方法中。自晚明时代开始，儒家古典研究方法与中国哲学方法的区分一直占据着争论的焦点，然而不可否认的是，在今天的儒家经典研究中，比较视域是必要的。在几个相关领域的研究中，通过对传统学科历史发展的分析与评价，这一点可以得到较为详细的探讨。主要的研究材料包括章学诚、严复、梁启超、章太炎等思想家的著作。本章重点是对儒家古典研究的把握，难点是辨析儒家古典研究方法与中国哲学方法的对比。
