How to understand Laozi's philosophical thought

The first part: the philosophical rules and philosophical system structure of Laozi's thought.

-Interpretation of "Philosophical Laws and Philosophical System Structure of Laozi's Thought"

This is a discussion about whether there was philosophy in ancient China in Beijing Religious Belief Edition of Netease Community. The hastily written post is not necessarily rigorous, but it aims to say that there was not only philosophy in ancient China, but also a unique philosophy and philosophy system. The philosophy in Laozi's thought is profound and profound, with lofty realm, refined words, contradictory words and metaphysical coexistence. The philosophical system and its level of Laozi's thought are composed of the universe, life, politics and so on. His profundity also lies in his bright spirit, values and its profound influence on China culture.

Due to the limitation of my own level, the arrangement or excavation of it is still superficial, and it may not be able to show the whole picture of the philosophical system or structure of Laozi's thought, or it may not be rigorous enough. However, just a rough combing, the framework of its system has been revealed and magnificent, which shows that its philosophical thoughts are profound, heavy and lofty.

The author also compares and discusses Laozi's philosophical thought with the early western philosophical thought, and discusses its practical significance and value. For details, please refer to netizens.

Wnxieh68 (Ai Taubo)

——(2002- 12- 17 10:55:57),

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China culture should be considered as one of the oldest cultures in the world. Her basic style is not secular. When studying such a big problem as the universe, she often takes life practice as the starting point and her own physical and mental practice as the starting point for reflection. Through the observation of physical and mental experience, she gained some enlightenment, and after understanding it, or knowing where it is is the truth. Chinese cultural classics (the vocabulary composed of these two words is explained as follows: classics are orderly arranged, while classics are a method and a rule. This is also our previous classification or division of cultural theory. For example, Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, although few words, has far-reaching connotation and charm. This classic is affirmed by American scholar Pu Keming as a famous work in the future world. Just 5000 words, covering the whole universe and the great wisdom of life. Unfortunately, I can explain the origin of the whole universe, the formation of the universe, the movement of the universe, and many philosophical thoughts of life and politics in five thousand words.

First, the philosophical law of Laozi's thought-"nature"

Laozi said: "People should be everywhere, the land should follow the sky, the sky should follow the Tao, and the Tao should be natural." Tao is the foundation of the creation of all things, so people, land and heaven should practice Tao, but Tao is not arbitrary and does whatever they want. She must also take nature as the law. This is not to say that there are natural things on the "Tao" and you have to take the avenue. "Nature" is nature, which means nature and should be understood as the spirit of Tao. It is the most important part, or the most important part, of all the characteristics of Tao. It means "the respect of Tao, the value of virtue, and the relationship between husband and wife are often natural." In other words, Tao and virtue are respected by all things because they always learn from nature. The value of Tao and virtue lies in nature, and if you don't learn from nature, you will lose your value. Laozi's thought is based on Tao, but his thought is based on the word "nature".

His philosophy of life, political thought and philosophy are all based on nature, and so is his view of the world. Therefore, it is more appropriate to describe Laozi's philosophy as "natural philosophy". To sum up, we can see that the philosophical concept of Laozi's thought is "nature" and the philosophical law of Laozi's thought is also "nature". Laozi's thought is embodied in the philosophy of life, that is, no desire-selflessness, inaction-no struggle. The former is the foundation of self-cultivation, and the latter is the principle of treating people with things. Because there is no desire, it can be satisfied, because it can be modest. Contented people are always happy, and modest people benefit. "It is not because it is selfless and evil, so it can be private." "Because it is indisputable, the world can't compete with it." Selflessness can make you selfish, and if you don't argue, you won't argue. They are all based on the results of nature, which is the same as morality following "nature" and "everything is noble". Selflessness-no desire, no desire-no struggle is also manifested in the fact that "saints are impermanent and take the hearts of the people as their heart." The so-called impermanence is selflessness. If you are a manager or ruler, since you are selfless, you will certainly take the people's hearts as the heart. If we use the present concept, it is the core of democracy, that is, the concept of democracy. No wonder some people commented on the Tao Te Ching, saying that it is the application of ideas and laws by democratic countries. But for Lao Tzu, it's just "nature", just let nature take its course. "If you teach without words, you will accomplish nothing." . The manager's goal is to "restore what everyone has done and help the nature of everything". How can he do anything for himself? Why should the manager of "I do nothing, the people make it" have a future? The result of natural inaction is "I succeed naturally." No matter facing nature, life, politics and self-cultivation, Lao Tzu's thoughts are based on nature. Therefore, from a philosophical point of view, the philosophical concept of Laozi's thought is "nature" and the philosophical law of Laozi's thought is "nature", both of which are based on "nature". "Nature" is the spirit of Laozi's thought and theory.

Second, the philosophical nature and framework of Laozi's thought

Among the pre-Qin philosophers in China, Laozi's thoughts discussed all philosophical issues, which were the most systematic and philosophical. I quite agree with Liu Yang's view that "in the thought of a hundred schools of thought contending, to be honest, there is basically a tendency to combine politics with academics, or that the thought of a hundred schools of thought contending is closely related to political thought, or that all philosophers at that time had the desire to combine politics with academics." It should be said that that period was the golden age of China's academic thought. However, most of the problems that various schools attach importance to are focused on practical or direct problems such as political strategy, vertical and horizontal strategy and life cultivation. And there is not much discussion about the universe. Only Taoism studies life and political problems, and then talks more about various problems of the universe, and at the same time has a deeper discussion. So that his thought of a small country and few people influenced by the political environment at that time became an ornament in his ideological theory. Because cosmology is the basis of Laozi's thought, Laozi's thought is relatively more atmospheric than Confucianism and Mohism.

Let's make some comments on Laozi's philosophical thought and its philosophical system. First of all, it must be explained that the profoundness of Laozi's thought is beyond the author's explanation in a few words. At present, the author's level is only a glimpse, and it is difficult to describe the essence of his thoughts and philosophical thinking clearly as a whole. If there is anything inappropriate or unsatisfactory, it must be caused by the author's own level. Please criticize and correct me.

1, Laozi's philosophy of the universe

Laozi's cosmology can be roughly divided into the origin of the universe, the generation of the universe, the movement or change of the universe and so on.

1), the origin of the universe:

Cosmology is the foundation of Laozi's philosophy, and the origin of the universe is the center of cosmology, so Laozi's whole philosophy lies entirely in this origin.

About the origin of the universe, western philosophers explain it through some substances. Because it is too specific or too individual, it is often impossible to cover everything and run through it (I won't elaborate). Laozi abandoned these superficial things (such as water, fire, wind, numbers, atoms, etc.). ) With supreme wisdom, take Tao as the origin of the universe. This great discovery of Laozi is the universal principle or principle of creation of all things in the world.

Please look at Laozi's exposition: "Things are born in harmony, and they are born naturally. Lonely and restless, independent without change, week without danger, can be the mother of the world. I don't know its name, but the word says, "Tao." (Chapter 25)

"Road, whether it works or not. It is as deep as the ancestor of all things. -I don't know whose son it is, like the emperor. " (Chapter 4) Tao, as the origin of the universe and the general principle of creation, is naturally different from the universe. Everything in heaven and earth is a thing or thing, which can be called "existence", while Tao is not a thing or thing, but a metaphysical existence, which must be called "nothing".

Here "you" and "nothing" are "the use of Tao" or "the body of Tao". If we want to discuss its level, Lao Tzu said, "Everything in the world is born, and everything is born without it." (Chapter 40) Nothing is Tao, but this "nothing" refers to the "being" of concrete things, not the mathematical concept equal to zero. How can the universal principle that everything in the world is born be equal to zero?

Tao is neither solid nor empty, and her state is "invisible without image". Tao is, of course, "don't look, don't listen, don't learn." (Chapter 14) She exists in a state of "only trance", and "muddle" refers to the muddled state of Tao.

Tao is still beyond space's existence beyond time. There is no life and death, and there is no size and width. Zhuangzi once said, "Before Tai Chi, it was not high, but below the six poles, it was not deep. It is born, not long, but it grew in ancient times and is not old. " The endless state of creation is "independence without change, freedom without danger".

Of course, Tao is a metaphysical existence that transcends time and space. Of course, it can't be verified by perception, that is, it can't be expressed by language. Therefore, Laozi's book is enlightened: "Tao can be Tao, but extraordinary." Although we want to analyze it now, we can't clearly explain what it is. The true understanding of Tao must also lie in understanding the artistic conception or interest of the words "Huncheng" or "trance". In order to understand its transcendence of time and space, it is neither very difficult nor easy to understand Tao. The truth is so simple, but getting the Tao is not so easy, so simple.

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The second part: Looking at Laozi's philosophical thought from the "ontology" in Laozi's philosophy —— Reading Laozi

As soon as ontology is mentioned, it is related to philosophy in the western traditional sense. Talking about "Laozi's philosophy" here, on the one hand, affirms the existence of western traditional philosophy in the history of China; On the other hand, citing ontology shows that it is not exactly the same as the ontology in western philosophy. Therefore, China's so-called philosophy is not completely equivalent to the philosophy in the western traditional sense. In my impression, western philosophy generally consists of two parts, namely, ontology and epistemology, that is, the origin of the world and the method of understanding the world from it. The first thing they have to answer is what produces all kinds of things in the world. Thales, one of the "Seven Freedoms of Greece", believes that water is the primitive element, and everything is born from water and belongs to water. China's philosophical thoughts in history pay more attention to life and political issues, which is limited to the field of ethics. The difference between Laozi's philosophy and China's other philosophies lies in breaking through this limitation and expanding the scope of thinking from life to the whole universe. So how did the universe come into being? This involves the ontology in Laozi's philosophical thought.

First, the ontology of Laozi's philosophy.

"Tao gives birth to one, life gives birth to two, life gives birth to three, and life gives birth to everything." Chapter 42 of Laozi puts forward that "Tao" is the foundation of all things, which is the most important category in Laozi's philosophical thought and the most important concept in Laozi's philosophical ontology. So what is Tao? "Things are mixed and natural. Lonely and uneasy, independent and unchanging, there is no danger in walking around, but the mother of heaven and earth doesn't know its name, which is an unreasonable word. " Throughout the whole article, the description of "Tao" embodies the following characteristics of Tao.

(1) Tao is neither material nor spiritual. The first chapter is "Tao can be Tao, but extraordinary." It cast a mysterious veil on Tao. "In its way, or not. As profound as the ancestor of all things. " It is pointed out that Tao, as the root of all things, is void. Why is Tao invisible? Because if Tao is tangible, it must be a concrete thing that exists in a specific time and space, and there will be changes in birth and death. This is the contradiction with the "nothing" of "everything in the world is born, and everything is born without it". Although Tao is neither material nor spiritual, it exists. There are images, things, essence and beliefs, all of which show that Ming Dow is a real existence. In a word, Tao has the inherent vitality and creativity of the universe, and is the kinetic energy of material and spiritual resistance to action and change.

(2) Although the Tao remains unchanged through birth and death, it is not static. On the contrary, it differs from other ontologies in its variability. For example, parmenides's "existence" is unique, absolute and unchangeable. The "Tao" that is "independent and unchanging" is consistent in uniqueness and absoluteness, and will not disappear with the disappearance of the outhouse, nor will it be changed by external forces. But at the same time, "Tao" is "walking without danger", and its movement leads to the movement and change of everything in the world and its elimination in the movement and change.

(3) The change of Tao is not chaotic, but follows a universal law. In addition to describing the true Tao, the Tao mentioned in many places in the book refers to the regular Tao. "Moving against the Tao", Lao Tzu believes that the movement and change of things in nature follow some laws, one of which is "anti": things move in the opposite direction. "sad! Blessing depends on; Fuxi! " "Disaster comes later" means that the development of things follows the law of the transformation of opposites; Walking around without danger "also points out the law of circular motion.

(4) The "anti" in the "anti-Tao movement" can also be understood as "return", which means "return", and the development of all things in the universe finally returned to the original point. Chapter 16 says that "everything in the universe returns to its origin", which means that everything in the universe originates from Tao and finally returns to Tao. This is similar to Thales' view that everything is born in water and returns to water.

Second, the methodology of Laozi's philosophy

The above is a simple summary of Laozi's philosophical ontology. What does it have to do with Laozi's philosophy? The philosophical thoughts of western philosophers often get a system from ontology, and subjectively think that they want at least a complete system, through which all phenomena in the universe can be explained.

First of all, Tao produces everything and is the original initiator of nature. The growth and development of all things are the embodiment of the potential of Tao. Then the most important thing for us to know the world is to recognize the Tao, and the body Tao has become the highest realm of life and society. Avenue is eternal transcendence and has realistic character, because it exists in all things in the world. It guides people to transform the lost social life through various efforts of monasticism, so that mankind can gradually reach the ultimate ideal of the road, which is the real purpose of Taoism to respect Taoism and virtue. Therefore, Taoism is not purely passive, it has a strong humanistic concern for real life, but the purpose and way of care are different from Confucianism. But because Tao is neither material nor spiritual, it is a kind of "nothingness", so it is difficult to grasp. Therefore, different people have different attitudes towards Tao: "Staff sergeant is diligent when he hears Tao; The sergeant heard that living is death; The corporal smiled. On the other hand, the uniqueness and absoluteness of Tao make it possible, not impossible forever.

Secondly, in the secular world, how should we cultivate Tao? This is determined by the characteristics of Tao. The movement and change of Tao make the world colorful, and at the same time, the regularity of Tao makes the seemingly chaotic world have rules, which brings convenience to our understanding of the world. First, the role of Tao makes everything change alternately and repeatedly in the opposite situation. So when we observe things, we should not only look at their positive side, but also look at their negative side. Only by giving consideration to both aspects can we have a comprehensive understanding of a thing. Laozi not only reminds us to pay attention to the observation of opposites, he even thinks that if we can stick to opposites, it will have better effect than heads. "Know men, keep women, ... know their white, keep their shame, ..." The views expressed are different from ordinary people, who should be brave and strive for the first place; Laozi, on the other hand, wants people to keep women and take the rear. In the process of mutual transformation of opposites, Lao Tzu emphasized the transformation of things from the opposite to the positive: "If you want to take it, you must first fix it;" If you want to be weak, you must be strong; If it is to be abolished, it must be consolidated; If you want to take it, give it; It means attacking Ming. "In a word, the movement and development of Tao is the transformation to the opposite, that is, it is moving in the opposite direction. When Tao acts on things, things also follow this changing law. Therefore, when we understand the development of things, we should grasp this law. Second, although the development of Tao is the mutual transformation of opposites, it eventually returns to Tao. Therefore, the things it acts on are also developing and follow the law of returning to the original. Laozi believes that "in the final analysis, it is stillness", that is, the root of things is a state of emptiness and stillness, so we must adhere to emptiness and stillness when we understand the world, in order to conform to the Tao and avoid disturbance and disputes. The very important "inaction" thought in Laozi's philosophy is derived from this. " Doing nothing "means keeping silent. Only in this way can we correctly grasp the law and function of Tao and achieve "doing everything possible" Third, when Tao acts on people, it is called virtue. Since Tao is the highest realm of life and society, we have no reason to turn a blind eye to it. This is the truth that "everything respects Tao as virtue". All social phenomena also follow the law of Tao: "the avenue is abandoned but there is benevolence;" Wisdom comes out with great fallacies; Six parents are not harmonious and have filial piety; The country is in chaos, and there are loyal ministers. "This shows that the opposing sides are interdependent;" Song Quan, Fei Zhi, Quan Wang, we are new, and the less we learn, the more confused we become. "It embodies the law of mutual transformation of opposites; Wait a minute.

Third, compare Laozi's philosophy with western philosophy.

First, the purpose of Laozi's philosophy is different from that of western philosophers. As mentioned above, western traditional philosophers hope to establish a complete system to explain all phenomena in the universe, so that their shortcomings can be easily found, because so far, there is no theory that can explain all phenomena in the universe. Although Laozi's philosophy has risen to the whole universe compared with China's other philosophical thoughts, the focus is still on pursuing an ideal personality and an ideal society.

Second, although Laozi's thought is also epistemology from ontology, it obtains epistemology from a philosophical system derived from ontological logic, which is different from western philosophy. In Laozi's thought, the judgment of experience is more important. For example, whether a thing conforms to Tao is not tested by the definition of Tao, but by whether it is established in the empirical world, because Tao has no specific provisions and characteristics.

Thirdly, Lao Zi's method of obtaining noumenon is different from that of western traditional philosophers. In the first chapter of Laozi, it was changed to "Tao can be Tao, but extraordinary", and two different Tao were distinguished here: extraordinary Tao and constant Tao. Therefore, Laozi is not abstracted from a series of empirical facts, but comes from concrete facts that transcend time and space and concrete forms.

In a word, Laozi's Taoist theory has gone beyond taking a specific material form as the mother of all things in the world, taking limited reality as the origin of the universe, and describing various theoretical forms of the evolution of the universe in a speculative way, and systematically discussing metaphysical ontology for the first time in the history of China philosophy. Since Laozi, "Tao" has risen to the highest philosophical category, which is not only a major change in the meaning of "Tao", but also a fundamental breakthrough in the development of China's philosophy, that is, Laozi's philosophy initiated China's ancient ontological thought and put forward and constructed the first ontological model in the history of China's philosophy.