1. Chinese Philosophy
I. Cosmology and world-view
Geir Sigurðsson
Icelandic Centre for Asian Studies,
University of Akureyri
11.12.2006
2. The power of cosmology
• The “cosmos” may • Our understanding of
not be so distant the world informs:
– Meaning
– Goals
– Values
– Actions/responses
– Thus, quotidian
behaviour
3. ...lest be bombarded with rotten tomatoes
• On generalizations:
– Limited and often questionable
– But inescapable
– And: „the exception proves the rule“
• Philosophy schools both in China and the
West are many and variable
• But have common (cultural) characteristics
• Philosophy as “truth“ or deepest structural
layer of culture
4. Filosofia vs. 哲学
• „Filo-sofia“ = love of • 哲 rather indicates
(theoretical) wisdom practical and
(Socrates) communicable
• Contra practical use – knowledge
„Wisdom for the sake of • 口 = mouth, 手 =
wisdom“ (Aristotle) hand, 斤 = tool
• Emphasis on reason – • The value of wisdom
distrust of sense- consists in its usefulness
experience. (Plato, for everyday life
Descartes) • „Know how“ rather
• „Metaphysics“ – than „know what“
intelligible nature of the • Wisdom is gained here
world, accessible only and now, in mundane
to philosophers (Plato) life
5. “Doesn’t time pass by just like this,
never ceasing day or night!’”
• How do we, Westerners, understand
world-operations?
• Chinese starting point is not “cause,”
“creation” or “cosmos”, but that which
exists now 世界，宇宙
• Tang Junyi (1909-1978): 生生不已
• General assumption of the ceaseless
movement of the world:
– Book of Changes (Yijing 易经 )
6. More on changes
• The world is self-engendering, no “prime
mover – 自然 (self-so) instead of 使然
(made-so) – „a web without a weaver“
• Recurring (but not identical) elements, such
as day and night, seasons, tide: “Returning is
the movement of the dao” (DDJ 40) – time as
a spiral
• The five phases (wu xing 五行 ) – water, fire,
metal, wood, earth
7. Dual harmony but no “dualism”
• Harmony of opposing powers/dimensions
– yin and yang 阴阳 , in and out 内外 , heaven and earth 天
地
– Tang Junyi: inseparability of the one and the many 一多不
分观
– Harmony of the whole rather than logical hierarchy
• Rejection of dilemmas
– Appearance is reality
– mind (xin 心 ) and body (shen 身 )
– Matter and spirit = qi 气
• No reductionism
– All things are interrelated
– “Essence” of thing is constituted by relations
– No “substances” – nothing is “in-itself”
8. More characteristics
• No determinism, but dispositions: Tang Junyi
non-fixed “destiny” 无定命观
• Focus on taking advantage of the chances
opening up in the flow of things, 势， 时中
• Way 道 instead of truth
• Right thinking instead of the right to think
• Strong (holy?) social awareness
– ren 仁 , renjia 人家 , shehui 社会 , xiao
孝 , li 礼
9. Some potential consequences
• More flexibility – less exactitute (e.g. Lin Yutang)?
• Scientific holism – negligence of natural laws?
• Focus on circumstances rather than rules and
principles – can rules be broken if no one finds out?
• Focus on the present/serenity – carelessness/lack of
responsibility?
• Focus on skill – opportunism?
• Social holism – individual sacrificed for the whole?
• Family orientation – corruption/lack of care for
strangers?
10. Philosophy or religion?
• Again: rejection of dilemmas
• “The question “is Confucianism a
religion?” is a question that Westerners
could never answer and the Chinese could
never ask” Wilfred Cantwell Smith
11. Some characteristics of Chinese
religion (and philosophy?)
• No (or vague) transcendence
• inseparability of “heaven” and “earth” 天地
• Gods are not omnipotent – shang di 上帝 –
first/supreme?
• Gods are not chronologically prior to world –
no creation myth, cf. Daodejing 25
• Focus on interhuman relations rather than
relations with gods – Analects, 11.12.
• Distant respect for gods, not love for them –
Analects, 6.22
