THE CONTEMPORARY SIGNIFICANCE OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

By Chinese philosophy I mean the main streams of traditional Chinese philosophy such as Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism and the contemporary reconstruction of the philosophical insights of these schools. Are they still meaningful for us today? Before I can answer the question, first of all I would like to give a very brief review of the conditions that led to our present situation, and then we may find ourselves in a position to give a proper assessment of the contemporary significance of Chinese philosophy in our journey towards the post-modern era.     

中英青少年科学创造力发展的比较

将中学生科学创造力测验施测于英国6所中学的1190名青少年及中国2所中学的1087名青少年的研究,得出如下结论：第一,青少年的科学创造力存在显著的年龄差异。随着年龄的增大,青少年的科学创造力呈持续上升趋势,但在14岁时要下降;11-13岁、14-16岁是青少年的科学创造力迅速发展的关键时期;第二,青少年的科学创造力存在性别差异。英国女生的科学创造力比男生强,差异显著;中国男生的科学创造力比女生强,差异不显著;第三,中英青少年的科学创造力存在显著的差异。在创造性的问题解决能力方面,中国青少年明显高于英国青少年,但中国青少年在其它方面的科学创造力及总成绩则明显低于英国青少年;第四,中国青少年的科学创造力存在显著的学校类型差异。重点中学学生的科学创造力显著高于普通中学学生的科学创造力。     

THE PROBLEM OF VALUE RECONSTRUCTION IN CHINESE PHILOSOPHY UNDER THE IMPACT FROM EUROPEAN THOUGHT

China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world, and the Chinese have always been proud of their achievements. In spite of its dynastic cycles, for more than two thousand years since the Han^b dynasty (B.C. 206–220 A.D.) China's basic value structure has remained unchanged. The arrival of Buddhism from India had a profound influence, but it did not shake the foundations of China's value structure. Since the nineteenth century, however, traditional values appear to have totally collapsed. Western science and technology, business enterprises and political systems have had a great impact on China. China has been forced to adopt many Western values in its efforts to modernize herself. The result, however, is hardly encouraging. Mainland China has turned to Communism, and now faces a tremendous credibility gap following 1989's Tiananmen^c incident and the sudden change of course of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc during the last several years. Taiwan^d on the contrary has turned to Capitalism and enjoyed phenomenal economical success, but it has also turned into an island of greed. There seems to be either a value vacuum or a value confusion.     

SOME PERSPECTIVES ON CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

The Chinese philosophical tradition is one of three great traditions going back to the Sixth Century B.C. It inherited a branch of the Indian tradition, Mahayana Buddhism, and gave it a unique development. The two native Chinese schools, Taoism and Confucianism, were strongly contrasting and to some extent mutually corrective. The third great tradition, the Western, began in Greece and developed, in Europe, the near East, and America into Jewish, Islamic, and Christian forms.     

HUSSERLIAN INTENTIONALITY AND THE CHINESE CONCEPT OF MIND

The phenomenology of Edmund Husserl is, in one sense, a theory of pure consciousness that aims to set forth an absolute, ultimate, rigorous ground for the sciences based on the field of pure consciousness. Husserl believed that, on the basis of this field of pure consciousness, he could secure eternal significance for the spiritual life of man. Intentionality is the key element in this theory of pure consciousness and it plays a crucial part in the realization of Husserl's philosophical goal. By contrast, traditional Chinese philosophy was not concerned to seek an absolute, ultimate ground for the sciences or to derive a set of moral norms and a theory of value for human life from logical and scientific truths. Rather, Chinese philosophy sought to adjust the relationships between man and nature and between man and man in their ordinary, secular existence. It placed no value in the ideas of pure logic, pure science, or pure consciousness. Traditional Chinese philosophers inquired into the experiential, intuitive 'mind' ( xin ^a). This approach to 'mind'was understood by the Chinese to require rigorous logical proof or scientific theory:— anyone can perceive one's 'mind'in daily life and, by analogy, anyone can 'perceive'other 'minds'. If Husserl's intentionality is the transcendental reason of Western philosophy, the 'mind'is the practical reason of Chinese philosophy. What, then, are the essential features of Husserl's 'intentionality'and the Chinese 'mind'? What are their respective theoretical features? Can they be brought together and compared in a philosophically significant fashion?