读玄释中——试论《太玄》所本的宇宙说

本文认为《太玄》不仅拟卦气说之易,亦拟《易传》所传之易,由准《文言》之《玄文》,认定《中》首在《太玄》中。地位最为重要。《中》首兼具水、土二行。是扬雄的有意安排,这是由其所本的宇宙思想决定的。本文认为《太玄》浑盖兼采。在对几种盖天说与浑天说分析的基础上．认为只有一种盖天说及一种浑天说为《太玄)所本。以此为基础,对《中》首为何兼准二行做了解释。     

经传一体还是经传分立?——《太玄》仿《易》的经传问题

《汉书·扬雄传》中"经莫大于《易》,故作《太玄》"的说法导引了后人"以《易》求《玄》"的研究思路,以此得出扬雄仿照《易》经、传一一而作《太玄》经、传的偏失结论。分析扬雄作《太玄》时《易》的实际情况,就会发现扬雄的解《易》理路是"《玄传》-《玄经》-《易经》",《太玄》是经、传分立的。扬雄采用"经自经、传自传"的方式释《易》,在于倡导"简而要"地追寻经典本义,对东汉古文经学产生了一定影响。     

《太玄》“罔直蒙酋冥”的易学史意义

<正> 扬雄(公元前53—公元18年)字子云,是我国西汉末年重要的思想家和文学家。他以为经莫大于《周易》,便加以模仿而作《太玄》;传莫大于《论语》,拟之而作《法言》(参见《汉书·扬雄传》)。张岱年先生说:“扬雄作《太玄》以拟《易》,虽属模拟之书,实质上不失为一个新的创作”(《太玄校释序》)。《太玄》是扬雄模仿《周易》而创作的一部含有深刻内容的学术著作。《太玄》有《玄文》篇,乃模拟《周易·文言》而作。其中模仿“元、亨、利、贞”四德,提出了“罔、直、蒙、酋、冥”的观念,     

《太玄》对“易”“老”的会通与重构

《太玄》是拟《易》之作,同时又吸收了道家的天道观和辩证法,因此是会通“易”、“老”的杰作。但就运思理路而言,《太玄》明显地近于《老子》,而与《周易》有所不同。《周易》以二分法把阴阳视为两体,故而两体的“中和”、“中介”不易透显。《太玄》则不同,它以三分法代替了《周易》的二分法,凸显了贯通阴阳而兼体的“和”的作用。扬雄一方面希冀以《太玄》取代汉代经学而又未能予以取代,另方面他想超越烦琐的象数之学向思辨哲学迈进而又未能达到魏晋玄学的高度,从而成为两汉哲学向魏晋玄学转化过程中极为重要的中间环节。     

从《太玄》看扬雄的人性论思想

一般讲扬雄的人性论,都以《法言》为依据,认为他是“善恶混”派的代表.并认为他的人性论缺乏内在超越的根据,比较接近于荀子。本文认为《太玄》中蕴涵丰富的人性论思想,研究扬雄的人性论,应以《太玄》为基础。扬雄的人性论本于其天道观,有很强的超越性,扬氏以五行为架构,提出了非常具体的超越途径,其思想接近于性善说.     

同象数别义理:《太玄》与孟京易学

易学史上对《太玄》与孟京易学关系的探究,受到两个有争议问题的影响:一是《易纬.稽览图》和孟京《易》的先后关系,一是《太玄》源于孟京《易》还是源于《易纬》。本文以《太玄》为基点,在尝试解决"争议"的基础上,具体探究《太玄》象数构建如何取于孟、京卦气说,其义理阐释又如何别于孟、京灾异说。     

老子史料学

一、老子及其成书的年代中国古代哲学有与《易经》相参证的就是老子。黑格尔《哲学史讲演录》(第一卷)在讲完《易经》之后,接着也就讲道家的创始人老子(124-132页)。扬雄《太玄赋》“观大易之损益兮,览老氏之倚伏,省忧患之共门兮,察吉凶之同域”。桓谭在《新论》加以说明,日:“故密议氏谓之易,老子谓之道,孔子谓之元、而扬雄谓之玄”(《后汉书·张衡传》注引)。易言阴阳,言损益:老子言刚柔。言倚伏,和后来孔子的元,扬雄的玄,     

析《太玄》构架形式

<正> 《太玄》是西汉末年著名思想家扬雄的代表作,是一部很有价值的书。精通《周易》的尚秉和先生在《周易尚氏学》中说,后儒释《周易》,莫过于扬雄的《太玄》,并在书中数引《太玄》以明《周易》。《太玄》以汉代天文历法的科学成就为基础,建立了一个与自然科学相结合的,具有很高思辨性的哲学体系,在中国哲学史上有相当的地位和影响。因此,《太玄》是研究中国哲学史,尤其是汉代哲学史的重要史料。但它又是以深奥晦涩而著称的一部书。它刚问世时,就被人们视为是难读的书,连学识渊博的刘歆也说:“今学者有禄     

《太玄》的筮法和天道观略论

<太玄>是西汉社会天人感应思想影响下的一个学术产物,也是继孟喜、京房易学之后推阐天道的又一数术工具.扬雄创作<太玄>,既是一次对<周易>经传的模拟与改造,也是对易卦筮法的一次再创造.<太玄>筮法的出现,是对先秦西汉数术之学、尤其是对象数易学的一次大整合;扬雄以"玄"为宁宙本体的天道观,正是在对筮法进行重新构建的基础上建立起来的.     

巴蜀易学源流考

巴蜀易学素有渊源,两汉为滥觞期,六朝为续传期.唐代为总结期,两宋为高峰期,元明以下则为流衍期.自两汉迄清末,历代巴蜀易学著作约有180余种;数量虽然不多,然特征却很鲜明,流派众多,“四道”毕备,其“尚辞”者则有苏轼之《苏氏易传》,“尚象”“尚变”者则有李鼎柞之《集解》、来知德之《集注》,其“尚占”者则如汉严遵,而尤以卜筮易、道家易源远流长.至于《易》《老》兼治者,则有严遵、扬雄;发明图书易者,则如陈抟、胡世安;其以佛陀解《易》者,则有苏轼、龙昌期.至于仿圣拟经,由扬雄开其先(撰《太玄》),而王长文(攫《通玄经》)、卫元嵩(《元苞》)诸人继其事,成为巴蜀易学之一大特色.后之治《易》《玄》,谈《图》《书》者,皆以蜀学发其轫.刘成炘曰:“易学在蜀(伊川语),如诗之有唐矣.”(《蜀学论》)信然.     

Together – apart: in touch in a time of separation

This paper explores the experience of working as a Jungian analyst through the various phases of the global COVID-19 pandemic, examining the importance of the physical containing space alongside the analyst’s internal mind and how technology can both help and hinder understanding. A number of clinical vignettes illustrate the challenge of communicating over a distance, paying particular attention to the way countertransference phenomena can become re-attuned. Reference is made to mythology and symbols of hope, and consideration given to the meaning and purpose of the pandemic.     

The Possibility of Meaning in Human Evolution

Science undermines the certitude of non-naturalistic answers to the question of whether human life has meaning. I explore whether evolution can provide a naturalistic basis for existential meaning. Using the work of philosopher Daniel Dennett and scientist Ursula Goodenough, I argue that evolution is the locus of the possibility of meaning because it has produced intentionality, the matrix of consciousness. I conclude that the question of the meaning of human life is an existentialist one: existential meaning is a product of the individual and collective tasks human beings undertake.     

Phenotypic plasticity and archetype: a response to common objections to the biological theory of archetype and instinct

Since Jung’s death in 1961, scholars have attempted to integrate growing biological science data into Jungian concepts such as the collective unconscious, instincts and the archetypes. This enterprise has been challenging due to persistent false dichotomies of gene and environment occasionally arising. Recent works by Roesler (2022a, 2022b) for example, have raised objections to the biological theory of archetypes, but the objections are plagued by such dichotomies. The concept of phenotypic plasticity, however, helps to both avoid this problem as well as bridge the gap between competing theories into a more integrated model with solid biological foundations.     

When is it time to stop? When good enough becomes bad enough

This article draws on Winnicott’s concept of the good enough mother to discuss how to know whether a therapeutic situation is good enough to continue or bad enough to end. This dilemma is explored in terms of clinical syndromes, such as anorexia and pathological gambling, but focuses mainly on analyst-initiated endings, which are termed the ‘Casablanca dilemma’, based on an amplification of the ending of the film Casablanca. The author goes on to discuss such one-sided endings, drawing on interviews with 40 analysts and therapists about their clinical experience. A typology of bad enough endings is presented. The psychological differences between a good enough analysis as opposed to a bad enough one are explored through the ideas of Winnicott and Neumann.     

Kann Es Ein Argument Für Den Skeptizismus Geben? Das Epistemische Problem Der Irrtumsmöglichkeit

Summary  Is there any argument for scepticism? The epistemic problem of the possibility of error. Arguments for scepticism rest on the assumption that knowledge claims are fallible. For this reason the concept of knowledge appears to be questionable. Since it is necessary to distinguish doubts from possible doubts, the arguments for scepticism appear to be unconvincing. If we take it into account that we know something that is immune to doubt, we should draw the conclusion that, contrary to scepticism, knowledge claims have to be compatible with being fallible. Thus any knowledge claim is capable of being doubted.     

The transcendent function in Spitteler’s Prometheus and Epimetheus

In August 2020, John Beebe and Steve Myers met via Zoom to discuss their differing interpretations of psychological typology and the different sources within Jung’s writings that influenced their books: Integrity in Depth: Energies and Patterns in Psychological Type (Beebe), and Myers-Briggs Typology vs Jungian Individuation (Myers). The discussion centred on Spitteler’s epic poem Prometheus und Epimetheus, which forms the basis of chapter V of Psychological Types. This is both the largest chapter and one of two chapters that Jung highlighted in the Argentine foreword as containing the essence of the book. Jung’s book is primarily about the transformation of personality rather than the categorization of people. Although it contains a critical psychology that deconstructs the nature of consciousness, that is only one half of the book and a stepping-stone to the other half, which is the reconciliation of opposites with particular emphasis on the relation of consciousness and the unconscious. Jung assumed that readers were already familiar with Prometheus und Epimetheus, an understanding of which sheds light on the nature of the transformation that Jung described – the development of a new attitude towards attitude itself.     

Chapter 6: Biblical Foundations for a Practical Theology of Aging

SUMMARY

This article reviews Biblical sources pertaining to the elderly, particularly the frail elderly. Founded on these sources, implications for elderly with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia are addressed through a personal perspective informed by writings of Christian mystics.     

Seeing in the Dark: A View into Dissociation and Healing

In this paper, I will explore the role of art-making, the experience of trauma and dissociation, and the process of working with self-states from an analytic and creative frame. Relevant literature on dissociation, trauma, and the use of art will be discussed. A case involving my work with an adolescent girl who had experienced sexual abuse from a family member will be shared, with an emphasis on the meaningful role images played during the therapeutic process. Both Jungian and psychoanalytic models of conceptualizing and working with dissociation are included, following Donald Kalsched’s (2013) recommendation for a “binocular stance” to treatment, including both a focus on the inner, intrapsychic world and the interpersonal, relational realm, and how art images both illuminated and expressed these realms. Within the therapeutic process, art images allowed the therapist a view into the client’s unconscious process, and created a meeting ground for dissociative barriers to be gradually seen, felt and known, by both therapist and client. The experience of dissociation, in images and in session, provided a reference point for myself and my client, Taylor, to develop a shared understanding and a framework for growth.