Philosophical, or rather metaphysical, reasoning starts with the experience that something exists. This something may be a sensation, an emotion, or anything else. From the statement: "Something exists," I have in my Hsin Li-hsUeh deduced all the metaphysical ideas or concepts not only of the Ch'
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eng-Chu school but also of the Taoists. They are all considered in such a way that they are simply the logical implications of the statement that some-thing exists. It is not difficult to see how the ideas of Li and Ch'i arc de-ducible from this statement, and olher ideas are also treated in the same way. For instance, the idea of Movement is treated by me not as a cosmologi-cal idea for some actual initial movement of the world, but as a metaphysical idea implied in the idea of existence itself. To exist is an activity, a move-ment. If we think about the world in its static aspect, we will say with the Taoists that before anything comes into being there must first be the being of Being. And if we think about the world in its dynamic aspect, we will say with the Confucianists that before anything comes to exist, there must first be Movement, which is simply another way of speaking of the activity of exist-ing.Tn what I call men' s pictorial form of thinking, which is really imagina-tion, men imagine Being or Movement as God, the Father of all things. In imaginative thought of this kind, one has religion or cosmology, but not phi-losophy or metaphysics.
Following the same line of argument, I have been able in my Hsin Li-hsiieh to deduce all the metaphysical ideas of Chinese philosophy and to in-tegrate them into a clear and systematic whole. The book was favorably re-ceived because in it critics seemed to feel that the structure of Chinese phi-losophy was more clearly stated than hitherto. It was considered as repre-senting a revival of Chinese philosophy, which was taken as the symbol of a revival of the Chinese nation.
In the Ch'eng-Chu school, as we have seen in the last chapter, there is a certain element of authoritarianism and conservatism, but this is avoided in my Hsin Li-hsueh. In my opinion, metaphysics can know only that there are the Li, but not the content of each Li. It is the business of science to find out the content of the individual Li, using the scientific and pragmatic method. The Li in themselves are absolute and eternal, but as they are known to us, that is, in the laws and theories of science, they are relative and changeable.
The realization of the Li requires a material basis. The various types of society are ihe realization of the various Li of social structure, and the mate-rial basis each Li requires for its realization is the economic foundation of a given type of society. In the sphere of history, therefore, I believe in an eco-nomic interpretation, and in my book, China's Road to Freedom, I apply this interpretation to Chinese civilization and history, as I also have in chapter two of the present book.
I think Wang Kuo-wei s trouble in philosophy has been due to his failure
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to realize that each branch of knowledge has its own sphere of application. One does not need to believe in any theory of metaphysics, if that theory does not make much assertion about matters of fact. If it does make such as-sertions, however, it is bad metaphysics, which is the same as bad science. This does not mean that a good metaphysical theory is unbelievable, but only that it is so evident that one does not need to say that he believes in it, just as one need not say that one believes in mathematics. The difference be-tween metaphysics and mathematics and logic is that in the latter two one does not need to start with the statement that something exists, which is an assertion about matters of fact, and is the only one that metaphysics need make.
The Nature of Philosophy
The method I use in the Hsin Li-hsileh is wholly analytic. After writing that book, however, I began to realize the importance of the negative method which has been mentioned in chapter twenty —one. At present, if someone were to ask me for a definition of philosophy, I would reply paradoxically that philosophy, especially metaphysics, is that branch of knowledge which, in its development, will ultimately become "the knowledge that is not knowl-edge." If this be so, then the negative method needs to be used. Philosophy, especially metaphysics, is useless for the increase of our knowledge regard-ing matters of fact, but is indispensable for the elevation of our mind. These few points are not merely my own opinion, but, as we have previously seen, represent certain aspects of the Chinese philosophical tradition. It is these aspects that I think can contribute something to future world philosophy. In the following I shall try to develop them a little further.
Philosophy, as well as other branches of knowledge, must start with expe-rience. But philosophy, especially metaphysics, differs from these other branches in that its development will lead it ultimately to that "something" which transcends experience. In this something there is that which cannot logically be sensed, but can only be thought. For instance, one can sense a square table, but cannot sense squareness. This is not because one s sense organ is insufficiently developed, but because squareness is a Li, which logi-cally can only be thought but not sensed.
In the something there is also that which not only cannot be sensed, but strictly speaking, cannot even be thought. In chapter one I said that philoso-phy is systematic reflective thinking on life. Because of its reflective nature, it ultimately has to think on "something that logically cannot be the object
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of thought. For instance, the universe, because it is the totality of all that is, cannot logically be the object of thought. As we have seen in chapter nine-teen, the Chinese word T'ien or Heaven is sometimes used in ihis sense of totality, as when Kuo Hsiang says: "Heaven is the name of all things." Since the universe is the totality of all that is, therefore when one thinks about it, one is thinking reflectively, because the thinking and the thinker must also be included in the totality. But when one thinks about that totality, the totali-ty that lies in one's thought does not include the thought itself. For it is the object of the thought and so stands in contrast to it. Hence the totality that one is thinking about is not actually the totality of all that is. Yet one must first think about totality in order to realize that it is unthinkable. One needs thought in order to be conscious of the unthinkable, just as sometimes one needs a sound in order to be conscious of silence. One must think about the unthinkable, yet as soon as one tries to do so, it immediately slips away. This is the most fascinating and also most troublesome aspect of philosophy.
What logically cannot be sensed transcends experience; what can neither be sensed nor thought of transcends intellect. Concerning what transcends experience and intellect, one cannot say very much. Hence philosophy, or at least metaphysics, must be simple in its nature. Otherwise it again becomes simply bad science. And with its simple ideas, it suffices for its function.
The Spheres of Living
What is the function of philosophy? In chapter one I suggested that, ac-cording to Chinese philosophical tradition, its function is not the increase of positive knowledge of matters of fact, but the elevation of the mind. Here it would seem well to explain more clearly what I mean by this statement.
In my book, The New Treatise on the Nature of Man, I have observed that man differs from other animals in that when he docs something, he under-stands what he is doing, and is conscious that he is doing it. It is this under-standing and self—consciousness that give significance for him to what he is doing. The various significances that thus attach to his various acts, in their totality, constitute what I call his sphere of living. Different men may do the same things, but according to their different degrees of understanding and self—consciousness, these things may have varying significance to them. Every individual has his own sphere of living, which is not quite the same as that of any other individual. Yet in spite of these individual differences, we can classify the various spheres of living into four general grades. Beginning with the lowest, they are: the innocent sphere, the utilitarian sphere, the
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moral sphere, and the transcendent sphere.
A man may simply do what his instinct or the custom of his society leads him to do. Like children and primitive people, he does what he does without being self-conscious or greatly understanding what he is doing. Thus what he does has little significance, if any, for him. His sphere of living is what I call the innocent sphere.
Or man may be aware of himself, and be doing everything for himself. That does not mean that he is necessarily an immoral man. He may do some-thing, the consequences of which are beneficial to others, but his motivation for so doing is self—benefit. Thus everything he does has the significance of utility for himself. His sphere of living is what I call the utilitarian sphere.
Yet again a man may come to understand that a society exists, of which he is a member. This society constitutes a whole and he, is a part of that whole. Having this understanding, he does everything for the benefit of the society, or as the Confucianists say, he does everything for the sake of righ-teousness, and not for the sake of personal profit." He is the truly moral man and what he does is moral action in the strict sense of the word. Everything he does has a moral significance. Hence his sphere of living is what I call the moral sphere.
And finally, a man may come to understand that over and above society as a whole, there is the great whole which is the universe. He is not only a member of society, but at the same time a member of the universe. He is a citizen of the social organization, but at the same time a citizen of Heaven, as Mencius says. Having this understanding, he does everything for the ben-efit of the universe. He understands the significance of what he does and is self—conscious of the fact that he is doing what he does. This understanding and self-consciousness constitute for him a higher sphere of living which I call the transcendent sphere.
Of the four spheres of living, the innocent and the utilitarian are the prod-ucts of man as he is, while the moral and the transcendent are those of man as he ought to be. The former two are the gifts of nature, while the latter two are the creations of the spirit. The innocent sphere is the lowest, the utilitar-ian comes next, then the moral, and finally the transcendent. They are so be-cause the innocent sphere requires almost no understanding and self-con-sciousness, whereas the utilitarian and the moral require more, and the tran-scendent requires most. The moral sphere is that of moral values, and the transcendent is that of super—moral values.
According to the tradition of Chinese philosophy, the function of philoso-phy is to help man to achieve the two higher spheres of living, and especial—
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ly the highest. The transcendent sphere may also be called the sphere of philosophy, because it cannot be achieved unless through philosophy one gains some understanding of the universe. But the moral sphere, too, is a product of philosophy. Moral actions are not simply actions that accord with the moral rule, nor is moral man one who simply cultivates certain moral habits. He must act and live with an understanding of the moral principles involved, and it is the business of philosophy to give him this understanding.
To live in the moral sphere of living is to be a hsien or morally perfect man, and to live in the transcendent sphere is to be a sheng or sage. Philoso-phy teaches the way of how to be a sage. As I pointed out in chapter one, to be a sage is to reach the highest perfection of man as man. This is the noble function of philosophy.
In the Republic, Plato said that the philosopher must be elevated from the "cave of the sensory world to the world of intellect. If the philosopher is in the world of intellect, he is also in the transcendent sphere of living. Yet the highest achievement of the man living in this sphere is the identification of himself with the universe, and in this identification, he also transcends the intellect.
Previous chapters have already shown us that Chinese philosophy has al-ways tended to stress that the sage need do nothing extraordinary in order to be a sage. He cannot perform miracles, nor need he try to do so. He does nothing more than most people do, but, having high understanding, what he does has a different significance to him. In other words, he does what he does in a state of enlightenment, while other people do what they do in a state of ignorance. As the Ch an monks say: Understanding—this one word is the source of all mysteries. It is the significance which results from this understanding that constitutes his highest sphere of living.
Thus the Chinese sage is both of this world and the other world, and Chi-nese philosophy is both this-worldly and other-worldly. With the scientific advancement of the future, I believe that religion with its dogmas and super-stitions will give way to science; man s craving for the world beyond, how-ever, will be met by the philosophy of the future—a philosophy which is therefore likely to be both this-worldly and other-worldly. In this respect Chinese philosophy may have something to contribute.
The Methodology of Metaphysics
In my work, A New Treatise on the Methodology of Metaphysics, 1 main-
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tain that there are two methods, the positive and the negative. The essence of the positive method is to talk about the object of metaphysics which is the subject of its inquiry; the essence of the negative method is not to talk about it. By so doing, the negative method reveals certain aspects of the nature of that something, namely those aspects that are not susceptible to positive de-scription and analysis.
In chapter two I have indicated my agreement with Professor Northrop that philosophy in the West started with what he calls the concept by postulation, whereas Chinese philosophy started with what he calls concept by intuition. As a result, Western philosophy has naturally been dominated by the posi-tive method, and Chinese philosophy by the negative one. This is especially true of Taoism, which started and ended with the undifferentiable whole. In the Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu, one does not learn what the Too actually is, but only what it is not. But if one knows what it is not, one does get some idea of what it is.
