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萊布尼茲哲學與十七世紀中國儒學的旁證確認關係 The Confirmation of Confucianism in the 17th Century to Leibniz

作者
劉俊法
Author
Chun-fa Liu
摘要

萊布尼茲作為歐洲十七、十八世紀理性主義思潮的代表人物,對中國事物有著特別的興趣。他過世前還在撰寫一篇《論中國人的自然神學》,以詮釋中國哲學中的重要概念。針對這一研究興趣,本文所要提出的問題是:當時透過傳教士傳回歐洲的中國人的哲學思想,究竟和萊布尼茲本人所抱持的理性主義信念,有如何的互動關係?而為了回答這一問題本文將提供一「旁證確認」的詮釋,分析萊布尼茲在中國儒學中,不論在存有的生發關係或是空間觀念上,都發現了其與自身哲學的相通性並藉此關係為當時歐洲笛卡兒哲學所帶來的難題找到出路。

Abstract

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz as a representative of the European rationalism in the 17th and 18th centuries, has a special interest in Chinese things. In the very same year of his death (1716) he is still working on an essay called “Discours sur la Théologie Naturelle des Chinois” to interpret properly the Chinese philosophical thinking. In response to his research interest, the question to be asked specially in this paper is: How do the philosophical thoughts of the Chinese, which passed back to Europe through the missionaries in the 17th century, interact with the rationalist beliefs that Leibniz himself holds? The answer to this question in this article is based on the relationship of “confirmation”, which the philosophical thinking of the both sides express, including the generation of beings and the concept of space. Using this confirmation, Leibniz aims to strengthen his philosophical influence in Europe on the one hand. On the other, he believed it shows Europe clearly the way to solve some philosophical problems of the modern mechanical thinking in the Cartesianism.