Conditions of Possibility for Chinese and Western Comparative Philosophy

Jaap van Brakel

In this paper, we present a theory of intercultural philosophical dialogue and comparative philosophy, drawing on both hermeneutics and analytic philosophy. We advocate the approach of “de-essentialization” across the board. It is true that similarities and differences are always to be observed across languages and traditions, but there exist no immutable cores or essences. “De-essentialization” applies to all “levels” of concepts: everyday notions such as green and 青 qing , philosophical concepts such as emotion(s) and 情 qing, and philosophical categories such as forms of life and 道 dao. We argue that interpretation is a holistic multi-directional process constrained by the principle of mutual attunement. It is necessary to assume that  “the other” is a human being, who, in most cases, is consistent and stating that which is true or right. This is the condition of possibility for intercultural philosophical dialogue and comparative philosophy. No more necessary conditions are needed. There is no need to presuppose concepts or categories that are universal for all humans and their languages (such as emotion(s) and 情 qing).

中西哲学比较的可能性条件

柏拉克
比利时鲁汶大学

本文依据诠释学与分析哲学，提出一个关于跨文化哲学对话与比较哲学的理论。我们主张一种全面“去本质 化”的方法。的确，在各种语言与传统之间我们总能发现相似与不同之处，但绝无永恒不变的核心或本质。“去本质化”适用于各种“层面”的概念：比如 “green”与“青”这种日常概念，比如“emotion（s）”与“情”这样的哲学概念，以及“forms of life（生活方式）”与“道”这样的哲学范畴。我们认为，阐释是一个为相互协调原则所制约的、整体的多方向过 程。有必要假设“他者”是一个人，他在绝大多数情况下具有一贯性，总是做出何为真实或正确的判断。这是跨文化哲学对话和比较哲学的可能性条件。除此之外， 无需其它必要条件。没有必要预先设定对全人类和所有语言都普遍适用的概念或范畴（例如“emotion（s）”与情）。