田邊元哲學中作為無的自我之媒介者

Non-being Self as Mediator in Tanabe Hajime's Philosophy

田邊元（1885－1962）在二十世紀的日本，是一位具有影響力的哲學家，針對「自我」概念有其獨特的開展。這對我們重新思考「何謂自我」這個問題時，會有相當的助益。在田邊的想法裡，自我既不能被對象化，也不是隱藏在現象世界背後的什麼。自我雖然會完全顯現在我們的經驗當中，但並不能作為一個固定的對象來被觀察。因為自我並非「媒介」以外的任何一種存在。所謂自我，便是指我們在經驗到作為具體現實而顯現出來的一切存在時，作用於其中的「媒介」。譬如，物質性的東西與精神性的東西之媒介，在身體性的行為中，很自然地就能被實現出來。然而當自我在進行身體性的行為時，自我並不會將自己作為一種客觀存在，來顯現自身。因為自我既不是可觀看的身體，也不是完全和身體割離的存在。所謂自我，雖是演劇中最忙、最活躍的角色，卻不曾出現在舞臺上。因此我們不能將此種作為「媒介」的自我視為「有」，而應該視為「無」。雖說如此，我們的自我並非是完全沒有的存在，亦即非單純的零。應當說，唯有透過自覺作為無的自我才能正確地理解，要怎麼做我們的自我才能作為以有的姿態出現的一切存在之超越論條件（或是媒介者），來付諸行動。此種思想，並不是要求我們必須意圖性地拋棄作為有的自我。因為在實踐的行為裡，我們早就被迫捨棄它了。這正表示，作為無的自我之思想，帶有重要的實踐意涵。而此種自我的重新詮釋，最終將會歸結到，將神與現世的主體之媒介重新解釋為由愛與大悲所規定的關係當中。

The influential 20th century Japanese philosopher Tanabe Hajime (1885-1962) developed a unique concept of the self that can help us to rethink the question ＂What is the self?＂ In his view, the self should neither be objectified nor thought of as something hidden behind the phenomenal world. It entirely manifests itself in our experience, but nevertheless, cannot be observed as a fixed object. This is because the self is nothing other than the ＂mediation＂ that is operating in our experience of all that appears as concrete reality. For example, the mediation between the material and the spiritual is naturally accomplished in the bodily action that the self performs without making itself appear as an objective being. It is neither the case that the visible body is the self, nor that the self is completely apart from the body. The self is the most engaged performer in this play, but who, for all that, does not appear on the stage. Thus, the self as ＂mediation＂ should not be regarded as a being, but as ＂nothingness.＂ This does not mean that our self is simply nothing, however. Rather, it is only by being aware of the self as nothingness that we can properly understand how our self is able to serve as a transcendental condition (or mediator) of all those things that appear as beings. By this thought, we are not required to willfully abandon the self as a being; in a practical action, we are already made to abandon it. This fact shows that the thought of the self as nothingness has significant practical implications. Such a reinterpretation of the self culminates in a reinterpretation of the mediation between God and worldly subjects, which is determined by Love and Great Compassion (大悲).