自然與自由──莊子的主體與氣

Nature and Freedom: Zhuangzi’s Subject and Qi

本文的目的在於展示莊子對自然和自由的理解，這也將涉及如何以新的角度來詮釋莊子的主體理論。首先，我們將藉由尼采對自然和自由的思考以及他對理性主義的批判來展開我們的討論。對莊子和尼采來說，自由是自主個體的目標，而自由的實現則有賴於對自然生命的肯定。其次，我將莊子的主體詮釋為「身氣主體」，此一主體有別於當代新儒家（牟宗三、唐君毅、徐復觀）把莊子的主體視為「精神主體」。當代新儒家傾向於認為自然和自由是對立的兩端，他們當不會同意身體和自然是自由實現的關鍵。但是對莊子而言，自然生命的自我轉化對個體的自主性來說至關重要。肯定生命之所是，也就是自然的本義──自己如此，將會導向自由。氣的思想便是肯定自然生命之所是的思想。如同尼采的哲學構想，莊子所主張的自主個體，是以返回自然的方式來獲致自由。最後，我也將探討莊子如何看待政治自由與自然的關係。

This paper aims to illustrate Zhuangzi’s understanding of the relationship between nature and freedom, which involves a new perspective of explanation for Zhuangzi’s theory of subject. Our discussion begins with Nietzsche’s thought on nature and freedom that is based on his criticism on the position of rationalism. For both Zhuangzi and Nietzsche, freedom is the goal of the sovereign individual, but it can be achieved only when one’s natural life is affirmed. Next, I will interpret Zhuangzi’s subject as “Body-Qi（氣）Subject”. This version of Zhuangzi’s subject is distinguished from the “Spiritual Subject” that is interpreted as Zhuangzi’s subject by the Contemporary New Confucian philosophers (Mou Zongsang, Tang Junyi, Xu Fuguan). Since New Confucian philosophers are inclined to insist an antithesis between nature and freedom, they would not consider human body and nature as the key to the realization of freedom. However, for Zhuangzi, the individual sovereignty is crucial for the self-transformation of natural life. Affirming life as such, that is ziran （自然）, which literally means self (zi) so (ran), leads to freedom. The thought of Q is a way of affirming natural life as it is. Similar to Nietzsche’s philosophical project, Zhuangzi’s philosophy addresses a version of sovereign individuality, which allows us to return to nature in order to free ourselves. Finally, I will also explore how Zhuangzi thinks about the political freedom and its relationship to the notion of nature.