中國哲學「形上」義析論

Analysis of Meaning of “Metaphysics” in Chinese Philosophy

「形而上」是中國哲學重要概念，對此概念之詮釋系統與詮釋內容非常多樣，故有必要作一釐析歸納，以瞭解歷來有哪些詮釋角度與內涵。西洋哲學亦有「形上學」，此與中國傳統「形而上」是同是異？此等問題便是本文所要探討者。經本文分析，發現中國「形而上」概念，歷來有五種詮釋觀點：一為認識論觀點──以不可言說者為「形而上」，以可言說者為「形而下」。二為宇宙論觀點──以宇宙之創生者為「形而上」，以所創生之宇宙為「形而下」。三為實存論觀點，又可分為三類：1.以無形者為「形而上」，以有形者為「形而下」；2.以所以然之理為「形而上」，以現存事物之然為「形而下」；3.以存在物之體性為「形而上」，以存在物之功用為「形而下」。四為道德論觀點──以道德角度看待事物為「形而上」，以物質層面認識事物為「形而下」。五為本體論觀點──以聖者心靈之本體界為「形而上」，以凡人心境之現象界為「形而下」。上列各詮釋系統中，實存論觀點之二（所以然/然）的詮釋系統，為諸詮釋角度中之最大宗；而道德論觀點乃最合乎中國傳統哲學者；本體論觀點則為最究竟之詮釋觀點。最後，關於中西「形而上」概念之比較，本文發現中國形上思想偏向德性實踐之學，西方偏向抽象思考之說，唯一交集是對宇宙生成變化探討之宇宙論，以及不在本文探討範圍之實體問題，此為中西方共同關心之兩大形上課題。

“Metaphysics” is an important concept of Chinese philosophy and there are various interpretation systems and content. Thus, it is necessary to analyze and generalize them in order to recognize the past views and content of interpretation. “Metaphysics” also exists in Western philosophy. Is it the same or different from Chinese traditional “metaphysics”? It is the question of this study. The analysis in this study demonstrates five past views of interpretation regarding Chinese “metaphysics”: 1) view of epistemology: things which cannot be indicated refer to “metaphysics” and those which can be indicated are “physics”; 2) view of cosmology: universe creator is “metaphysics” and universe created is “physics”; 3) upon view of realism, there are three categories: 1) invisible ones are “metaphysics” and visible ones are “physics”; 2) ”the reason why” is “metaphysics” and the reason of existence is “physics”; 3) character of existence is “metaphysics” and function of existence is “physics”; 4) view of morality: treating things from moral perspective is “metaphysics” and knowing things from materials is “physics”; 5) view of ontology: saints’ spiritual noumenal world is “metaphysics” and phenomenon of people’s mental states is “physics”. Among the interpretation systems above, the second views of realism (the reason why/the reason) is the most common one; view of morality matches Chinese traditional philosophy the most; view of ontology is the one which can explore the reasons the most. Finally, after comparing Chinese and western “metaphysics”, this study demonstrates that Chinese metaphysical concept refers to virtue practice and western one focuses on abstract thinking. The only common points are cosmology which explores the creation and change of universe as well as physical issues which are not included in this study. These are two metaphysical themes concerned by both Chinese and western world.