The first proposition is the proposition that deduces the concept of reason, and the latter part is relatively important. There must be something for every thing, and the reason why it is a certain thing. Mr. Feng Youlan believes that it is a certain kind, which is actually the principle of a certain kind, making it a fundamental principle of this kind. Therefore, the reason why mountains are mountains rather than non mountains, and why water is water rather than non water, must be the reason why mountains are mountains, and the reason why water is water. Therefore, this is seen as the principle of mountains and the principle of water.
From this perspective, Mr. Feng Youlan proposed the concept of "reason", which developed a certain level of the concept of "reason" in Chinese philosophy. He referred to one of these similarities and differences, especially the thing that he called "reason" for the commonality.
Mr. Feng Youlan believes that the principle proposed by his first proposition is his most important category, and everything behind it is based on it. There is something that exists regardless of the type of thing, and there must be something that makes it a certain thing. If there is no real cup, the principle of the cup becoming a cup still exists. He does not need to rely on the existence of specific things, and through such a proposition, he cuts off the inevitable connection with practical experience. This principle is detached from the empirical world and does not depend on concrete things to exist.
If we used to talk about the relationship between reason and reality, we all said that reason was extracted from reality. Reason is like the moon reflecting thousands of rivers, you must take a piece of water to reflect it, you must have water to print the moon. If it weren't for this water, you wouldn't be able to reflect the moon.
However, Mr. Feng Youlan said, whether or not I have this water, I can always know that if I bring water, I can create the moon. He believes that this thing is rational.
In logic, there is a certain thing that comes before it, and he proposes what it means to come before a certain thing. If there is no rational existence that makes things a certain thing, there is no concrete existence of things in reality. If there is no existence of the principle that makes the cup a cup, then there is no existence of concrete things. Therefore, the reproducibility of the principle for concrete things is not the priority of time, but the priority of logic. It does not require the existence of a certain principle in time, and then the emergence of a certain principle. It does not require the existence of the principle of mountains, the principle of water, the principle of cups, and then the appearance of specific landscape cups in time. Rather, it means that this principle is detached from concrete things and is always present.
Through these two aspects, Feng Youlansheng came to the conclusion that there is a certain thing that contains the reason why it is a certain thing.
If we start from a specific thing and push towards a reason, then we start from the relationship between a reason and something, for example, it can be divided into the two levels we just talked about. One reason is that a certain thing can exist without a certain thing, and whether there is a concrete thing or not, it can also have a rational and independent reality.
The reason why there is a certain thing in the second category is that it logically precedes a certain thing. What he emphasizes is the logical priority of reason. Through these two levels, Mr. Feng clarifies the concept of reason. What kind of thing is reason?
Reason is the thing that makes something become something. This thing doesn't necessarily have to rely on something, it is an independent reality, and it logically reproduces in something. In fact, through this concept, Mr. Feng's job is to affirm the actual form of things, and then extract the concept of reason. The reason he obtains meets the standards of "emptiness and spirit".
We propose the concept of reason through concrete things?
Neo Confucianism, such as the Confucian concept of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, was actually advocated by Confucius and Mencius. In the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu used theories such as the correspondence between heaven and man to propose why benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom were necessary?
Because the heavens have virtue, humans must also possess human virtues. However, during the Song and Ming dynasties, when the Confucian system developed a systematic theory on how to experience and comprehend life, as well as how to behave, the Confucian values put forward why one needs to uphold benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom, and the 'why' is actually the reason they put forward. So in Zhu Xi's view, the original intention of his theory was to construct a metaphysical support for concepts such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom.
Similarly, Mr. Feng wants to propose a concept of reason, which is very important in his new system of Neo Confucianism. It starts from concrete things, from the empirical world, and then abstracts it to you. This is the most fundamental principle of philosophy, an abstraction of factual experience. We can usually observe various tangible and tangible things with sound and color, as well as various specific and regulated things, all in different shapes and sizes. We can see a commonality from the various differences, and then in the induction of this commonality, we can see another layer behind it, which is the reason for commonality. He saw thousands of mountains and rivers, and said that there are mountains and rivers in the world, and then abstracted from mountains and rivers, there are principles of mountains and waters.
This is two levels of philosophical abstraction, so we extracted a concept of reason, but his reason slowly removed all kinds of concrete things, such as Mount Taishan, Huashan, Songshan, and so on. Therefore, people cannot use the spirit of empirical evidence to further explore the correctness of this principle. Why?
Because reason is an independent reality, and reason comes before logic. In Cheng Zhu's view, he said that there must be something, and that is reason.
Mr. Feng Youlan said that a certain kind of thing has a certain principle, a certain thing has a certain principle, and a certain relationship has a certain principle.
The meaning he said already exists in the Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism, but they did not explain it clearly enough. The New Neo Confucianism is to clarify what Cheng Zhu did not explain clearly. He said that Taoism and Buddhism have not talked about the world of reason. They are both beyond the form, but rather beyond the form, they are indescribable and incredible. Therefore, they can only say that there is no emptiness, and reason is beyond the form, but it can be said and thought about.
What does that mean?
For this abstract and transcendent principle, Taoism calls it nothingness, Buddhism calls it emptiness, and Confucianism calls it reason. What is the difference between reason and emptiness?
Of course, there is a problem with Mr. Feng's generalization here. Buddhism and Taoism say that our emptiness cannot be expressed. They only say "Dao can be Dao, very Dao", so I can explain it clearly. If I cannot explain it clearly, I still have the meaning of "body", I can express emptiness. I do not have to say the method of "emptiness". Buddhism also has its own idea. However, let's ignore the debate in this regard. We only say that Mr. Feng believes that in the world of reason, firstly, he explained Cheng Zhu's reason more clearly and thoroughly. I can clarify the things that Cheng Zhu did not explain clearly.
Secondly, compared to Buddhism and Taoism, I am able to contemplate and articulate the concept of 'reason', which is why his first philosophical proposition introduced the concept of reason.
His second proposition is that everything must exist. Everything that exists must exist, and everything that can exist must have its own reason for existence.
He derived a concept of 'qi' from this, and we set aside the proposition that every thing has its own reason for existence. Mountains have the principle of mountains, water has the principle of water, and this principle is very abstract. They must be realized through concrete things. The moon is imprinted on the river. With the same moon, if you hold water, you will eventually see the entire moon. You cannot say that the moon is round, and then it will become flat. Of course, if you take a curved mirror to look at it, it will indeed look very curved. However, he said that the moon is imprinted on the river, and when you hold a basin of water to look at it, you can see the entire moon.
In this way, every thing has its own principle, just like heaven has its own principle. The principle of heaven is detached from the existence of all of us, but in the process of our individual development, this principle is naturally reflected. This water, this human form, must rely on concrete things to be realized.
Mr. Feng Youlan referred to the principles achieved through the use of facts as "qi", such as the water used to create the moon, the body of the person used to carry the principles of heaven, and so on. He called these things "qi" and thus understood the concept of "qi". This proposition states that everything must exist, and it is obvious that every thing needs to be manifested through a certain form, such as a cup. A cup is a concept, but you cannot embody a concept. How to embody the concept of this cup, telling you that it is a cup, and it is realized through concrete things. He said that everything that exists must exist, and everything that can exist must exist because of its existence.
On the one hand, we abstracted it layer by layer to see the concrete shape of the cup, abstracted the concept of the cup, abstracted the concept of this cup, and then abstracted the concept of the cup. But on the other hand, we also turned it around and said, I want to abstract the concept of the cup. I know the principle of this cup, how can I embody it? When I embody it, first I need to return it to the concept of the cup, and then return it to the concrete cup that can embody it.
However, when we go back through layers of abstraction and then look at this cup again, compared to when you first looked at this cup, you can realize its size, shape, function, and so on. In this way, it is obvious that the latter has a deeper understanding. You have gone through a process of philosophical thinking that involves back and forth, and when you look back at this cup, you feel that it is different. You can see its size, shape, color, and other specific regulations, as well as the underlying principles. More importantly, you can see the principles that can be reflected behind this cup, on the specific cup itself. This process is where you see the structure of the cup and also see the aura of the cup.
