Philosophy, in many people's conceptions, is the castle in the sky in the ivory tower, something very far away from daily life. But Zhang Rulun, a professor of philosophy at Fudan University, said that this was not the case at the beginning of the birth of philosophy, philosophy is derived from human nature, "human nature gives birth to philosophy, and people must produce philosophy." It is no exaggeration to say that philosophy is the need of man, the basic need of life. ”
On February 26th, the "Rhine Philosopher's Shadow" book sharing meeting was held at the Pujiang Store of Shanghai Jiantou Bookstore, and philosopher Zhang Rulun shared his thoughts on philosophy with readers.
Zhang Rulun shares his thoughts on philosophy with readers.
Philosophy is the "need of man"
"There are many philosophers who think that philosophy is a way of life, but for ordinary people, it is a bit difficult to understand, because the average person thinks that philosophy is something that no one can understand, or something like chicken soup, which is used to solve the confusion and confusion of life." 」
Zhang Rulun believes that to understand that "philosophy is a way of life", it can be explained in two senses. In the first place, philosophy does not arise out of a direct necessity, "the greatest difference between man and animal is that man invents philosophy, because animals develop all kinds of abilities that come according to need", and man values and thinks about what he does not need, which is philosophy.
He mentioned that his first contact with philosophy was in the era of youth "cutting in line", and saw the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates saying that "an unexamined life is not worth living.". He read the phrase "like an electric shock." At that time, he had nothing, no material life, but he suddenly felt that there were more important things in life that needed to be considered.
Regarding what philosophy is, Zhang Rulun agrees with a statement by the philosopher Bergson: philosophy is that we people suddenly make a determination to change our overall view of the world and people. "This kind of question is not about eating and wearing, but people will think, such as why I live, and the meaning of my daily life, that is, the meaning of life." 」
From this, he believes that the original birth of philosophy stemmed from man's beginning to think about issues that were not directly related to his own existence, such as the world and the meaning of life, "this kind of thinking originated from human nature, so it can also be said that human nature gave birth to philosophy." It is no exaggeration to say that philosophy is a human need, a basic need of life. ”
Early philosophers did not write "writings"
Since philosophy is the "basic need" of man, Zhang Rulun believes that there is an essential difference between true philosophy and the kind that most professors and students now study and write at universities. "Philosophy professors" and "philosophers" are completely different species.
"The earliest philosophers didn't think about what to write, they just thought about problems." Zhang Rulun cites two early Chinese and foreign philosophers, Confucius and Socrates, who are typical of "describing but not doing".
In China, Confucius did not really write his own works, "Spring and Autumn" is his collation of the history of the State of Lu, and the "Analects" is not from his hand, but after his death, his disciples compiled notes recording the words and deeds of their teachers. "Confucius himself did not want to write books, but only expressed his thoughts on the world and enlightenment of others through informal daily dialogue, and that was all."
In the West, Socrates had an experience very similar to Confucius's, "He didn't write anything, he just went to the market to talk to people, and when people asked him many questions, he answered them one by one." He also drinks, jokes, and plays games with people, just like an ordinary person, but when he discusses with people, he will slowly tell others about philosophical wisdom and philosophical thinking, enlighten and guide others, and thus become a mentor to people. Later, his student Plato compiled the ideas of the teachers into a book in the form of dialogue, leaving behind the philosophical ideas of Socrates.
The books of Mencius, Zhuangzi, Plato, or Aristotle are not "writings", but only dialogues or lecture notes, they are all discussed in a dialogueal way, which is full of contradictions, because the purpose of their discussion and thinking is to understand the truth, or to "enlighten", not to construct a system of self-justification.
"This phenomenon deserves our consideration, and the philosophers they respect the most are precisely those who have not written philosophical works." Zhang Rulun concluded that this phenomenon arose precisely because everyone believed that philosophy itself was a need in life, so most of the earliest philosophical works were written through dialogue.
Identifying with a philosophy requires investing in one's own life
It was not until after the 18th century that universities began to have "philosophy departments" and produced the first "philosophy professors", "so that philosophy slowly broke away from the daily world of life, became more and more advanced, more and more strange, and became a study of a few people." ”
Kant was a representative of the early professors of philosophy, but he believed that there were two philosophical concepts in the world, one was the philosophy of the academy and the other was the philosophy of the world. Academic philosophy, that is, the study of philosophy professors in universities, is somewhat like the medieval scholastic philosophy, which is often entangled in trivial and empty questions; world philosophy is concerned with universal human problems, such as war and peace, what is happiness, and so on.
"There is no doubt that Kant himself is on the side of world philosophy." Zhang Rulun said that Kant raised several basic questions of philosophy, the last of which was that philosophy should think about "what is man."
From this point of view, Zhang Rulun believes that the philosophy department of the university is also a special discipline. Most of the other majors provide knowledge and information, and students only have the degree of difference between learning well and not doing well enough, and there is not a situation where they will not do it at all. But philosophy is non-zero and 1.
"Because the philosophy department is not about giving you information and knowledge, it is about giving you a teaching, and what it is going to guide you is to give yourself a different perspective on many issues from now on. If you don't have such a different view, then I'm sorry, you will never enter the world of philosophy. ”
It is precisely because of this that when you learn knowledge in other disciplines, you can "learn with your heart and mind," but to truly identify with philosophical things, "you need to put your life into it," and "you have to live according to the set of philosophies put forward by philosophers, so that you can understand him."
Zhang Believes that Philosophers like Zhuangzi and Kant are great because they really live according to their own ideas. This is true of the great philosophers who can move us in ancient and modern China and abroad, which is also a manifestation of philosophy as a way of life.
For ordinary people, practicing "philosophy as a way of life" is simple but not simple. "Ordinary people don't have to think so professionally, but they can still think about the basic problems of philosophy, the meaning of life, the problems of the world are like this, everyone can't escape." 」 Zhang Rulun said, "From this point of view, when we say that philosophy as a way of life, we mean that we can live a 'philosophical point' at the right time, think more about problems, think a little deeper, and don't accept too many existing answers given to you by others." ”
The Shadow of Rhinegar
Philosophy makes us "live a vulgar life"
Talking about the new work "Rhine Philosopher's Shadow", Zhang Rulun said: "This book is mainly about some German philosophers, I am studying German philosophy, and there is a previous philosopher who said that good philosophy is German. Why are German philosophers good and why is German philosophy good? Not simply because their thoughts are deep and large, but because their minds contain human concern for all problems. ”
Kant's writings are abstract and obscure, but he is actually concerned with the most basic problems of mankind. The German philosopher Fichte once said, 'What kind of person you are, what kind of philosophy you have'. There was also the cynical Schopenhauer, who was himself a rich man but had a great sense of justice, and in his article denounced the then 5-year-old child for working in a textile factory for 10 hours. This is the case with German philosophers, whose personalities and the philosophies they pursue are unified and therefore able to attract us. Zhang Rulun said.
Talking about the current situation of "philosophy" today, Zhang Rulun said, "Philosophy is really sluggish in this world, mainly because there are no philosophers, and there are more and more philosophy professors, and they are there all day playing with the things they think they are proud of. And now young people, in order to understand German philosophy and even learn German, are moved by the philosopher's "intrinsic concern for the fundamental destiny of mankind."
"Philosophy makes us not live so vulgarly, we may not be able to do what these great philosophers in the book do, but what others can think about, we should also be able to think about such questions." What you see in your eyes are these amazing people, and naturally your vision is high. Zhang Rulun said, "Especially in a great country like China, a great nation, the vision should be a little higher, so that it can contribute to mankind." ”