formskim

Hegel'sCriticismofChinesePhilosophyYoungKunKimPhilosophyEastandWest,Vol.
28,No.
2,SinologicalTorque.
(Apr.
,1978),pp.
173-180.
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http://www.
jstor.
orgSatMay2606:19:362007YoungKunKimHegel'scriticismofChinesephilosophyHegellecturedonthehistoryofphilosophyninetimes.
FirstinJenainthewintersemesterof1805-1806,twiceinHeidelberg(1816-1817and1817-1818),andsixtimesinBerlin:1819,1820-1821,1823-1824,1825-1826,1827-1828,and1829-1830.
InNovember1831hebeganhistenthlecture,butaftertwomeetingshedied.
'Itwas,however,onlyin1825thatHegelbegantoincludeChinesephilosophyinhiscourseonthehistoryofphilosophy.
LaoTzuwasaddedtwoyearslater.
2ThismeansthatHegeltaughtChinesephilosophyasapartofthehistoryofphilosophyduringthelastsixyearsofhislife.
HegeldoesnotsaywhyhedelayedthetreatmentofChinesephilosophyuntil1825.
Twoplausibleanswerssuggestthemselves.
First,Hegel'sinterestinChinesephilosophywasawakenedbyhisstudiesinpreparationforhiscourseonthephilosophyofhistory.
Helecturedonthephilosophyofhistoryfivetimesbeginningfrom1822-1823.
3Therefore,hehadtwoyearsofteachingonChinabeforeheincludedChinesephilosophyinhiscourseonthehistoryofphilosophy.
HislettertoDubocofHamburginDecember1822indicatesthathewasthenstudyingIndiaandChinaquite~eriously.
~Second,thedelaymaybeduetothefactthatwritersofthehistoryofphilos-ophyhaddifferentopinionsabouttheinclusionofOrientalphilosophyinageneralhistoryofphilosophy.
Thus,DieterichTiedemanninhisGeistderspeculativenPhilosophievonThalesbisSokrates(1791)saysthathewouldbeginhishistoryofphilosophywithGreekphilosophybecausethereisnoconclusiveproofthatphilosophyoriginatedinAsiaorAfri~a.
~Ontheotherhand,JohannGottliebBuhle,LehrbuchderGeschichtederPhilosophieundeinerkritischenLiteraturderselben(Gottingen:VandenhoeckundRuprecht,1796)hasasectiononChinesephilosophytogetherwithabibli~graphy.
~ItistobenotedthatHegelincludedChinainhishistoryofphilosophyin1825,almostonehundredyearsafterChristianWolffwasexpelledfromtheUniversityofHalleforhisorationextollingthemeritsofChinaandChinesephilosophy.
ThemainsubjectmatterscoveredinHegel'slecturesonChinesephilosophyarethefollowing:Confucius,theIChing,LaoTzu,andthecultofthestate.
Accordingly,weshalldiscusstheminthatorder.
CONFUCIUSHegelrecognizesConfuciusasthemostinfluentialthinkerofChina.
Hegel'sownwritingsandthelecturenotestakenbyhisstudentsindicatethatConfuciuswasdiscussedineachofhiscoursesonthehistoryofphilosophy.
Hegel'sjudgmentonConfucius,however,isharsh.
Inhiscourseonthehistoryofphilosophygivenin1825-1826,HegelsaysthatsomeofConfucius'remarksare"notwithoutspirit,butthereisnothingYoungKunKimisAssociateProfessorof'Politica1ScienceatLehmanCollege,CUNYPirilorophrEaptandWesr28.
no2.
April1978byTheUnibersltyPressofHawallAllrightsreserved.
174Kimoutstandingaboutthem.
.
.
.
Hisbooksrevealagoodunderstandingoftheaffairsofman.
However,hedealsmainlywithpopularmorality.
"Consequently,Hegelargues,"onelooksinvainforspeculativephilosophyinConfucius'works,forhewasmerelyapracticalstateman.
"InanotherlectureHegelexplicitlystatesthatConfuciuswasamoralistbutnotamoralphilosopher.
HethencomparesthesayingsofConfuciustotheproverbsofSolomon,saying"theyarequitegood,butnotscientific.
"Com-mentingontheEnglishtranslationbyJoshuaMarshmanoftheAnalectswhichappearedin1811,Hegelsaysthat"itwouldhavebeenbetterifConfuciuswerenottranslated.
"Hegoesontosaythatalthough"wedofindinhisworkcorrectmoralideas,hisreflectionsneverriseabovetheconventionalviews.
"HestatesthatConfuciusshouldnotbecomparedtoSocratesandthathewasnotalawgiverlikeSol~n.
~HealsonotesthatConfuciuswaswellknowninLeibniz'time,without,however,discussinghisviewsonChinesephilosophy.
HegivescredittoCon-fuciusforcompilingancientbooksofChinabutpointsoutthathischiefconcernwasmoralteaching.
Confuciusoffered,Hegelsays,"highlytastelessprescriptionsforcultandmanners.
"HesumsuphisviewsonConfuciusbysayingthat"hismoralteachingsaregoodandhonest(gutundbrav),butnothingmorethanthat.
.
.
.
Hewasdefinitelynotaspeculativethinker.
"loThatHegelhadaratherlowopinionofConfuciusasaphilosopherisalsoindicatedinhisstatementthat"Cicero'sDeoficiisisperhapsbetterandmoreinterestingtousthanalltheworksofConfuciusputtogether.
"HealsosaysthatinreadingConfuciushewasremindedof"moralizingsermons.
"ConfuciusappearedtoHegeltobeapopularmoralizerratherthanamoralphilosopherperhapsbecausetheAnalects,beingacompilationofConfucius'utterancesbyhisdisciples,doesnotexhibitacleardesignorstructure.
ItistruethatConfuciuswaschieflyconcernedintheAnalectswithproblemsofhumanconductratherthanmetaphysics.
ButacarefulreaderoftheAnalectswilldiscernwhatmightbecalledadeepstructureofthebook.
ForConfucius'sayingsrevolvearoundnotionssuchashuman-heartedness(jen),rulesofpropriety(li),andknowledge(chi).
ItisnoteworthythatHegeldoesnotcom-mentonanyoftheseconceptsatall.
HegelhasdoneusaservicebynotingsimilaritiesbetweenthesayingsofConfuciusandtheProverbsofSolomonandthemoralideasofCicero.
Butwewishhehadexaminedcarefullythetheologicalandphilosophicalpresuppositionsonwhichtheideasofthethreethinkersarebased.
THEICHINGHegelsaysthattheIChingcontainsthebasicformsofChinesephilosophy:DieGrundformenderPhilosophiederChinesensindZeichen,deneneineBedeutunggegebenwird.
Thebasicformsrefertoyangastheprincipleofonenessorunity(Einheit)andyinastheprincipleofduality.
Hementionsthevariouscognateandcorrelativequalitiesassociatedwithyangandyin.
Hethengoesontosaythatthehorizontalline(hsiaoa)alsorepresentstheoriginofallthings,theemptinessassuch,nothingness,andreason(tao):DerersteStrichbedeutetdannauchderUrsprungallerDinge,dasLeereiiberhaupt,oderdasNichtsundhinwiederumdieVernunft(tao).
13Afterexplainingtheprocessofbuildingtrigramsandhexagramswiththebasicstraightandbrokenlines(hsiao)-hecallssinglelinekuabymistake-Hegelsuggeststhatthesystemofhexagramsrepresentsanattempttoofferanexplanationforthedevelopmentofeverythingfromtao.
l4TheIChingshows,inHegel'sopinion,thattheChinesewerecapableofabstractthinkingbyusingpurecategories.
Butheobjectstotherepresentationofthoughtandrealitybylines.
Moreappropriatemodesofrepresentation,heargues,aremythandlanguage:Sie(linesorhexagrams)sindauchbildlich,abernichtsokonkretbildlichwiedieMythen.
lsTobuttresshisarguments,Hegelsaysthattheuseofacircleforinfinityorthefigureofasnakebitingitsowntailforeternityisnotwarranted,forthesesymbolsdistorttheessenceofthetwobasicphilosophicnotions.
l6WhileadmittingthattheChinesehavedisplayedtheircapacityforabstractthoughtthroughtheinventionofthehexagrams,Hegelmaintainsthattheattempttoexplainthenatureoftherealitybysymbolsdenoting,forexample,mountainandrain,revealsthattheywereapproachingtherealityasiftheyweredealingwithordinaryobjectsofsenseperception.
l7WiththeaidoftheclassificatorysystemcontainedintheIChing,HegelholdsthattheChineseweretryingtodiscoverthenatureoftherealityasawhole.
Buttheycouldnotprobebeyondtheexternalorder,ortheycouldnotinvestigatetheinnerorderofthereality.
'Healsoobjectstothecombinationoftrigramsdenotingelementswhichdonotcohere.
Theexamplecitedbyhimtomakethispointisthehexagram(weichib)consistingofatrigram(kua)forEfireandanotherforwater=.
Sincewaterandfirereallydonotmix,Hegelreasonsitisfallacioustocombinethetrigramstoformahexagram.
'Indealingwithtrigrams,henotesaparallelbetweenEmpedocles'notionoffourelements-air,fire,water,andearth-andtrigramsdenotingsimilarele-mentsintheIChing.
zoHealsofindsasimilaritybetweentheprogressionfromnumberonetotwoinPythagorasandtheprogressionfromonenessorunitytodualityintheIChing.
Thefouremblems(hsiangc)stillhavequantitativemeaning,butwhentheselinesarecombinedtoproduceeighttrigrams,sensuousobjectsratherthanmathematicalnotionsprevail.
*'ToputwhatHegelsays176Kimsimply,thesinglehorizontallines,fullandbroken,indicatemathematicalqualities,buttrigramsandhexagramsrepresentsensuousobjects.
LetusbrieflyexamineHegel'sviewsontheIChing.
WhileHegelknewthatwhathecalledOneness(Einheit)createdtwoandmany,hedidnotseetheirconnectionsclearly.
HedoesnotseemtohavereadthefollowingimportantsentenceintheIChing:Iyutaichi,shishengliangi,Liangishengssuhsiang,ssuhsiangshengpakuai:IntheI"thereistheGreatUltimate(t'aichif),whichproducedthetwoForms(ig).
ThesetwoFormsproducedthefouremblems(hsiang)andthesefouremblemsproducedtheeighttrigram^.
^^HisfailuretorecognizethatsinglelinesdenotingtheFormsarecalledhsiaoh-hecallsthemkuai,whichactuallyrefertotrigramsandhexagrams-isprobablyaresultofnothavingreadthestatementjustquoted.
Hegel'scriticismoftheuseofhexagramstodealwiththenatureoftherealityraisesaquestionregardingthemethodofrepresentingthereality.
Whether,asHegelbelieved,languageormythcanmoreadequatelydescribetherealityisopentoquestion.
WhatshouldbenotedisthatHegelwascon-vincedthatlanguageandmytharethebettermodesofexpressionbecausetherealityisultimatelyspiritual.
Finally,Hegel'scontentionthattheIChingdealtwiththeexternalratherthaninnerorderoftherealitydoesnotdojusticetothepurposesoftheIChing.
TheIChingwasevolvedastheresultoftheattemptsbyancientChinesepeopletoexplaintheultimatenatureofreality.
Usingthesystemofsixty-fourhexa-grams,theancientChinesesoughttodowhatEmpedocleswithhisfourelementsandthePythagoreanswithnumberstriedtoaccomplish.
AlltheirattemptshaveendedinmerelytouchingwhatHegelregardedasthesuperficialaspectofthereality,buttheirintentionwastoprobeintotheessenceofthereality.
LAOTZUOneofthekeyquestionsaboutLaoTzu,Hegelnotes,isthenotionoftao.
Hemakesmanyattemptstodefinetheconcept:TaoistdasAllgemei~~e.
~~DasEineistdasUnbestimmte,Bestimmungslose,dieschlechteersteAbstrak-tion,dasganzeLeere.
24TaoistdieurspriinglicheVernunft,dernousderdieWelthervorgebrachthatundsieregiert,wiederGeistdenKorperbeherrs~ht.
~Thefactthathedefinestaoinsomanyways-theuniversal,indeterminatebeing,thesheerfirstabstraction,thetotalemptiness,andtheprimordialreason-indicatesthathesharedtheproblemthattheTaoiststhemselvesfacedintryingtomaketaointelligible.
HewasalsoveryinterestedinthefollowingsentenceintheTaoreching:Taoshengi.
Ishengerh.
ErhshengSan.
jTheTaoproducedtheoneTheoneproducedthetwoThetwoproducedthethreeandthethreeproducedthetenthousandthingsThisHegelinterpretsthusDieVernunthatdasEinshervorgebracht,diesdieZwei,unddiesedieDrei,unddieDreiistdasUnivers~m.
~~Sointerpreted,thepassageremindsHegelofPythagoras:AlleZahlenfallenselbstunterdenBegriffdesEins,denndieZweiheitisteineZweiheit,unddieDreiheitebensoeineEins,dieZehnzahlaberdaseineHauptderZah1e1-1.
~'ItisclearthatHegeltakesthenumberstwoandthreementionedinLaoTzuinamathematicalsense,whereasinterpretersoftheIChinggenerallyagreethatthetworeferstoheavenandearthorthedualityofyinandyang,andthree,theinteractionbetweentaoandyinandyang.
AnotherpassagewhichHegeldiscussesrepeatedlyisthefollowing:Shihchihpuchienmingi.
T'ingchihpuwenminghsi.
Pochihputeming~ei.
~WelookatitanddonotseeitItsnameistheInvisible.
Welistentoitanddonothearit;ItsnameistheInaudible.
Wetouchitanddonotfindit;,ItsnameistheSubtle(formles~).
~~HegeldisplaysanunusualcuriosityabouttheclaimthattheinitialsoundsofthethreeChinesecharacters[%II'[%IHsim[R]Wein-IH(HegelhasIHV)correspondtotheHebrewpronunciationofYahweh.
Althoughhedoesnotsupporttheclaim,Hegelbelievesthatthesentencequotedindicatesthenatureoftaowell.
30InspiteofthefactthatHegelwaskeenlyinterestedinthenotionoftao,hecontendsthatitistooabstract:DieBestimmungendesTaobleibenvollkommeneAbstraktionen,unddieLebendigkeit,dasBewusstsein,dasGeistigefaltnichtindastaoselbsL31THECULTOFTHESTATEThelastmajortopicthatHegeldiscussesinhislecturesonthehistoryofphilosophyisthecultofthestateinChina.
HereHegelcontendsthattheChineseveneratetheemperorasthesonofheaven.
IntheChinesemind,theemperoristhelordofnature(HerrderNatur).
Assuch,heisregardedasthefoundationoflawandmorality.
HegelcontendsthatinChinamoralityisnotamatterofindividualconscienceandchoicebutanaffairofthestate.
Sincetheemperorisregardedasthesonofheaven,lawsdeclaredbyhimappeartothepeopleasinflexibleanddeter-minateasthelawsofnature.
Furthermore,lackingthesenseofmorality,whichisbasedontheinnerself(Innerlichkeit),theChinesepeoplearetheabjectservantsofthedespoticemperor.
32HavingexaminedHegel'sviewsonConfucius,theIChing,LaoTzu,andthecultofthestate,IwishnowtomakesomegeneralcommentsonHegel'streatmentofChinesephilosophy.
First,HegelreliedontranslationsandexcerptsdealingwithChinesephilos-ophyratherthanonoriginalsources.
ThiswasinspiteofHegel'sfirmlyheldview,expressedinhislecturesonthehistoryofphilosophy,thatoriginalsourcesshouldbeusedinstudyingthehistoryofphilo~ophy.
~~However,HegelstudiedcarefullyavailablesourcesonChinesephilosophy.
Thus,Michelet,oneofthosewhoattendedhislecturesandlatereditedtheHistoryofPhilosophy,reportsthatHegelreadfromarichcollectionofEnglishandFrenchsourceswhenhelecturedonChinesephilo~ophy.
~~Second,ascrutinyofhislecturesonthehistoryofphilosophyshowsthatHegelwasnotawareoftheexistenceofdiversephilosophicalschoolsinclassicalChina.
Thus,nowheredoesherefertotheLegalists,Mohists,orLogicians.
Moreover,hediscussesLaoTzuatlength,butdoesnotmentionChuangTzuatall.
Menciusisbrieflymentioned,butChineseBuddhistorNeo-Confucianthinkersreceivednoattention.
ItismybeliefthatHegel'slackofknowledgeaboutthediversecompetingschoolsofthoughtduringtheperiodoftheWarringStates-theHundredSchools-andthelaterdevelopmentofConfucianismandTaoismisrespon-sible,atleastinpart,forhiswell-knownideathatChinaisalandofStillstandruledbyadespoticemperor.
HadheknownmoreaboutthedevelopmentofChinesethought,itwouldbedifficultforhimtoembracethenotionthatChinaispoliticallyandintellectuallyastaticcountry.
Third,itmustbepointedoutthatbythetimethatHegelbegantostudyChinesephilosophy,hehaddevelopedhisownphilosophicalsystemsothathejudgedChinesephilosophyaccordingtohisownconceptionofphilosophy.
Hegelbelievedthatphilosophyhastodowiththetotalityoftruthandthatthoughtshouldbeconceivedofnotasamereabstractionbutasalivingreality:DenndiePhilosophiebeabsichtigtdaszuerkennen,wasunverganglich,ewig,anundfiirsichist;ihrZielistdieWahrhei~~~DieMutderWahrheit,derGlaubeandieNachtdesGeistesistdieersteBedingungderPhilosophie.
DasWahreistdasDal3dasWahrenuralsSystemwirklich,oderdal3dieSubstanzwesentlichSubjektist,istinderVorstellungausgedriickt,welchedasAbsolutealsGeistausspricht.
Finally,Hegelbelievedinthenotionofhistoricaldevelopment.
Thatistosay,hethoughtthateachcultureservesasastageinthedevelopmentoftheSpirit.
Thus,inhisPhilosophyofRightof1821,herelegatestheOrientalworldtoaninferiorstage,andinhislecturesonthephilosophyofhistory,whichhebegantodeliverin1822asnotedearlier,Chinaisclearlydefinedasadespotic,staticcountry.
Therefore,itisnotsurprisingthatHegelcouldnotproperlyappreciateChinesephilosophy.
Nevertheless,HegelhascontributedtothestudyofChinesephilosophybyposingtoughquestions,whichIamafraid,havenotyetbeenanswered.
Hegelalsoraisedachallengingquestiontothecomparativestudyofphilos-ophy.
IhavearguedthatHegel'sinterpretationwasmarredbythefactthatheapproachedChinesephilosophyafterhisphilosophicalsystemwascompleted.
ButthenImustaskmyself:Whatisanobjective,neutralwayofstudyingvariousphilosophicalsystemsWhydoeshavingadefiniteconceptionofphilosophyhinderthestudyofotherphilosophicalsystemsSinceHegelwasadistinctlyoriginal1philosopher,hiscriticismofChinesephilosophyrevealshisphilosophicalorientationasmuchashisattitudetowardChinesephilosophy.
IfonethinksthatHegel'scriticismofChinesephilosophyisundulyharsh,oneshouldrememberthatChineseintellectualsofthelatenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturieshavesharplycriticizedtheChinesephilosophicaltradition.
ThecriticismofConfucianisminChinatodaymakesHegel'scriticismrathermildbycomparison.
ABBREVIATIONSGesch.
Phil.
IJohannesHoffmeister,ed.
,G.
W.
F.
Hegel:VorlesungenueberdieGeschichtederPhilosophie,Einleitung(Leipzig:FelixMeiner,1940)Gesch.
Phil.
11JohannesHoffmeister(ed.
),G.
W.
F.
Hegel:EinleitungindieGeschichtederPhilosophie(Hamburg:FelixMeiner,1956)Phil.
Gesch.
IGeorgLasson,ed.
,G.
W.
F.
Hegel:PhilosophiederWeltgeschichte:ZueiteHalfte(Leipzig:FelixMeiner,1923)Phil.
Gesch.
11JohannesHoffmeister,ed.
,G.
W.
FHegel:DieVernunftinderGeschichte(Ham-burg:FelixMeiner.
1955)Gesch.
Phil.
E.
ModernhauerandK.
M.
Michel,eds.
,G.
W.
F.
Hegel.
Werke20(Frankfurt:SuhrkampSuhrkamp,1971)Relig.
GeorgLasson,ed.
,VorlesungenuberdiePhilosophiederReligion,ErsterBond:Halbband2(Hamburg:FelixMeiner,1966).
180KimNOTES1.
Grsch.
Phil.
Suhrkamp,p.
520.
2.
Grsch.
Phil.
I:xxxii.
3.
Phil.
Gesch.
1I:vii.
4.
Phil.
Gesch.
I:v.
5.
P.
xix.
6.
ThisbookaswellasTiedeman'sbookwereamongthesourcesforthehistoryofphilosophyrecommendedbyHegel.
Pp.
103-111.
7.
In1721WolffdeliveredoratiodeSinarumphilosophiapracticaattheUniversityofHalle.
Hewasexpelledin1726.
8.
Gesch.
Phil.
II:215.
9.
Gesch.
Phil.
I:216.
10.
Gesch.
Phil.
II:272.
1I.
Gesch.
Phil.
I:272.
12.
Gesch.
Phil.
I:276.
13.
Ibid.
14.
Grsch.
Phil.
I1:215.
15.
Gesch.
Phil.
I:273.
16.
Ibid.
17.
Ihid.
,p.
274.
18.
Ihid.
,p.
278.
19.
Ibid.
,p.
277.
20.
Ihid.
,p.
278.
21.
Ihid.
,p.
276.
22.
FungYu-Ian,AHistor.
of'ChinesePhilosopl~(Princeton,N.
J.
:PrincetonUniversityPress,1952).
p.
384.
23.
Relig.
,p.
116.
24.
Ihid.
25.
Gesch.
Phil.
,II:281.
26.
Rrlig.
,p.
116.
27.
Bolland,ed.
,GeschichtrderPhilosophiie,p.
115.
28.
Ma,Shu-luno,Laotzuch'iaochi(HongKong,1965),p.
55.
29.
Wing-tsitChan,TheWayofLaoT:u(NewYork:LibraryofLiberalArts,1963).
p.
124.
30.
Grsch.
Phil,I1:284-285.
31.
Relig.
,p.
117.
32.
Gesch.
Phil.
11:279.
33.
Gesch.
PhilII:252f.
34.
Gesch.
Phil.
Suhrkamp,p.
521.
35.
Gesch.
Phil.
11:14.
36.
Ibid.
,p.
6.
37.
PhenomrnologirdrsGeistrs(Hamburg:FelixMeiner,1952),p.
21.
38.
Ihid.
,p.
24.