向人敞开

旁观网上论坛一些参与者的言论用语，令人感到网上论坛，是一个向人敞开的平台。武断式批判语言、动辄给人扣帽子，有时所显示的不是发言者的智慧，而是敞开人生百态的活生生例子。

西方哲学思维研讨，有所谓知识性、历史性或思想性的范式。但是，不论是哪一种范式，他们可以说始终兴趣于人类的自我认识、自我深化，而面向人、为了人、成就人，就是说，它是一部不断向人敞开的历史。人不但拥有物质世界，还拥有精神世界，不断寻找人本质的丰富性和现实性的历程形成了西方哲学数千年延续下来的传统。

古希腊的本体论所设定的从现象到本质的理路大抵规约了整个西方乃至西方文明的走向。在柏拉图那里。理念世界与现实世界的二分，古典哲学从探讨命运之于人的意义转变为力图摆脱命运，追寻人自身存在的意义，产生了物理学、数学、天文学等自然科学。中世纪哲学被披上神学的外衣，使哲学成为神学的工具而存在。

近代哲学经历了文艺复兴的启蒙运动，使人类有勇气运用自己的理智认识世界、认识自己。面对问题，尤其是在面对长久思考而不得其解的问题时，人们不禁要问我是否有能力回答这个问题？我怎样才能拥有解答这个问题的能力？这不禁令人想到了苏格拉底，他被神认定是希腊最聪明的人，不是因为他有知识，而是因为他知道自己无知，所以才会追求和探索知识。现代人所要做的正是考察人类的认识过程与能力：知识的合法性根据在于主体，主体之所以能够成为知识的合法性在于主体的理性。

西方对主体的反思是深刻的。而我们东方呢？我们是不是也在思考我们的认识过程与能力？还是在接触到西方的表面之后，自认为已经找到真理，对持有不同意见的人，都扣上了“脑残”或“痴呆”的帽子？

智慧的痛苦

西方哲学源于希腊语“爱智慧”；谈的是“爱智慧”而不是“智慧之学”。后来哲学转向“知识论”，却不谈“爱知识”。可见西方谈到智慧与知识时，是分得相当清楚的。可是知识与智慧有何分别，却也不容易说清楚。

康德把科学与智慧加以区分，说科学是分门别类的知识，智慧是井井有条的生活。当知识论成为西方哲学主流时，哲学家甚至把智慧排除在哲学之门外。

知识可以学，可以探讨，而智慧只能爱，一种说法是知识与科学是严谨可靠的东西，而智慧是虚无缥缈的东西。

另一种解释认为智慧是宇宙自然最深邃最根本的奥秘，至高无上，它只适合于神而不适合人。圣经创世纪2.16耶和华吩咐亚当说，园中各样树上的果子，你可以随意吃。2.17说只是分别善恶树上的果子，你不可以吃，因为你吃的日子必定死。

Genesis 2：16-17：And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

分别善恶树在英语里是 The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil，就是“善恶的知识之树”，善恶的知识就有“智慧”的意思，而不是指知识而已。圣经里的话似乎是说，人不是因为追求智慧才成为有死的，而是因为追求智慧后才知道自己是有死的。所以说智慧不但是一种痛苦，而且是痛苦中的痛苦。

圣经表明了人注定要追求智慧（那是善恶之学），可是智慧之至高无上却又注定不可能达到通达智慧的境界，更在追求智慧中知道了自己必死之有限性。

博爱与社区

西方民主思维，除了讲自由与平等的理念外，其实还有个“博爱”的理念。这个源于法国大革命后出现的理念，很奇怪的并不常常被人提起。而在联合国的“人权宣言”第一条只是间接的谈到这个理念：

人人生而自由，在尊严和权利上一律平等。他们赋有理性和良心，并应以兄弟关系的精神相对待。

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

这“兄弟关系”就是指 Fraternity，中文翻译为“博爱”其实有误导性，令人想到西方宗教中所宣扬的博爱。有讽刺意味的是，对当时的革命者而言，这个理念可能正好有完全反对当时垄断的宗教文化的意味。它与中华思维中的“四海之内皆兄弟也”的理念更为接近。

这个理念所提出的兄弟关系（Brotherhood）概念，牵涉到形成市民社区所需的几个核心价值：设身处地考虑别人的处境（Empathy）、合作（Coorporation）、承诺（Commitment）、责任（Responsibility）、公平（Fairness）、信任（Trust）与公道（Equity）。这些核心价值相互关联组成“博爱”之外衣。

真正的自由与平等只能实现于社区之外，而在社区之外谈博爱是没有意义的。这个理念不但可以用于人与人之间、这一代人与下一代人之间，也应该用于人与自然界之间。比如设身处地的价值就是承认某些人或某些动物与自然环境需要我们特别照顾，使到他们可以继续在社区扮演有用的角色。

因为“博爱”涉及的是形成社区所需的价值与对整体环境的关怀，从某种意义来说，它比从个人为出发点的自由与平等理念对人类生存的意义更大。

平等产生竞争

西方民主思维的两大理念是：自由与平等。他们提出这些理念，很多时候不是反映现实，而是要以这种理念来征服与改造世界，以达到一个更完美、更适合人类居住的一个社会。

讲自由，是要解释罪恶的原因。（网页： http://joontai.blogspot.sg/2013/01/blog-post.html）

为什么要提倡平等？是要鼓励竞争。这是很诡异的，达尔文说，“物竞天择，适者生存。” 明明是个弱肉强食的世界，何来平等？平等是一种向往还是现实？看来带有强烈的理想主义，是文化复兴思维下的产品。

人们谈平等，都喜欢引用美国《独立宣言》里的话：“人人生而平等。” （All men are created equal）。《独立宣言》被当作美国立国之本，其精神其实来自英国人洛克，当时一个全面阐述过宪政民主思想的人。因为社会的自然状态是一种没有人介入的纯粹的弱肉强食状态，所以政府的适当介入很重要。悲观派认为只有绝对的君主制才能阻止人现任自相残杀的境地；洛克是乐观派，他对人的理性充满信心，不相信君权神授，民主宪政就是为了保障社会的安全，克服自然状态中“无序”所带来的不便，所以要提倡“社会契约论”，确保每一个人都是平等的。

民主社会演变的过程中，社会要进步就要有竞争。平等变成大前提，而竞争带来的成果与满足才是目标。龙生龙，凤生凤，大家各安其位，何必言竞争？但是，人主要还是精神动物，温饱之后，尊严和荣誉还是有相当价值的，人总不能一生当奴隶吧？为了在社会上找准自己的位子，就得煞费苦心在社会阶梯上往上爬。竞争才是硬道理。

可是现代社会的竞争是残酷的。但是竞争的结果恰恰就是造成不平等的社会。

平等理念作为大前提，其结果偏偏就是越来越不平等的现实。这是怎样的一种理念呢？

自由源于恶念

自由是个人人有兴趣的课题；但是也是个很有争议性的课题。

华人说崇尚的自由，可说是自然中的自由自在，而自然就是自而然之，顺其自然。

西方人谈自由就显得认真。古代希腊人相信命运、必然性、规律，对自然充满反抗性的乐观精神，所以他们对命运持积极态度，崇尚理性知识。但是当时知识不足以解释自然现象之所以然，导致晚期希腊的怀疑主义抬头，不再追求知识，转向伦理与宗教。适逢基督教的兴起，怀疑主义为教父与经院哲学所利用，并提出了自由意志的宗教注解。

提出自由意志的是教父奥古斯丁。奥古斯丁为一个全知、全能、全善的上帝创造一个充满罪恶与苦难的世界感到苦恼。恶的存在如何能解释上帝的真善美？他提出了自由意志论：恶是人的自由意志的选择。他把上帝与祂所创造的世界分开来，因为上帝是超越的。在上帝那里，恶是不存在的。但是世界是被上帝创造的，它不可能完美，不然就与上帝同等了。世界的缺陷就是恶。上帝创造了亚当时给了他自由意志，这个时候人类就有了选择善恶的自由。

自由本来应该是行善的自由，为什么自由意志离善而趋于恶呢？因为亚当受到了诱惑，误用了行善的自由，犯下了“原罪”，因此人只有作恶的自由。

信仰与理性 Faith and Reason

新加坡城市丰收教会的创办人和其他四人涉嫌共谋失信该教会2300万元，2012年7月26日遭商业事务局逮捕。该会的教友在逮捕后，大多表示继续对这些领导人有信心与信任。

在这里所说的，不管是信心还是信任，英语所用的词都是 Faith。在宗教里，Faith 其实是个有特别含义的词语，都有信仰的意思。

在西方，信仰与理性是两个争论不休的概念。古希腊哲学主要是探究本源的逻辑理路，这个理路规约了整个西方哲学乃至西方文明的走向。从对命运的叩问、对智慧的探究与真理的追求，奠定了西方传统哲学通过概念、范畴的逻辑论证和理论推演建构体系的本体论证方式。

可是，当希腊人对现世的幸福和心灵的安宁的探问发展到一定程度时，人是生而有死的存在问题出现了。这就导致他们对灵魂回归神、关照神的向往，以伦理化的宗教填补纷繁无序的思维与辩论。这就是宗教信仰概念的提出，让上帝以信念信仰的方式通向了人的内心。

中世纪早期教父哲学家把神圣的启示置于理性知识之上，认为人的理智只能获得自然界知识，不能用于把握上帝的存在。人的理性是有缺陷的，而上帝是绝对的与完美的。到了后来，阿奎那才认为理性与信仰都不可偏废。自然知识依靠人的理性获得，超自然知识超越人的本性之外，它需要靠上帝的启示，就是说通过信仰来获得。

信仰与迷信 Faith and Superstition

最近城市丰收教会的牧师涉嫌失信教会款项的事件，教友对案件的反应不禁令人想到信仰与迷信的课题。

信仰与迷信的分别是不易辩证的。西方人对宗教的态度认真，中世纪经院学者一反在他们以前的教父只注重信仰（Faith）的哲学，把信仰与理性联系起来，并由此而把信仰与迷信区分开来。

西方宗教的观点是：宗教是有理性的信仰，而没有理性的信仰才是迷信。

宗教的信仰是有理性的，就是以严谨的思维、逻辑的推理来达成有系统的宗教知识。

迷信是没有理性的信仰，因为没有理性会导致虚无与相对主义。虚无主义是怀疑主义的极致形式，认为没有可以理解的真相，世界、生命的存在没有意义与目的；而相对主义者认为没有一个社会价值能普遍的适用于所有时空下，价值随社会文化、个人背景而不同；所以一个价值的正确与否仅仅是因为它是否与当时的公共认知相对。

这种对信仰与迷信的解读恰恰显示西方宗教目前所处的困境。以理性来解救信仰恰恰把信仰的地位贬低在理性之下；其所排斥为迷信的虚无与相对主义，恰恰是当代哲学的主流。

理性秩序：客观的理论基础 Rational Order: The Theoretical Basis for Objectivity

在西方传统里，理性秩序基于世界是一个整体的秩序的这样假设；同时，为了要达到他们四周环境的社会稳定，西方人崇尚和谐、秩序及统一性，而不是不调和、混乱与无主宰。

对西方人来说，事物的秩序的思考始于这类的问题：‘那是什么样的东西？’‘这些东西的本质是什么？’为提供对这些事物的解释提供途径时，罗各斯，就是说理性解释，开始扮演重要角色。在理性思维中，罗各斯所要寻找的是事物中的永恒真理。

只要认为事物的本性是流动的是对的，那么世上所有事物应被自然法规所指导也是对的。只要认为法规是客观的、永恒的与不变的，理论本身就应当被看成是超越的。这里，古典希腊的两个世界观给传统西方的客观主义一个理论依据，那就是我们可以置身事外并谈事务的整个外观。

对古典希腊哲学家而言，知识就是对不断变化的现象后面的本质、形式与功能的发掘与掌握。所以知识的语言包括‘概念’、‘意想’及‘理解’。永恒才是实在，实在的常态是惰性。知识的范式是数学，或者更具体地说是几何学。柏拉图学院的门口就贴了‘没有学过几何学者不得进入’这几个字。一般倾向于以表象词汇来理解知识，而这些表象词汇是同构与清晰的，把外面客观的事物真实地反映于心中。

但是，对永恒而不是流动的崇尚却产生了各种各样的二元论来理解他们对世界的体验：实在/现象、知识/意见、真理/虚假、存在/非存在、造物者/万物、灵魂/肉体，等等。

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In the Western tradition, rational order lies in the assumption of the world as ‘a single-ordered whole’ and in order to achieve social stability in their surroundings, the Westerners favour harmony, cosmos (order) and unity rather the discord, chaos and anarchy.

For them, thinking about the order of things begins with questions such as ‘What kinds of things are there?’ and ‘What is the nature of things?’ In providing the means of explaining the way things are, logos meaning rational account begin to play a significant role. In rational way of thinking, logos seeks permanent truth in the way things are.

As far as it is true that the nature of things is in flux, it is also true that all events in the world must be guided by necessary laws. And as far as the laws can be said to be objective, permanent and unchanging, reason itself should be regarded as transcendent. Here, it is the two-world worldview of classical Greece that gives the Western tradition a theoretical basis for objectivity – the possibility of standing outside and talking a wholly external view of things.

For the classical Greece philosophers, knowledge entails the discovery and grasping of defining essence, forms, or functions behind elusively changing appearance. Hence the language of knowing includes ‘concept’, ‘conceive’, and ‘comprehend’. Reality is what is permanent, and hence its natural state is inertia. The paradigm for knowledge, then, is mathematics, and more specifically, geometry. Over the door of Plato’s Academy was written: ‘Let none who have studied geometry entered here.’ Knowledge tends to be understood in representational terms that are isomorphic and unambiguous – a true impressed on the mind of that which exists externally and objectively.

However, the preference for permanence over flux has produced many kinds of dualism in order to organise their experience of the world: reality/appearance, knowledge/opinion, truth/falsity, Being/Non-being, Creator/creature, soul/body, and so on.

西方的两个世界的世界观 The Western Two-World Worldview

我们注意到西方二元两个世界学说辨别了永恒的实在世界与变化的现象世界。

第一世界以‘实在’、‘知识’、‘真理’这类词语来界定，是正面、必然与自给的，而第二世界则以‘现象’、‘意见’及‘虚假’来描述，是负面、偶然与倚靠主要世界来解释。

第一世界被构成为创造泉源，把混乱变成自然与伦理秩序的创造与决定原理。西方人就是从这些决定原理中倾向于把世界解释为直线的与因果的，并在结论后面寻找前提、结果后面寻找原因、活动后面寻找作用者。

就是那个巴门尼德拒绝了世界呈现变化与多元化的普通见识，而坚持辨别现象与现实。现象世界就是所见之物体，或者是我们一厢情愿所欲目睹之物体。但是，官感是不能被信任的，因为它们是会犯错的，而它们一直在欺骗。真实只能通过纯粹逻辑、罗各斯，就是说以理性思维来接连。

所以，巴门尼德的这个想法后面含有另一个相同的重要的意见与真理的辨别。现象就只能产生意见，而实在才是真理的基础。

柏拉图承受了巴门尼德的存在不变的基本想法，发展了他自己的两个有差别的可知之真理世界与可视之意见世界。

西方传统以古典希腊的两个世界观作为‘客观’的学说基础；那就是置身事外而能观看事物的整体观的可能性。这个观点是说，独立于我们思维之外，存在着实在的客体与真相；而描述这一实在只能靠一种方法。

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We have noted that the western dualistic two-world theory distinguish between a permanently real world and a changing world of appearance.

The primary world which is defined in terms of ‘reality’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘truth’, is positive, necessary, and self-sufficient, while the second world is described as ‘appearance’, ‘opinion’, and ‘falsity’ is negative, contingent, and dependent for its explanation upon the first.

The primary world is construed as the originative source, a creative and determinative principle that brings both natural and moral order out of chaos. It is from this notion of determinative principle that westerners tend to take an explanation of the world to be linear and causal, entailing the identification of a premise behind a conclusion, a cause behind an effect, some agency behind an activity.

It was Parmenides who rejected the commonsense notions that world exhibits change and multiplicity and insisted on a distinction between appearance and reality. The world of appearance is how things seem or how one tends to perceive things. However, the senses are not to be trusted since they are fallible and they constantly deceive. What is real is only accessible through pure logic, the Logos, that is, rational thought.

Therefore, what lies behind this is Parmenides’ equally important distinction between opinion and truth. Appearance cannot produce more than opinion, whereas reality is the basis of truth.

Plato took Parmenides’ basic idea of the unchangeability of being and developed from this his distinction between the intelligible world of truth and the visible world of opinion.

The two-world view of classical Greece has given western tradition a theoretical basis for objectivity; that is the possibility of standing outside and taking a wholly external view of things. The view is that there is a reality of objects and facts that exists independent of the mind and there is only one correct description of this reality.

西方的中庸之道 The Western Idea of the Golden Mean

在西方哲学里，尤其是亚里士多德的哲学，中庸是在两个极端，即过度与不足之间的适中点。

最早代表文化中这种思维的可能是克里特中有关代达罗斯与伊卡洛斯的神话。代达罗斯是当时有名的艺术家，他用蜡为自己与儿子伊卡洛斯制造了翼翅，以便逃出国王米诺斯的魔手。代达罗斯警告他的儿子飞行时应取中道，即在海水沫与太阳热之间。伊卡洛斯不理睬他的父亲，越飞越高，因此太过靠近太阳，以致他的蜡翼受热后溶化，坠海而死。

在希腊的心理中，中庸是美的属性，他们相信它是美的三个元素：对称、协调与和谐。这三原理灌输入了他们的生活中。他们十分习惯于把美当作是爱的对象，一种被看成是十分亲密，能够在他们的生活、建筑、理想教育、政治中可以再现的东西。他们就是这样看待生命。

据说，苏格拉底教导人们应知道如何选择中道，尽量避免走任何一边的极端。

亚里士多德的中庸之道是他道德学说中最有名的。简言之，亚里士多德认为道德就是两个恶习之间的适中点。例如，勇气就介于胆怯与鲁莽之间。鲁莽是自信过度而忧虑不足，胆怯却是忧虑过度而信心不足。勇气就是含有这两者的适当成分。

这种中庸之道的准则导致他认为民主国家应由中等阶级来治理，不同于柏拉图认为应由仁者哲学家来治理的看法。

这个中庸之道的观点的后来演变为黄金比例与黄金分割的观念，并应用到道德价值以外。在艺术与视觉传媒，黄金比例被当成辨别线条、形状、视觉的最理想比例。它高度影响了古代希腊的雕刻与激励了达文西对比例的学习。

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In western philosophy, especially that of Aristotle, the golden mean is the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency.

The earliest representation of this idea in culture is probably in the mythological Cretan tale of Daedalus and Icarus. Daedalus, a famous artist of his time, built feathered wings for himself and his son so that they might escape the clutches of King Minos. Daedalus warns his son to ‘fly the middle course’, between the sea spray and the sun's heat. Icarus did not heed his father; he flew up and up until the sun melted the wax off his wings, and he fell into the sea and died.

To the Greek mentality, golden mean was an attribute of beauty and they believed there were three 'ingredients' to beauty: symmetry, proportion, and harmony. This triad of principles infused their life. They were very much attuned to beauty as an object of love and something that was to be imitated and reproduced in their lives, architecture, Paideia and politics. They judged life by this mentality.

Socrates is said to teach that a man must know how to choose the mean and avoid the extremes on either side, as far as possible.

The theory of the mean is one of Aristotle's best-known pieces of ethical thinking. In a nutshell, Aristotle said that virtues are a point of moderation between two opposite vices. For instance, the virtue courage lies between the two vices of cowardice and recklessness. Recklessness is too much confidence and not enough fear, cowardice is too much fear and not enough confidence, courage is just the right amount of both.

The ‘golden mean’ test also led to his belief that the middle class should rule democracy, unlike Plato's view that stated that democracy should be ruled by elite philosophers.

In the later development, through the idea of the Golden Mean comes the concept of the Golden Ratio and Golden Section and the application of the concepts has been extended beyond moral values. In art and visual communications, the Golden Ratio has been used as an ideal proportion on which to base lines, shapes and visual elements. It highly influenced classical Greek sculpture and inspired Leonardo Da Vinci in his studies of proportion.

西方的创世纪理念 The Western idea of World Creation

把西方思想定型的古希腊哲学，一开始就注重理性与探索的任务。他们对宇宙的本质提出了很多问题。它是如何来的？它是被创造的吗？还是一直就已经存在？他们相信我们所看到的之所以会成为这样，一定是经过一些流程。如果我们能够知道这些流程，那我们就可以了解世界本质。

古代的人对事物的来源与本质有很多的学说。其中的一个学说就在《圣经》的第一章《创世纪》中。这个说法是说上帝以六天的时间把这个世界从无到有创造了出来。

事实上是大哲学家柏拉图引进创造代理人的这个概念的。对柏拉图而言，我们以感官所看到、接触到与经验到的世界并不是真实的，而是世界的复制。在我们能找到真正与真实的东西的世界，他称作‘理念’或‘形式’世界。这些‘理念’或‘形式’并不是被创造出来的，它们在开始时就完美地在哪里，它们会以这种状态一直存在着。

这个复制的感性世界是如何被创造的？柏拉图说原本有一个‘建筑师’，也就是那个‘造物主’把理念世界与物质放在一起，就好像雕刻家把他的理念与大理石放在一起来雕出一个塑像一样。这个‘造物主’拥有所有东西的完美理念，它也有大量的物质。可是，柏拉图并没有告诉我们这个‘造物主’与物质是如何产生的。它们原本就在哪里。

此后，很多宗教思想家尝试把宗教信仰与希腊哲学融合起来。那些把基督教义与希腊哲学融合的人就被称为‘护教论者’。对他们而言，柏拉图的‘理念’就成为上帝。上帝本身就是永恒与应遵法则，永不变的永恒的模型。他是所有理念的统一。他从无中创造了物质并用来铸造这个世界。这个世界的模型在他的理念中。

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The ancient Greek philosophy that shaped the entire Western thought since its inception focused on the role of reason and inquiry. They asked many question on the nature of the universe. How did it come about? Was it created, or has it existed forever? They believed that all that we see around us must have become what it is by some process. If we know of this process, we would understand the nature of the universe.

The ancient people have had many theories of the beginning and nature of things. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, is one of these theories. Here we are told that God created the world out of nothing in six days.

In fact, it was Plato, the great philosopher who planted the idea of agent of creation of the world. For Plato, the world which we see, touch, and experience through our senses is not real, but a copy of the world. The real world in which we find true and real things is known by him as the world of ‘ideas’ or ‘forms’. These ‘ideas’ of ‘forms’ were never created, but have existed from the very beginning in just the perfect state in which they will always exist.

How was the world of our senses created? Plato said that there was an ‘architect’, the ‘Demiurge’, who brought the ideal world and matter together just as a sculptor might bring his idea and marble together to produce a statute. This ‘Demiurge’ had perfect ideas of everything, and had a great mass of matter. However, Plato did not tell us where either ‘Demiurge’ or matter came from originally. They were just there when things began.

Since then, there were many religious-minded thinkers attempted to reconcile the religious beliefs with Greek philosophy. Those men who sought to reconcile Christianity with Greek philosophy were known as Apologists. For them the ‘ideas’ of Plato became God. God is the eternal and abiding principle in all change, the eternal pattern that never changes. He is the unity of all ideas and forms. He fashioned the world from matter which He created out of nothing. The pattern of the world is in His mind.

正义：法律面前，人人平等 Justice: Equality Before the Law

法律面前，人人平等，当然是启蒙时代的伟大价值。它的原理是，在相同法律之下，每个人都要遵守，没有个人及团体拥有特别权利。

虽然平等的概念含糊及理论性强，它有用于提醒人们他们的共同人性，虽然人有不同。而平等就代表正义。

西方正义的概念来自罗马希腊与基督教义的哲学传统。在罗马希腊传统中就有古老传言，‘诚实过活，不愧于人，一视同仁。’在古代希腊，他们相信正义来自社会秩序，好社会促进正义，正义促进好社会。

在政治与正义的思想上，亚里士多德与洛克是两个影响西方社会最大的学者。

根据亚里士多德(公元前384-322)，正义是自愿的。每当一个人的行为是自发自愿时，他的所做可以是公正的，也可以是不公正的。他解释说，在合法的与公正的法律下，一个人享受他所拥有的一切，那才是正义之道；而不是合法地盗用或重新分配某些人的财产于另一些人。自然与普世正义应高于或成为法律的依据。这种的正义优越于国家为政府特定的及限于需求而指定的正义。在亚里士多德的传统中，正义因人而异，对公平应公平，对不公可不公。

对洛克 (1632-1704)而言，通过自然权力，自然正义为公民正义设下了极限与方向。个人权力固然不可剥夺，可是它们却是为自然规律所限制。依洛克之见，没有个人財产，正义是不能想象的。没有个人财产，就没有正义。个人拥有是一种权利，洛克正义的要点是以自然规律为基础来保证这种权利。

作为界定美国人正义概念的美国宪法，它受到洛克的影响很大。这个宪法中一些主要的假设包括：1。每一个人都有自由与追求自己快乐的自然权力；2。政府是公民间的契约合同；3。法律依赖于公民的赞同；4。获得公民支持的政府最有可能实现正义；5。代议制政府是正义的必要的条件；6。个人必得到保护以防止政府潜在权力。

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Equality before the law was, of course, the great value of the Enlightenment. It is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws, with no individual or group having special legal privileges.

Although the concept of equality is vague and theoretical, it serves to remind people of their common humanity, despite various differences. And equality represents justice.

Western concepts of justice are derived from Greco-Roman philosophical traditions and the teachings of Christ. From Greco-Roman traditions comes the ancient maxim, ‘to live honestly, to hurt no one, to give everyone his due.’ In ancient Greece, justice was believed to be derived from the order of society - a good society fostered justice, and justice fostered a good society.

Two scholars have the most influence on the western societies in the thinking of politics and justice: Aristotle and John Locke.

According to Aristotle (384-322 BC), justice is voluntary - a man acts justly or unjustly whenever he performs his acts voluntarily. He explains that justice is the virtue through which each person enjoys his own possessions in accordance with rightful and just laws - not those that legalize theft and redistribute property from some individuals to others. Natural and universal justice should precede and form the basis for law. Such justice is superior to state-dictated justice that is special and limited to the needs of the government. Justice, in the tradition of Aristotle, means treating individuals in accordance with their deserts, treating equals equally, and treating unequals unequally.

For John Locke (1632-1704), natural justice sets the limits and provides the direction for civic justice via the concept of natural rights. Whereas individual rights are inalienable, they are nevertheless based upon, and limited by, the law of nature. According to Locke, justice is inconceivable without personal property - where there is no property, there is no justice. The essence of Lockean justice is the security of each person’s personal possessions as a right based on the law of nature.

The U.S. Constitution, a fundamental document defining the American concept of justice, is strongly influenced by John Locke. Some of the constitution’s major assumptions are: (1) An individual has a natural right to liberty and his own free pursuit of happiness; (2) Government is a contract among the governed; (3) Laws must depend on the consent of the governed; (4) Justice is most likely to be achieved when government is through the consent of the governed; (5) Representative government is necessary for justice; and (6) The individual must be protected against the potential power of government.

二元对立与二元论 Binary Opposition and Dualism

二元对立是用来表示一对相反的东西。在西方，这个观念可以追溯到西方传统信念，认为现实的本质是二元的。希腊哲学家柏拉图 (公元前429-347) 的哲学可能是最早的有系统的二元概念。

在柏拉图的哲学中，存在着的最终的二元是永恒存在与变易、心与物、物体与灵魂。柏拉图相信真正的本质不是物体而是理念，物体只是理念的非完美摹本。这些理念不但构成世界，也使这个世界可被理解。因为理念是理解的根据，学者在理解的过程中一定要了解理念。

笛卡尔开始了现代版的二元论。笛卡尔相信存在着两种物质：物体或身体的主要性质是空间的伸延，而心灵的主要性质是思考。笛卡尔声称思考的心灵与伸延的身体分开存在。所以，心灵的本质是思想，是与身体不同的物质。

笛卡尔的二元论使他很难阐述心物如何关联及互相沟通。以柏拉图而言，他认为灵魂在持续的轮回或转生的过程中先存在于物体，并于物体消灭后继续存在。对笛卡尔来说，心灵如何与物体相互联系的问题实际上无法解决，因为他假设心物代表两种不同的物质。

两种对立力量间的挣扎看来是西方社会的基本错觉。在西方历史里的矛盾纠纷中，它一直被用来当作消灭‘他者’的凭据。

我们可以这么说，如果西方今日用相同的托词来解决世界纠纷，这个世界会变得更加危险。

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Binary opposition is a term used to mean a pair of opposites. In the West, the idea can be traced to the traditional believe in western philosophy that reality is essentially dual in nature. Probably the earliest systematic concept of dualism stems from the philosophy of the Greek philosopher Plato (429-347 BC).

In Plato’s philosophy there is an ultimate dualism of being and becoming, of ideas and matter, of body and soul. Plato believed that the true substances are not physical bodies, but the eternal Forms of which bodies are imperfect copies. These Forms not only make the world possible, they also make it intelligible. Because Forms are the grounds of intelligibility, they are what the intellect must grasp in the process of understanding.

Descartes originated the more modern versions of dualism. Descartes believed that there were two different kinds of substance: matter or body, of which the essential property is that it is spatially extended; and mind, of which the essential property is that it thinks. Descartes argues that the mind, a thinking thing, can exist apart from its extended body. And therefore, the mind is a substance distinct from the body, a substance whose essence is thought.

Descartes’ dualism made it difficult for him to describe how the body and mind could relate and interact upon each other. In the case of Plato, he argued that the soul both pre-existed and survived the body, going through a continual process of reincarnation or "transmigration". For Descartes, the question of how the mind interacts with the body was virtually unsolvable because he assumed that mind and body represent two distinct substances.

The struggle between the two competing forces seems to be the standard delusion of the Western society and it has been used as the justification for the demonization of the "other" in almost all conflicts in their history.

One can assume that the world is getting more dangerous if the West today use the same justification to resolve war conflicts.

后现代主义：人类一无所有 Postmodernism: Nothing Remains in One's Hands

后现代主义照字义是指现代主义之后的运动。现代主义一般被是对确实、原理、系统化思考、理性、个人思维的理论能力的信任的一种哲学门径。

后现代主义，一般而言，对现代主义对理性、原理、系统化思考的信心提出质疑。很多后现代主义者认为没有普世知识与道德这回事。他们也深深地怀疑能够推理与以思考来代表现实的‘自我’。

一般认为德国哲学家尼采是后现代主义之父，随之还有海德格尔、利奥陀、德里达、福柯，等等。

‘上帝已经死亡’是被广为引用的尼采之言。或者尼采这句话应该更适当的解释为‘上帝’这类的潮流（宗教的或精神的）已不足以当作道德的准则或精神了。

上帝之死可能是人类不再相信宇宙秩序的其中的一种述说，因为人类不再承认这种秩序了。尼采说，上帝之死不但会导致对宇宙或物质秩序的信仰的舍弃，也会导致对绝对价值本身的舍弃 – 那些把所有人类个体相连起来的客观的、普世的道德法则的舍弃。就这样，失去了道德的绝对依据，导致虚无主义。这虚无主义正是尼采重新评估人类价值的根基所要寻找的解决方案。对尼采而言，那是寻找比基督价值还要深刻的根基。

在西方历史里，这是思想家首次对理性与宗教严重的质问。当这些问题开始被广泛注意，人们开始绝望，虚无主义跟着蔓延。

看来，那些习惯于哲学始于惊异的人，现在应该认真地关注忧患的智慧了。

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Postmodernism literally means 'after the modernist movement'. Modernism is usually portrayed as a philosophical approach that has a faith in certainty, principles, systematic thinking, rationality, and the theoretical powers of the thinking individual.

Post-modernism, generally speaking, puts into question modernism's confidence in rationality, principles, and systematic thinking. Many post-modernists think that there cannot be universal knowledge or ethics. There is also a deep suspicion of the ‘self’ who is able to reason and represent reality through thought.

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is often called the father of post-modernism, and is followed by other thinkers such as Heidegger, Lyotard, Derrida, Foucault, etc.

‘God is dead’ is a widely-quoted statement by Nietzsche. It may be more appropriate to consider the statement as Nietzsche's way of saying that the ‘God’ of the times (religion and other such spirituality) is no longer a viable source of any moral code or spirit.

The death of God is a way of saying that humans are no longer able to believe in any such cosmic order since they themselves no longer recognize it. The death of God will lead, Nietzsche says, not only to the rejection of a belief of cosmic or physical order but also to a rejection of absolute values themselves — to the rejection of belief in an objective and universal moral law, binding upon all individuals. In this manner, the loss of an absolute basis for morality leads to nihilism. This nihilism is what Nietzsche worked to find a solution for by re-evaluating the foundations of human values. This meant, to Nietzsche, looking for foundations that went deeper than Christian values.

For the first time in the western history, the rationality and religion are being questioned seriously by the thinkers and when these questions do begin to become widely acknowledged, people would despair and nihilism would become rampant.

It looks like the people who are used to the philosophy that began in wonder will now need to have a serious look at the wisdom of concern.

惊异与真理的哲学 Philosophy of Wonder and Truth

我们注意到西方哲学始于惊异。据说惊异是哲学家的特殊感情，因为除此之外，哲学没有其他的起点。
惊异哲学已经融入前现代哲学。哲学家如柏拉图与亚里士多德以惊异之预感来接近现实。就是说，先假设知识存在，而知识是以真理之存在作为必要条件的。
所以真理是哲学的中心课题之一。它也是最大的课题之一。几千年来，它都是一个独立存在的讨论课题。并且，哲学上很多争论都关系到真理，要不是依据真理的学说，就是暗用真理的学说。
就如亚里士多德所说：‘吾爱吾师柏拉图，吾更爱真理。’
知识论就是对知识本质与依据的研究。知识论的学说的焦点是获取知识的方法与我们如何分辨出真理与妄语。现代知识论一般干涉到理性主义与经验主义的辩论，或者关于知识的获得是先验还是后验的问题。
理性主义：知识是从推理中获得。
经验主义：知识是从经验中获得。
有神论者在很大的程度上愿意接受理性主义，相信真理可从启示、神秘、信念，等中推理获得。文艺复兴（新生）初期，真理的寻找开始由宗教转向科学。从前，真理由某些参照物来决定，如上帝、普世智慧、自然法则、理念或者自然。现在，借用普罗塔哥拉德话，人‘是万物的尺度’，或者人是万物之本。

现代世界以科学方法寻找真理。现在主义者拥有信心满足的世界观。现代主义者相信在我们感官知觉以外没有存在物，他们以他们所经验到的来决定真理。现代主义者无条件的接受客观现实，把真理看成是哪些可证明或不可证明的陈述。
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We noted that the western philosophy began in wonder. It is said that wonder is the special affection of a philosopher; for philosophy has no other starting point than this.
The philosophy of wonder is wedded to pre-modern philosophy. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle approached reality with an aura of wonder, which assumes that knowledge exists, and that knowledge is justified according to the necessary conditions of it being true.
Truth is, therefore, one of the central subjects in philosophy. It is also one of the largest. Truth has been a topic of discussion in its own right for thousands of years. Moreover, a huge variety of issues in philosophy relate to truth, either by relying on theses about truth, or implying theses about truth.
As Aristotle said, ‘I love my teacher Plato, but I love the truth more.’
Epistemology is the investigation into the grounds and nature of knowledge itself. The study of epistemology focuses on our means for acquiring knowledge and how we can differentiate between truth and falsehood. Today epistemology generally involves a debate between rationalism and empiricism, or the question of whether knowledge can be acquired a priori or a posteriori:
Rationalism: knowledge can be acquired through the use of reason.
Empiricism: knowledge is obtained through experience.
Theists tend to be much more willing to accept rationalism, believing that ‘truth’ can be attained through revelations, mysticism, faith, etc. During early Renaissance (rebirth) period, the search for truth began to shift from religion to science. Whereas truth had always been determined in reference to something else - God, universal intelligence, natural law, reason or nature - man became, to borrow a phrase from the Greek Sophist Protagoras, ‘the measure of all things.’
The modern world searched for truth scientifically. Modernism possessed a confident worldview. Believing that nothing exists beyond what our senses can perceive, modernists determined truth as they experienced it. Modernism, with its unconditional belief in objective reality, saw truth as the result of statements that could be either proved or disproved.

现代主义：理性至上 Modernism: The Supremacy of Reason

在西方，现代主义始于文艺复兴（16世纪至17世纪中）而初尝果实于启蒙运动（17世纪中至18世纪）。文艺复兴以前，强烈的个人主义并不存在。在这个充满责任感的社会，人们为上帝与国王而生活。
文艺复兴期间，个人成为哲学的焦点。现代哲学之父笛卡儿 (1596 – 1650) 视个人为观察客体世界的主体。这个理解正好符合新的科学质询方法，在这个方法中，观察者考察与客观地寻求测量地球上所发生之事物。
启蒙运动是一个强调理性高于宗教启示或祖宗传统的欧洲哲学与科学运动。现代主义把世界看成是一个可以用观察与推理来了解的客观现实。
18世纪末期，怀疑主义者哲学家如休谟 (1711 – 1776) 对自我能客观地了解现实的能力提出了强烈质疑。为了回应怀疑主义者，康德 (1724 - 1804) 主张知识取决于人脑的构造。他对知识要符合客体这个旧看法提出了反驳。相反的，他倒反过来，认为客体要符合知识。这就是他所谓的哲学上的哥白尼式的革命。
康德要为对客观真理的持续信仰提供根据。可是他的哲学带来了一个明显的问题：‘我们如何知道人脑所有的知觉真正的会符合现实呢？’
康德没有对这个问题为我们提供一个妥当的答案，最后由此导致了后现在主义的兴起。
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In the west, modernism started with the Renaissance (16th century to mid 17th century) and achieved its early flowering under the Enlightenment (mid 17th century to 18th century). Before the Renaissance, a strong sense of individualism did not exist. People lived for God and king in a duty-filled world.
During Renaissance, philosophy itself became focused on the individual. Descartes (1596 – 1650), the father of modern philosophy, thought of individual as a subject observing the world as an object. This understanding nicely matched the new scientific method of inquiry, in which observers view and objectively seek to measure what is happening in the world.
The Enlightenment was the European movement of philosophy and science which stressed the supremacy of reason over religious revelation or ancestral tradition. Modernism perceives the world as possessing an objective reality which can be discovered through observation and reason.
During the late 18th century, sceptical philosophers such as Hume (1711 – 1776) raised serious questions about the ability of the self to objectively comprehend reality. To respond to Hume’s skepticism, Kant (1724 - 1804) argues that knowledge depends on the structure of our mind. He rebuts the old believe that our knowledge must conform to objects. Instead, he reverses it and says that objects must conform to our knowledge. This is so-called his Copernican Revolution in philosophy.
Kant wanted to provide a basis for a continued belief in objective truth. But his philosophy raised the obvious question: ‘How do we know if the perception generated by the mind truly corresponds to reality?’
Kant did not provide us with an adequate answer to this question, which ultimately led to the rise of postmodernism.

人文主义 Humanism

我们注意到文化复兴所导致的现代科学的诞生，对后来现代哲学来说，十分重要。
当理性重新维护其任务，而新的科学方法从了解到改进与开始被应用，显现了人类对进步发展的乐观信赖；与此同时，人类对解决问题的能力的信心，与日俱增。因为这个原故，人类，人的力量与尊严日益被强调。
这是对一个正在沉睡中的巨人的搅拌。这个巨人在沉睡时，被捆绑与囚禁，直到不能移动。巨人慢慢的从囚禁中解脱出来，站起来，并向世界宣告他的势力。
人敢维护他控制世界的能力，要支配他所走的道路，并随他的心意而转移。因为强调的是人在这个世界，所以就叫做‘人文主义’。
作为一种哲学，人文主义发展于文化复兴时期，而在启蒙运动中获得了立足点。人的自由、平等、权力、理性与民主主义，都是他们的共同理念。
人文主义者相信民主与人权是普世价值，不论你生活于何处，它们都应该存在于所有人类当中。很明显的，西方人文主义者并没有办法从普世主义与理性主义中解脱出来。
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We noted that the birth of modern science was one thing that happened during the Renaissance that was of great importance for the later character of modern philosophy.
As the role of reason re-asserted itself and the new scientific methodology began to be employed, first to understand and then to improve it, an optimistic belief in progress arose, as well as an increasing confidence in the capacity of humans to solve problems. There was thus a growing stress upon man and his power and dignity.
This was the stirring of a giant who had been asleep and during his sleep had been tied and fettered until he could no longer move. Slowly the giant broke his bonds, stood up, and proclaimed his power to the world.
Man dared to assert his ability to control the world, to master his ways and turned them to his desires. It was an emphasis upon the human in the universe and, therefore, has been called ‘Humanism’.
As a philosophy, humanism started developing during the renaissance and gained ground during the enlightenment, sharing ideals such as human freedom, equality, rights, rationalism, and democracy.
The humanists believe that democracy and human rights are universal values and must exist for all people, regardless of where you live. It is obvious that western humanists are not able to think out of universalism and rationalism.

现代科学：数学世界 Modern Science: The Mathematical World

文艺复兴带来了一件对现代哲学很重要的事情，那就是现代科学的诞生。在18世纪40年代以前，我们现在所谓的科学叫做‘自然哲学’。
现代科学的学说与理念的重点是，自然界是数学几何流形。
现代科学在伽利略(1564 – 1642)把数学应用于动力后就开始了。伽利略宣布哥白尼系统不只是数学模式，和地球其实是环绕太阳运行。这种‘新哲学’来自哲学家的象牙塔之外，开始对人们的日常生活产生影响。
亚里士多德的物理学里没有数学。现代物理学则除了数学外，什么都没有。这个改革来自伽利略。现在，科学如果用其他方式进行，那是不可想象的。
有了越来越精密的测量，科学快速的树立起理想的几何型世界，与感性世界并存。一个实际上是由想象中的目标所引导的方法，很快被当成现实；同时，自然被认为是数学性的。
数学把我们带入了一个‘勇敢新世界’，一个没有情感的世界。在这个世界里，一切都可以科学来解释。
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One thing that happened during the Renaissance that was of great importance for the later character of modern philosophy was the birth of modern science. Until the 1840's what we now call science was ‘natural philosophy’.
Of central importance to the theories and ideals of modern science is the idea that nature is a mathematic manifold.
The modern science thus began when Galileo (1564 – 1642) applied mathematics to motion. Galileo announced that the Copernican system was more than merely a mathematical model, and that the earth really moved around the sun. This 'new philosophy' had emerged from the ivory towers of philosophers, and started to make an impact on people's everyday lives.
There is no mathematics in Aristotle's Physics. There is nothing but mathematics in modern physics books. It was Galileo who made the change. It is inconceivable now that science could be done any other way.
With ever-increasing accuracy in measurement, science quickly erected an ideal world of geometric shapes parallel to the world of experience. What was in truth a method guided by a conceived goal soon came to be taken for reality, and nature was thought to be essentially mathematical.
Mathematics has brought us into ‘a brave new world’, a world without emotion, in which everything can be explained by science.

二元论：现代科学之诞生 Dualism: Modern Science Made Possible

我们可以说，笛卡儿(1596 – 1650)强调宇宙之双重本质时，他是强调心物二元论的思想。把这两种物质完全独立分开，他让自然科学自由地以机械来解释自然。
科学界可以忙着研究自然现象而不必管心灵之事了。科学也可以完全只管机械方面，而不必去想目的，目标或其他有关心和灵方面的特征了。它可以专注于探索所有有关身体行为与行动的规律。这样，现代科学就可能产生了。
伽利略(1564 – 1642)严厉地把物理与形而上学分开来。伽利略是现代动力学的发明者。他认为形而上学与物理是两种完全分开，不能互相转移的学说，而他只对物理有兴趣。因此，他可能是第一个专业科学家。
笛卡儿与伽利略对世界的看法，采取了不同的理性方式，但都导致了现代科学的诞生。和伽利略不同的是，笛卡儿对形而上学想得很深，以致他被看做是现代哲学之父。由于形而上学被认为是信仰天主的理性解释，难怪伽利略会有不少强势的敌人，尤其是不少的传教士。
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We may speak of the thought of Descartes (1596 – 1650) as emphasizing the dualism of mind and matter, which is, stressing the two-fold nature of the universe. By making these two substances entirely independent, he left nature free from the mechanical explanation of natural science.
The sciences could busy themselves with a study of nature without having to worry about mind. Science could develop along purely mechanical lines without having to make room for purposes, goals, and other characteristics of mind and spirit. It could busy itself with the discovery of the laws by which all bodies act and moves. Indeed, in this way modern science was made possible.
Galileo (1564 – 1642) also sharply separated physics from metaphysics. Galileo was the founder of modern kinematics. He thought that metaphysics and physics were two separate, untranslatable discourses, and he was only interested in physics. This probably makes him the first professional scientist.
Descartes and Galileo adopted two different rational ways of thinking about the world and both led to the birth of modern science. For, contrary to Galileo, Descartes did think hard about metaphysics, so much so that he is considered the father of modern philosophy. Since metaphysics was the rational ground for believing in God, it is not difficult to understand why Galileo had made some powerful enemies, especially among the Jesuits.

理性主义：二元论 Rationalism: Dualism

西方理性主义的理论中，对真理的决定是基于知性和推理而不是感官。它崇尚永恒多过变动，这就产生了各种的二元论。
它产生了本体二元论。就是说，存在被认为比变易优异。
它也产生了心体二元论，意味着与这个变动世界关联的身体，被当作比与永恒世界联系的灵魂来得低下。
二元论还有其它一系列的分体：理念世界-知觉世界，本质-现象，唯心-唯物，主体-客体，等等。
二元分开，这边无法通到另一边。这就成为至今还困扰西方哲学家的最大难题：如何解释二元间的关系？也就是说，如何统一双方？
注：华人的阴阳学说不是二元论，因为阴与阳不是二个个体：所谓阴中有阳，阳中有阴是也。
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The western Rationalism is based on a theory in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and reasoning. It prefers permanence over flux and this has produced many kinds of dualism.
It has produced ontological dualism. That is to say, being has always been seen as superior to becoming.
It also produces the dualism of soul and body which implies that the value of body associated with the world of flux has been construed as inferior to that of the soul associated with the unchanging world of permanence.
The dualism further displays in a serial of separations: idea world - perceivable world, noumenon - phenomenon, idealism - materialism, subject - object, etc.
The two sides in each pair separate from each other and they cannot pass from one side to the other side. This has become the most difficult problem that has haunted philosophers even to the present: how to explain the relationship between the two sides? Or put it another way, how to unify the two sides?
Note: The Chinese yin-yang theory is not a dualism, as yin and yang are not separated – as the saying goes, yin is always contained in yang and yang in yin.