The problem of freedom, humanism and the human subject in intercultural perspective: Europe and Taiwan

Abstract

The proposed project aims to examine the concept of human subjectivity through the lens of transcultural perspectives. In contrasting different culturally conditioned images and conceptions of human subjectivity shaped in the European and Chinese traditions, the research project seeks possible conceptual syntheses that meet the demands of our contemporary globalised times. The concepts of autonomous subject and humanism, rooted in European enlightenment, are currently experiencing a profound crisis, for in their present form, they no longer correspond to the transformed conditions of the present. Therefore, the proposed research project aims to set them into a contrastive and dialectical relation with similar ideational heritages from Chinese culture. The understanding of Chinese and Taiwanese philosophical theory is relevant not only because the Sinophone areas belong to the economic and political superpowers of the present world, but also because their cultural heritages can enrich and improve contemporary ethical and political theories, for the moral-ethical aspects of the Self and its autonomy were always in the centre of classical Chinese philosophical discourses. Hence, the illumination of discussions on relational models of Self and their positioning into the frameworks of the so-called transformative or integral subject, which can be found in traditional Chinese and contemporary Taiwanese philosophy, can show us new ways of revitalizing and renovating the postmodern subject, the autonomy of which is – due to its own dispersion – continuously and persistently falling apart. The proposed research will focus on the political, ethical and aesthetic significance of these paradigms of subjectivity. This will be performed by exploring their potential for a reconceptualization of ideational bases for modern integration politics and new forms of democracy.

The proposed project will explore ancient, classical and pre-modern conceptualizations of the Chinese notion of the Self and clarify the ideational, political, economic and historical background of the specific “relational Self” (關係自我), which manifests itself in the social system of relationalism (關係主義) and is defined by the so-called “role ethics”. These concepts will be structurally connected with the relation between the transcendental and empirical subject, which is integrated in the traditional complementary interaction between the so-called “internal sage and external ruler” (内聖外王) and “double subjectivity” (雙重主體性). While the latter two notions were developed and interpreted within the scope of Modern New Confucianism in Taiwan in the 20^th century, the project will extensively focus on the recent investigations into traditional Daoist philosophical and aesthetic discourses conducted by contemporary Taiwanese philosophers and their interpretations of the integral (整體主體), transformative (轉化主體), and energetic-corporeal (氣論主體) subject.

On the basis of the aforementioned conceptualizations, the project will carry out a contrastive analysis of the various concepts of intersubjectivity in the two main discourses addressed within this project. In this context, we will focus upon the differences and parallels between the paradigms of normative-agreement and (co)humaneness (ren仁). The central aim of the research project hence lies in the systematic analysis and interpretation of the abovementioned philosophical conceptualizations through the lens of the notion of the subject, in a critical introduction of the research results to a broader Western academic readership and in their implementation into the topical discourses of international theory. The Chiang Ching-Kuo foundation research project grant would help me to broaden, deepen, and develop my research interests and thus also enhance the international visibility of Taiwanese scholarship. The project will be carried out with the proposed project co-director Professor Huang Kuan-min from Academia Sinica, who is an expert in comparative and intercultural philosophy. 

跨文化視域下自由、人文主義與人的主體性問題研究：

聚焦歐洲與台灣

摘要

本研究擬從跨文化視域對人的「主體性」概念進行考察。通過比較歐洲與中國傳統中不同文化塑造的主體性概念，本研究將嘗試對其進行融通，以應對當今全球化時代的挑戰。當下，根植於歐洲啟蒙思想的自治主體與人文主義正經歷嚴重危機，它們若不加革新，便無法應對當下突變的格局。故而，本研究將其與中國傳統中的類似概念進行對比，並以辯證的眼光來審視兩者的關係。理解中國與台灣的哲學具有重要的意義，這不僅因為華語地區在當今世界經濟與政治中的地位舉足輕重，也因為其文化遺產能豐富並改進當今的倫理與政治理論。畢竟，自我及其自主性的道德倫理始終是中國傳統哲學的核心論題。中國傳統哲學與台灣哲學對於自我的關係模式，及其與「轉化主體」與「整體主體」框架的融合多有討論。因此，將這些討論呈現出來，便能為我們指明令後現代主體獲得新生的嶄新途徑——而這一主體由於自我瓦解，正分崩離析。本研究將關注上述主體性範式的政治、倫理與美學意蘊。為此，我們將探索其在重塑現代一體化政治與新型民主之觀念基礎上的潛能。

本研究將探討「自我」這一漢語概念在古代與近代的含義，並闡明「關係自我」這一獨特概念所產生的觀念、政治、經濟與歷史之背景。此概念在「關係主義」的社會體系中得以呈現，並在所謂的「角色倫理」中得到定義。以上概念在結構上類同於「超驗主體」與「經驗主體」間的關係，這種關係融合於「內聖外王」與「雙重主體」的互補互動之中。後面兩個概念是在20世紀台灣現代新儒學中得到發展與闡釋的，而本研究關切的，乃是台灣當代哲學家對道家哲學與美學的最新研究，以及他們對「整體主體」「轉化主體」與「氣論主體」的闡釋。

基於對上述概念的澄清，本研究將對兩套話語（歐洲與台灣）中各種「主體間性」概念進行比較。在此背景下，我們將探討「規範共識」與「仁」這兩種範式之間的異同。本研究的核心目標，乃是通過主體概念的視角，對上述哲學概念進行系統分析與闡釋，隨後，將研究成果去粗取精地介紹給更多西方學界的讀者，並將之運用于國際上相關論題的研討。

蔣經國基金會的研究項目資助將有助於我擴展、深化和發展我的研究興趣，從而也能提升台灣學術的國際影響力。

本項目將與中央研究院的研究項目副主任黃冠閔教授進行，他是比較和跨文化哲學領域的專家。