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Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

Postal Subscription Code 80-983

Front. Philos. China    2009, Vol. 4 Issue (3) : 360-369    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11466-009-0023-4
Research articles
Morality and nature: The essential difference between the Dao of Chinese philosophy and metaphysics in Western philosophy
YU Weidong , XU Jin ,
College of Philosophy, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, China;
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Abstract Both thinkings on Dao in Chinese philosophy and metaphysics in Western philosophy investigate things on a spiritual level that transcends experience, but there are incommensurable differences between them. The objective of “metaphysics” is ontological knowledge about nature from the perspective of epistemological “truth-pursuing”. Western metaphysics is thus a “metaphysics of nature”. Dao in Chinese philosophy, on the other hand, more often manifests itself in “good-pursuing” by means of the internal, experiential pursuit of moral stature and spiritual security. Philosophy of Dao is thus a “metaphysics of ethics”. The cause of this difference can be traced back to the differences between the rational tradition of the West, characterized by the dualism of the subject and the object, and the moral tradition of China, characterized by the integration of man and nature.
Keywords Dao      metaphysics      morality      nature      
Issue Date: 05 September 2009
 Cite this article:   
YU Weidong,XU Jin. Morality and nature: The essential difference between the Dao of Chinese philosophy and metaphysics in Western philosophy[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2009, 4(3): 360-369.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.1007/s11466-009-0023-4
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2009/V4/I3/360
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