The Interpretation of the Intentional Stance of the Philosophy of Mind of Zhu Xi〔*〕

Chen Jun

(School of Humanities and Social Sciences Traditional Chinese Medicine University of Guangzhou，Guangzhou Guangdong 510180)

Ⅰ．Research background

Zhu Xi is renowned rationalist，ideologist，philosopher，educator，poet as well as the representative of the Min School of the Southern Song Dynasty．He is the most outstanding master of Confucianism since Confucius and Mencius．Inheriting the learning after the Yellow River civilization enters primitive commune system，Confucius forms the system of“mind and body”of Confucianism — feudal code of ethics，laying foundation for the universal value of ritual civilization．The Neo－Confucianism of Zhu Xi marks the second peak of Chinese Confucianism in the prime of agricultural civilization in the Song Dynasty．The philosophy of mind and body estab-lished by Zhu Xi has integrated the identity basis of culture in the nationwide．On one hand，Zhu Xi promotes the profound change of Confucian philosophy against the background of primitive commune，showing the development trend of verbalization，socialization and naturalization of Confucian philosophy．On the other hand，there is no doubt that movement of epistemology has become the basis of the diversified trend．

However，there is a lack of complete study of Zhu Xi home and abroad．The status of the value of Confucius and Mencius is even higher than that of Plato and Aristotle when western philosophy comes to fully recognize it．However，the system of Zhu Xi has not been inherited，as is evidenced by the fact that there is no Latino saying of his school as that of Confucius．Chinese thoughts prior to the Han Dynasty have exerted deep influence over western world，and as a result，there are Germany，French and English version of The Analects of Confucius and Tao Te Ching．Yet there are few materials of Zhu Xi that has been translated into English．Besides，the Confucius classics are spread in the western world due to the social education aim of Christian missionary．But there is no important discovery concerning the systematic thoughts of Confucianism and Taoism after the germination of western philosophy of mind．

In order to interpret the system value of Zhu Xi，we should first understand the social and economic foundation of the emergence of Neo－Confucianism in the Song Dynasty．The Song Dynasty witnesses the emergence of manorial economy in the Yellow River basin．Abundant water resources contribute to the prime of agricultural civilization in China’s Song Dynasty．There is broad political atmosphere prevalent among the literati．Great importance is attached to cultural education，and a result，officials can set up schools and engage in teaching．All of the above factors constitute the social conditions of the philosophy of mind advocated by Zhou Dunyi，Shao Yong and Zhang Zai．

Masters of the Neo－Confucianism put forward the education of social foundation，namely“keeping the natural law and abolishing the selfishness”，which has exerted great influence on the realm of thought of later generations．Apparently，Zhu Xi inherits the academic theory of Neo － Confucianism instead of establishing political ethics and ideology for the world．Thus，Zhu Xi has become the master of Neo－Confucianism．That is to say，the socialization of Neo－Confucianism by Zhu Xi in the Song Dynasty is based on the civil social formation．When ti comes to“keeping the natural law”，Zhu Xi explicitly states in Tai Ji Tu Shuo that“natural law”is the most divine law of all that comes from universe and all living creatures，while the“selfishness”，is by nature，the luxurious and decaying social atmosphere．Therefore，Zhu Xi has established the basic social connotation of Neo－Confucianism on the foundation of the choice of human mind and body．

Ⅱ．The philosophy of mind of Zhu Xi:from rational proposition to intentional stance

Zhu Xi turns his research on Neo－Confucianism into the interpretation of the age and society．The Neo－Confucianism of Zhu Xi consists of truth and mind，and the two themes of“one truth and various diversities”and “mind determining disposition”integrate into each other and support the metaphysical system of Zhu Xi’s theories．The study of the philosophical world of mind and body compares the philosophical definition of human with the real world，thus giving rise to two systems．The former one views reality from the perspective of mind and body morality，completely covering secular morality by human mind and body morality — investigation and research of things．The latter one views the value of life as the core which completely covers real world—self－reflection．The personality of Chinese people begins to develop in the two paths of“the whole world as one community”and“universismus”．The primitive commune system begins to expose how Chinese people get rid of the restriction of feudal system．

The history of the philosophy of mind is a world full of ignorance and foolishness．Likewise，moral world is also full of dangers．Western scholars，Sedikides and Green，based on the previous studies，put forward inconsistency — negativity resolution mode1 and inconsistency － negativity neglect model．The former one is the concept of mind and body in Chinese Confucianism，while the latter one is the concept of mind and body in Chinese Taoism．Modern sociology is also studying the ontology consistency of value．Hence，in the increasingly severe social instability，morality and society has realized transformation．No matter how the system of the definition of the mind and body changes，we are copying the world of mind and body in terms of fundamental principles．Therefore，the positive meaning of Zhu Xi is not the so－called natural law that the value of Neo－Confucianism lies in confirming the replicability of principles，but the measurement of this natural law．Seen from the China’s history of ideas，Zhu Xi is a positive moral practitioner．

1．Intentional stance:nationalization and symbolization

The Neo－Confucianism of Zhu Xi puts forward the ideological and conceptual mode of“study the nature of things”，which begins the path of“keeping the celestial law existence”．

Obviously，Confucius’s intentional world stresses the natural law of the moral existence of human．Therefore，his language is people － oriented dialectical．However，the intentionality of Zhu Xi highlights the function choice of legal principles．When Zhu Xi raises intentional problems，it is apparent that his theoretical connotation involves how to define the core value．“Various psychological phenomena，such as thinking，emotion and wish，are the same as the state and process of body．”

2．Intentional mode:will of mind and rational consciousness

In the model of Neo － Confucianism of Xhu Xi，the representation of mind exists as the intelligence of heaven．The foundation of the world establishes its sociology．Mind and body，as the foundation of willingness，decide the main body of all things．Then what is the relation between the spiritual cultivation of mind and the physical training of body?Which one of them is more important?On one hand，“investigation and research of things”can lead to“self－ reflection”;on the other hand，the goal or purpose of“investigation and research of things”is“self－ reflection”．

3．Intentionaltransformation:attention to entity and attention to attribute

Zhu Xi is the only philosopher in the history of ideas of ancient China who stresses the central position of human ideology．By adopting ideological analysis，Zhu Xi further explores the realm of philosophy of mind．When answering the true nature problem of ideology，Zhu Xi does not deny the existence of ideology，but puts forward the simple survival principle of human from the perspective of thinking，feeling and emotion．In terms of philosophical cognition mode，“natural law”and“selfishness”proposed by Zhu Xi has realized a leap forward from the monism of Confucian ethics to the dualism of mind and body．Just like the interpretation of inconsistency－negativity resolution mode1 and inconsistency－negativity neglect mode1 raised by Sedikides and Green，the spirituality of academic learning and the materiality of economic society in the Song Dynasty are based on the philosophy of mind and body．

The intentional transformation of Zhu Xi，just like western philosophy，turns intention to wiliness from the perspective of the content and form of practice．Thanks to his consciousness，Zhu Xi has stepped out of the binary opposition of“old Confucianism”．

Ⅲ．Conclusion

There are two divergences in Zhu Xi’s study．Maybe it is the function of absolute mind or the function of pure society．Both of the two studies fail to discover the value of the philosophy of mind of Zhu Xi from the perspective of the social transformation of the Song Dynasty．The rational value of the reconstruction of the inner experience of emotions and situation lies in the fact that emotion is a cognitive appraisal，which prevents the scientific development of China from the partiality of the core value of human．The modern value of the control and management of social moral behavior on the part of the Confucian morality lies between the non－ cognitive emotion and the inspection of phenomenology．“That is to say，evaluation is disembodied．The cognitive features of environmental conditions do not need to satisfy the basis of emotional experience．”The Neo －Confucianism of Zhu Xi features the disembodied observation from the sidelines without human desires．According to the two themes of“one truth and various diversities”and“mind determining disposition”，the connotation of emotion does not just rely on the psychology of the subjects but“keeping the celestial law existence”．Zhu Xi’s idea of“studying the nature of things”involves“the celestial law”in terms of responsibility and entrepreneurial spirit，which is，by nature，“the autonomy of unconscious level and emotion”．

In order to study the system of Zhu Xi’s idea，we should make it explicit that which part of his learning is the main body of philosophy，and that which part is social practice．And it is the confirmation of cultural value and social group that evaluates the two parts．Any connotation and advocating of humanistic theory are doubted by the two base points．The former is about how the definition of“me”realizes universal values，namely the complete cover of mind and body and the world．Therefore，Zhu Xi morally purifies the seven emotions and six sensory pleasures by Neo －Confucianism．From then on，crowd ethics and mechanic ethics have gradually formed in Chinese culture．Or we can say that crowd ethics have become the basis of mechanic ethics，evolving from the study of chaos to sociology．This differentiation has established the world order，namely moral principles．There is dialectic of system analysis in Chinese learning system in terms of this discipline construction，namely a cognitive and judgmental model with the narration mode of study of Confucian classics．All the study of Confucian classics pays attention to the combination and crossing of the edge of body and mind，which can be integrated with the springing up and construction of modern western philosophy concerning mind and body．Compared with Confucian classics，the establishment of philosophy is from the perspective of real world，thus guaranteeing our cognitive value of reality．

Notes:

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