Ancient Greek Philosophy, Differences from Ancient Chinese Philosophy

[Author: He Yongqi]

Well, thanks for the answer!

I'd also like to comment on your answer! Overall, the answer is okay, and it is at a medium level. It's basically reliable!

Your analysis of ancient Greek philosophy has reached the "point", and you are right when you say that they attach importance to "reason". It's just that you are on the "reason" and you are not "rooted" down (sensibility dominates, rationality is secondary).

Ancient Greek philosophy, the sensibility over the rational way of thinking, appears only here in Socrates. The further back Socrates goes, the more sensual things are stripped away step by step. From Socrates to Aristotle, it is a process of sensibility being stripped away. At this point, reason gradually prevailed. Sensual things disappear step by step, and finally: rational thinking becomes the foundation.

Greek philosophy is highlighted in the "rational" (rational logical thinking), which is a process of gradual establishment.

What about ancient Chinese philosophy, most of which were perceptual thinking. "Enlightenment" is the exploration of "reason" by perceptual thinking. Enlightenment is to explore the growth of all things, the laws of nature, which is to explore "reason". Ancient Chinese philosophy, I think: there are only a few people who have made relatively high achievements;

Lao Tzu is of course dominant, and Lao Tzu is the enlightener of ancient Chinese philosophy.

However, Lao Tzu's exploration of philosophical reason only stopped at "enlightenment". The point is that "Lao Tzu is here in rational thinking, there is no further accumulation". That is to say: Lao Tzu's exploration of "reason" has not taken further root. At this time, perceptual thinking dominates, rational thinking is secondary, and rationality is becoming more and more "weak".

From Lao Tzu's point of view, philosophy stops at perceptual thinking (enlightenment), and "what about rational thinking?

The Mo Zhai of the Mo family is more "rational". The Mohists are based on "reason", and the "rational thinking" of the Mohists is dominant, and they have accumulated a lot of technology and experience. But the Mohists declined! Rational thinking has since faded into the world.

Confucianism does not emphasize "reason", Confucianism emphasizes "etiquette". This is not the "reason" of the other; Confucianism is also serving the imperial power, and the achievements of "rites" are not high. - This gift is not the "reason" of the other.

Confucianism destroyed the foundation of ancient Chinese philosophy, "overthrowing a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone"...... Since then, the atmosphere of exploration of ancient Chinese philosophy has disappeared......

This "disappearance" does not mean complete disappearance, but refers to "fading out of the world". That is to say: to become a marginal figure. Lao Tzu was the enlightenment of ancient Chinese philosophy, and his ?——thoughts were slowly turned into Taoism by later generations.

Lao Tzu's Tao is the enlightenment of philosophy! But he only stays at the level of "enlightenment." Enlightenment is the perceptual mind exploring "reason", and "reason" is the law, the law of the growth of all things. However, Lao Tzu only stayed at the level of "enlightenment" of perceptual thinking, and did not continue to penetrate into rational thinking.

This can also explain a phenomenon: why Lao Tzu's "Tao" was made into "Taoism" by Lao Tzu's later generations (students??—— important reason is: "Lao Tzu is the enlightenment of philosophy!" He stayed in the state of perceptual thinking to explore "reason". Rational thinking, Lao Tzu did not continue to take root, and stayed in the state of perceptual thinking......

Summary: The philosophical status of Lao Tzu is basically the same as that of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. It's just that Socrates' "rational" thinking dominates, and Lao Tzu stays in emotional thinking.

Lao Tzu and Socrates, both of them are searching for the truth. Their "starting point" is the line of perceptual thinking! The difference is that Socrates' thought "reason" dominates. What about Lao Tzu? Lao Tzu stayed at the level of perceptual thinking. This is what distinguishes ancient Chinese philosophy from ancient Greek philosophy (the dividing line).

This will produce a phenomenon: ancient Greek philosophy focused on "reason", rational logical thinking "exploration". When rational logical thinking prevails, then it accumulates. Moreover, these accumulations are still the "results" obtained under rational thinking.

To put it humorously: Ancient Chinese philosophy is still dreaming! What about ancient Greek philosophy? In the ideal. Dreaming VS ideal, which tends to be more "rational", this is ??—— gap and dividing line between ancient Chinese philosophy and ancient Greek philosophy.

Rational and logical thinking dominated the ancient Greeks, and their technology, craftsmanship, experience, and so on were constantly accumulating; It can be double-checked and recorded. Just like a math problem, multiplication can be checked by division, what is it? Because it is rational and traceable!

What about ancient Chinese philosophy, where perceptual thinking predominated, and it only stayed in the state of searching for truth. Result: It's just a tree, a "tree" without fruit.

If philosophy is a tree, and the ancient Greek tree bears sporadic fruit (enlightenment), what about the ancient Chinese philosophy, which is just a tree, without fruit (enlightenment).

Lao Tzu seems to have found the answer to the truth, if he doesn't find it?—— then he will definitely keep looking for it, and continue to take root.

But... No, Lao Tzu stayed here (in the state) of enlightenment.

Lao Tzu is explaining the "Tao", what is the Tao?

Is it the law of the operation of heaven and earth ?—— "heaven"?

What is "Tao"?

Lao Tzu said: Tao is Tao, very Tao. The name is famous, and the name is not very famous. Contemplation is the Tao.

In Lao Tzu's view, the Tao is unspeakable. If you speak clearly, it is not the Word.

Tao Ke Tao = Tao in the Tao, Extraordinary Tao = Not an ordinary Tao. Nameable = It is difficult to name the "Tao". Very

Name = This "name" is not ordinary, contemplating the Tao = reluctantly calling it "the Tao". Seeing that I didn't ??—— Lao Tzu's way, it was difficult to define. Haha haha!

Lao Tzu's Tao does exist, but there is no way to characterize it.

Brother He Yongqi said: "You can only understand, not speak." "You can feel the action of the Tao, the Tao is everywhere, it is all around you, you can feel the Tao. It's real.

Lao Tzu's philosophical thought system basically unfolds in this way: observation...... Enlighten...... Enlightenment...... Enlightenment.

From here, Lao Tzu seems to have found the answer to the truth. Otherwise he won't stop.

Lao Tzu stayed in the state of "enlightenment". Note: Lao Tzu has attained the Tao, and his "enlightenment" is followed by "attaining the Dao", and only when Lao Tzu finds the answer, he will "stop". Otherwise, it is not in line with Lao Tzu's pursuit of "Tao".

I now get another answer, Lao Tzu "attained the Tao".

In the philosophical system, Lao Tzu's "perceptual thinking" and Socrates' "rational logical thinking" are in the search for truth, pay attention! Perceptual thinking has found the answer to the truth, while rational logical thinking is constantly "searching" upward.

Represented by rational logical thinking, the ancient Greek philosophers "Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle" had in their hearts the idea that we seek the truth, the highest truth. In their philosophical spirit, there is a vein, a constant upward pursuit, which is never-ending.

The meaning of the phrase "we seek the truth, the highest truth" is: in the rational and logical thinking exploration, we have been searching upwards in order to reach the truth (height).

Note: In the system of thought of ancient Greek philosophy, when they were not satisfied, they were always searching upwards for the truth. Ideologically and spiritually, constantly upward... Up... Seek the truth upward. Coupled with the "rational and logical thinking" of ancient Greek philosophy, this is simply an "invincible" state!

Note: Socrates is a representative of ancient Greek philosophy, and when you mention ancient Greek philosophy, you are referring to Socrates' system of thought (Socrates is the enlightenment of ancient Greek philosophy, Socrates was dedicating himself to philosophy and was executed {poisoning}).

Summary: Lao Tzu's ideological system is a representative of ancient Chinese philosophy.

Lao Tzu found the answer to the "truth", "enlightenment".

Emphasis added: There are four parts in Lao Tzu's ideological system;

Observe...... Enlighten...... Enlightenment...... Enlightenment.

The last step of Lao Tzu's thought is to "attain the Tao," which shows that Lao Tzu has found the answer to the truth. He was "enlightened."

There is a question here, Lao Tzu is a representative of "perceptual thinking", he found the truth (enlightenment), so why did the ancient social development not promote???

It seems that the results of the philosophical system of thought do not play a "role" in the development of society. It's weird!

If you look at Western philosophy, pay attention! Western philosophy is the representative of ancient Greek philosophy! It is based on "rational and logical thinking." The Western philosophical ideological system has promoted the social productive forces, including: theory, attention! The social productive forces are premised on theory, and first of all, this idea exists. Another is whether this "theory" is valid or not, which needs to be explained by experimental testing.

The Western philosophical system consists of two parts;

First, rational logical thinking, as a precursor, constructs theories. The second part is an experimental test to verify the feasibility of the "theory". Eventually, the theory was established! In this way, the rapid and effective development of social productive forces has been promoted.

Seeing it??—— ancient Greek philosophy promoted social productivity and increased national power (increased efficiency, increased national power).

Annotation: Finally, the test experiment (science) in the ancient Greek philosophical system, which was detached from the philosophical system. It is modern "science". Science originally belonged to the philosophical system, and it was separated from the philosophical system in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Focus: The mission of science is "experimental testing", and its purpose is to test the feasibility of theories. Remember, theories are pioneers, and before theories come out, there is no object of verification for experimental testing.

From this point of view, "science" does not have the ability to construct "theories"! If you specialize in technology, you can do everything, but you have no special skills. Then it will be difficult for you to reach the top of your technical content! If you have everything, you will not be strong.

There is always a question here, there are two major systems in the philosophical system:

Why is there so much difference between "perceptual thinking" (Lao Tzu's thought) and "rational and logical thinking" (Socratic thought), which is also philosophy, reflected in the social driving force???

In terms of the search for truth:

Group A: Lao Tzu got the "answer", and Lao Tzu got the "Tao". Because "enlightenment" is followed by "enlightenment", which shows that Lao Tzu has found the truth.

In Group B, Socrates was always in search of the truth, and in the end he also sacrificed himself for the "truth" (was put to death). In Socrates' system of thought, it is always believed that "the truth is at the highest place!", so Socrates' search for truth will be "endless".

Later, Plato inherited the ideas of Socrates and continued to carry them forward, and later, Aristotle inherited Plato's philosophical ideas. However, the context has never changed, and it is all based on the exploration of "rational and logical thinking".

In my opinion, the context of perceptual thinking is too abstract to explain things in detail, and the ideas are general and have no context to be found, which hinders the application of philosophical achievements in society. For example, what is "Tao"?

It is difficult to depict clearly, there is no trace, only feeling. What is the result of feeling - the Tao does exist, but it cannot be "said", and the impetus for society is in aesthetics, art, literature, and social application (in modern times), but there is no driving force in productivity.

Lao Tzu has obtained the "Tao", and then expounds what the "Tao" is.

No way, it's too abstract! Hehe, future generations can't understand it.

There is an important point here, that is, because the perceptual thinking is too abstract and the thinking is too general, it is impossible to describe things clearly. Just like the "dragon", you look at the "horn" it is a deer, you look at the "body" it is a snake, you look at the "eye" it is an eagle, you look at the "legs" it is a bird, you look at the "tail" it is a fish. Actually, it doesn't exist.

There is a problem here: the Tao does exist, and there is no way for future generations to study it in depth. Like Lao Tzu, there are people who are thoughtful and persistent, and if there is no one, then Lao Tzu's ideas will not be inherited.

Socrates had many students, Plato was more determined, and Lao Tzu had no students.

The Mo family is reorganized, but unfortunately the Mo family is not influential enough, and finally disappeared.

Among the sons of the pre-Qin dynasty, influence was the first place in the Taoist family;

Taoism, Dharma, Confucianism, Mo, and Legalism have decayed early! haha...... What a sense of humor!

Originally, the Legalists were in second place, and Confucianism was squeezed into third, and the Mohists worked hard to squeeze Confucianism to the fourth. It is a pity that the decay of Legalism is directly out of the game! Confucianism ranks second, and it can compete with Taoism.

Hehe, Confucianism wins, Taoism, Mohist, the position is not ranked. Taoism has taken root among the people and has finally been preserved. The Mo family can't even see a shadow anymore.

Summary: Ancient Greek philosophy focused on "reason"; What is truth?—— highest truth.

There is no answer to the question of what the truth is??—— ancient Greek philosophy......;

But Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, they all have an idea, what ?—— truth, is at the top!!

So, they say, "Let's seek the truth, pay attention!" and they don't say what "truth" is, but what the highest truth is.

This points out that ancient Greek philosophy was constantly climbing. With each step, its philosophy grows closer, and it gets closer and closer to the truth. (Its philosophical spirit is all the way up)

Note: Ancient Greek philosophy, they have no answer to what truth is??——

But Socrates, the philosophers, they had a philosophy that said, "Truth is in the highest place!" We seek truth, the highest truth. It is also pointed out here that the philosophical spirit of ancient Greece is in the process of continuous climbing, and it will never stop at the border.

On the contrary, what about ancient Chinese philosophy? Mohism was also in pursuit of truth, but Mohism declined later......

Lao Tzu's Tao stayed at the level of exploration (enlightenment) of perceptual thinking, and there was no further breakthrough in "reason"!

However, his "Tao" (thought) was applied to society.

Lao Tzu is more humane and kind! Haha, I like Lao Tzu.

Lao Tzu's philosophical thought has made a major breakthrough in its application in society! It has inspired "creativity." For example, "individual" (human freedom), free people are creative.

Socrates' philosophy has its roots in "rational and logical thinking", and it has given rise to many theories and hypotheses in "reason". Take, for example, Copernicus' heliocentrism.

For example, Einstein's theory of relativity, for example, Newton's gravitational force. Darwin didn't mention it, he became a liar, but its biology is a foundation (except for the part where man is an ape).

In general, ancient Greek philosophy was based on "rational" logical thinking. In this way, it is more practical.

Ancient Greek philosophy has two characteristics: first, its "roots" are based on "reason", and its thinking is clearer and its context is very detailed.

Let's put it this way, if you ask: How much is a human hair?

Ancient Greek philosophy can count your hairs one by one, one by one, and then give you a number.

What about ancient Chinese philosophy? The answer is: a lump, or a lump. All in all, not as detailed as ancient Greek philosophy!

Because ancient Chinese philosophy and ancient Greek philosophy took different routes. The starting point is the same, starting from the perceptual mind to find the truth.

Socrates' thought is based on "reason" logical thinking, which is dominated by reason and followed by perceptual thinking. Later, by Aristotle, the perceptual mind was almost stripped away, and eventually, the rational mind became the foundation.

Lao Tzu went from perceptual thinking to enlightenment, but stayed at the level of "enlightenment" (state).

Lao Tzu's philosophical thoughts, has there been any gains? The answer is: Yes, the most basic.

Ancient Greek philosophy: based on "rational" logical thinking, the search for "truth".

Ancient Chinese philosophy: based on "perceptual" thinking, to understand the world.

The "rationality" of ancient Greek philosophy VS the "sensibility" of ancient Chinese philosophy. It's a contrast, a contrast of two different modes of thinking!

Focus: Under the framework of two different modes of thinking, what is the "fruit" that bears fruit???

Answer: "Rational thinking" out of theory, emphasis on practice!

In the end, "rational" thinking promotes the rapid development of society. Note that this development is "rapid", and as long as the theory and doctrine are established, the West will immediately promote and apply it (emphasis on efficiency).

Note: Ancient Chinese philosophy cannot produce science. Science is the ancient Greek philosophy, which was born under the "rational thinking" (science is a branch of the Western philosophical system, focusing on testing and practice).

Note: "Science", belongs to the branch of the ancient Greek philosophical system. The history of science is less than 300 years, and the founding of the United States is almost 240 years old. This year is 2020.

The "rational thinking" of ancient Greek philosophy has achieved remarkable results in terms of social productive forces! Mainly, it is the "construction and invention" at the theoretical level.

What is the fruit of the "perceptual thinking system"?—— the answer is: aesthetics, art, and social applications.

The West is based on the ancient Greek philosophical system, so Western philosophy is the representative of ancient Greek philosophy.

This is the relationship between the teacher and the student, ancient Greek philosophy is the teacher, and Western philosophy is a student of ancient Greek philosophy. They are all based on "rational thinking".

The great philosophers of ancient Greece, Socrates and Plato, who were the founders, were the initiation of their philosophy (the idea of rational thinking as the search for "truth").

Note: Western philosophy is based on ancient Greek philosophy, and this "string" based on "reason" remains unchanged. However, Western philosophy is compatible with each other (studious, specialized), and relatively speaking, "Western philosophy is an excellent student." ”

Ancient Chinese philosophy: based on "perceptual thinking", it has a relatively high level of achievements in aesthetics, art, and construction (ancient times).

Note: Ancient Chinese philosophy, led by Lao Tzu's thought.

That is to say: Lao Tzu's thoughts and doctrines are the representative (enlightenment) of ancient Chinese philosophy.

Lao Tzu's thought is more prominent in ancient aesthetics and art. In modern times, it has been applied to society more prominently, such as: human nature and freedom. Lao Tzu's thought attaches great importance to "people"; in Lao Tzu's ideological system, people have a place.

Thanks for reading, welcome to follow!

Author: He Yongqi