"I Think Therefore I Am" And "I Lost Myself": A Comparison Between Descartes And Chuang-Tzu's Self-concept

This article aims to compare the self-concept of Descartes and Chuang-Tzu.The basic idea is to unscramble the meaning of "I think therefore I am" and "I lost myself" respectively in the first place. Then analyze the meaning of the propositions to summarize the view about self of Descartes and Chuang-Tzu. Finally makes a conclusion by Comparison.Chapterâ… analyzes Descartes'"I think therefore I am". Descartes pointed that everything in thinking all can be doubted, only the form of thinking that the existence of thought itself is beyond doubt, so "I think therefore I am" can be the "first principles" to establish sure knowledge system..Chapterâ…¡summed up the three main characteristics of Descartes'self-concept:As the essential attribute of Descartes'self is just thought, so Descartes'self is pure thought above all; Descartes took the existence of self as the "first principle" that means the existence of self does not dependent on any external objects including God, therefore Descartes'self is independent; Descartes took human's Spirit as a sort of entity that forms opposition with material, which also means Subject and Object formed Completely Opposition, so Descartes'self is a kind of subject-object dichotomy.Chapterâ…¢hackles, analyzes notes of Chuang-Tzu's "I lost myself" recorded by ancient masters, and from this put the view of this article forward:"I lost myself" that means get rid of the difference between things and I, eliminate the concept of self in order to achieve the state of "All Things One Form.'Chapterâ…£summed up the three main characteristics of Chuang-Tzu's self-concept: Chuang-Tzu's "I lost myself" intends to get rid of the difference between things and I, eliminate the concept of self, so Chuang-Tzu's self represents as "All Things One Form"; the state of Chuang-Tzu's "I lost myself" is also a free state in spirit with no fetter which "WuDai","WuJi "."ZuoWang " describes, so Chuang-Tzu's self is free and unrestrained; finally, Chuang-Tzu advocated abandon and transcend the concept of self in order to achieve freedom in spirit, so Chuang-Tzu's self can not be expressed.Chapter V launched a comparison on self-concept of Descartes and Chuang-Tzu, obtained three main points in common and three major differences of Descartes and Chuang-Tzu's self-concept.The common points are the same background of skepticism, the same spiritual existence, the same spirit of freedom; differences are two different kinds of living structures, two opposite direction of thinking, two opposite ways of description.Finally, induction and summarized.