A Comparative Study Of The Concepts Of Liberty Of Chinese And Western Thinkers

Liberty is a philosophical topic of human beings lasted forever. This thesis is devoted to have a historical examination and essential analysis of the concepts of liberty expressed by philosophers or thinkers in both China and western countries so as to grasp the logic connections of the development of liberal theories, basic theoretical problems, and the spirit of their times implied with the expectation of promoting the study of liberal theories and contemporary social practice.This thesis is made up of four parts, the first of which aims at giving a general analysis of the basic concepts such as liberty, liberalism and types of liberty. Then, we raise the basic problems to be reflected on and the fundamental tasks to be resolved: l,what is liberty based on as far as its ontological premise is concerned? 2, In what kind of meaning is liberty understood by different thinkers? 3, How is the pursuit of liberty possible? And 4, What is the spirit of times implied and the historical significance underlied?The second part mainly deals with the development of the concepts of liberty discussed by western thinkers. We give emphasis on the way of seeking liberty and the thought of individual liberty expressed by ancient thinkers. Of the whole part, we lay stress on the modern concepts of liberty, especially discussed by thinkers in England, France and Germany. We tries to point out the different expositions and understandings of liberty under different cultural backgrounds, the problems of liberty and their realistic significance, and the theoretical nature and the method of induction.Part three is to give a historical examination of the concepts of liberty by Chinese thinkers, particularly by ancient thinkers. The characteristics of Chinese thinkers' seeking freedom are analyzed from three angles, namely from the relation between liberty and Taos, from the relation between liberty and human nature, from the relation between an individual and an individual. Based on this, political liberty, moral liberty and spiritual liberty will be discussed in details. We also pay attention to liberty horizon and the way to realize it .As for modern concepts of liberty, we believe there is a basic turn in Chinese concepts of liberty, which occurs in the contrast and comparison of Chinese and western cultures.In the last part, we will give a general comparison and contrast of Chinese and western concepts of liberty in order to sort out their main characteristics and the fundamental differences .We think that the reasons for the differences are closely related to the world outlook, the viewpoint of human nature and the way of thinking as well as politics and economy. There is some truth and objectivity in each kind of perspective of liberty and so is there limitedness and one-sidedness. According to Marxism, they are all based on the abstract theory of human nature for the lack of really practical base. Finally we point it out that a comparative study of the concepts of liberty of Chinese and western thinkers shows a great theoretical and practical significance for the modernization of politics, economy, culture and mankind itself in contemporary china. At the age of the market economy, a lot of ideological resources can be drawn from the concepts of liberty of Chinese and westerners on how to set up a right concept of liberty.