Soul And Mind-nature

Since western learning introduced into China, the historical tasks, that’s the comparison of the Chinese and western culture, have fallen onto the shoulders of Chinese nations. While this topic would be a ceaseless historic topic. In order to know the real difference between the eastern and western, we need to trace the source and origin of their culture. Ancient Greek culture, it’s one of the major sources of western culture, however, Plato is no more larger representative of the culture. Platonism, to same extent, laid the foundation of western culture. In China, Confucianism would be the mainstream of our culture. However, it didn’t establish a comprehensive philosophical system until Song Dynasty, it’s the so-called Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism. Zhu Xi would be the most important representative of Neo-Confucianism and his thought has won a dominant position in traditional Chinese culture. Since ethics play a very important role in Chinese traditional philosophy, we can make a comparison on this level between the eastern and the western. Even though Plato and Zhu Xi are in difference historical periods, as representative of each culture, their ethical thoughts are of high degree comparability, their difference can also reflect the difference between their culture.Plato’s thoughts’mainly consist of three parts, that’s idealism, doctrine of soul, political ethics. Zhu Xi’s thoughts are also made up of three parts, doctrine of the heaven principle, the nature of mind theory, the pursuit of behavior principle to enlighten inner moral of the morality cultivation theory. Soul and mind are the hub of all parts of their theory, what’s more, they are also the core of their ethical thoughts. Plato’s idealism and Zhu Xi’s doctrine of the heaven principle, they form their ethical thoughts from the angle of ontological level, and their difference also determine the inner difference of their thoughts. Idea and heaven principle both are transcendental concepts, their differences laid in that idea is used on separate objects while heaven principle is mainly illustrate a relationship between different objects. So idea is similar to class-concept, while heaven principle is regular pattern.Idea is diverse and mutual paralleled relationship. The diverse ideas not only interact with each other, but also retain their independence. Heaven principle is integrity, simple and governs the materials. Thus, for human, we keep self-dependence from the aspect of idealism, the independence of human are covered and digested by the relationship between people. It determines the fundamental differences between Plato and Zhu Xi.In Plato’s eyes, the soul and idea are of the same quality. The soul has met all the ideas before it returns to the body, so we said the soul is innate knowledge. After the soul returned to the body, it forget the knowledge once gained. What’s our task is to regain what we forget and get rid of the state of ignorance, this will lead us to happiness and moral life. In Zhu Xi’s view, heaven principle and the nature of mind are also transcendental concepts. Nature is just principle. We form our nature after we get or absorb the principle. Nature included in your mind and connect the principle and your mind. Ethical principles are the main content of heaven principle, so the pursuit of behavior principle to enlighten inner moral of the morality cultivation theory aims to let men do follow the rules.Soul and mind are generally of the same structure, soul consists of reason, passion and desire, mind also can be divided into nature, emotion and desire. Plato and Zhu Xi both advocate that we should use reason to dominate our desire, what’s the difference laid that Plato combine the structure of soul with city-state, and this also reflects his thoughts of institutional arrangements on human life.The fundamental question of Plato’s ethical thought is what’s good life and happiness, so his ethical thoughts is rationalism teleological. While the guiding principle of Zhu Xi’s thoughts is conserving the principle and removing human’s desire, it forms the moral personality through principle protection, so his core thoughts is rationalism deontological. Plato’s thoughts reflects the improvement of individual, while Zhu Xi emphasis on self-cultivation. These depend on their fundamental thoughts of philosophy.