《老子》與《中論》之哲學比較 -- 以語言策略、對反思維與有無觀為線索=Philosophical Comparison of Laozi and Mulamadhyamakakarika: Taking Linguistic Strategy, Oppositional Thinking, and Viewpoint of Being and Nonbeing as Clues
道=Dao; 空性=sunyata; 語言策略=linguistic strategy; 對反思維=oppositional thinking; 有無觀=viewpoint of being and nonbeing; 正言若反=recto word seems verso; 二諦=two levels of truth; 正反; 立破; 有無相生=yo and wu give rise to each other; 非有亦非無=neither being nor nonbeing; 消長律=law of vicissitudes; 緣起法=theory of interdependence
Laozi and Mulamadhyamakakarika are two important classics of Daoism and Buddhism respectively. This study compares the two texts in terms of the following three topics: Linguistic Strategy, Oppositional Thinking, and the Viewpoint of Being(you) and Non-being(wu). According to Laozi and Mulamadhyamakakarika, the meaning of ‘The Way’ (Dao) and ‘Emptiness’ (wunyata) cannot be fully expressed in words, yet both texts employ certain linguistic strategies by which they convey the inexpressible. To Laozi the inexpressible could be ascribed to the subtlety of the operation of opposites. To Mulamadhyamakakarika on the other hand, one of the reasons that Emptiness is inexpressible is because it transcends all dualistic thinking. By looking at the two opposites of being and non-being, we can further distinguish differing viewpoints and pivotal subjects from the two scriptures. The clues of linguistic strategy, oppositional thinking, and the viewpoint of being and non-being, therefore, constitute the axis of my discussion of the two classics. In what follows, I shall briefly list the conclusions from this research as contained in chapters 2 to 4. In chapter 2, I take the contrasting methods of recto/verso and confirmation/negation to be the linguistic strategies employed by Laozi and Mulamadhyamakakarika. From this I conclude that four similarities can be distinguished from their usage: firstly, both of strategies are responses to the ineffable Dao and wunyata; secondly, both reveal the paradoxical trickiness between expressible and non-expressible in terms of use of strategies; thirdly, both linguistic strategies display dynamics and ingenuity; and lastly, the ingenious application of these strategies at times causes a certain degree of misunderstanding.In chapter 3, I point out that Laozi and Mulamadhyamakakarika take entirely different standpoints with regard to the worldly oppositional concepts. In Laozi, the universe consists of dualistic components which stand in opposition to each other. While constantly changing, each of these oppositional factors remains subject to the vicissitudes of growth and decline between itself and its opposite. The questions of how to maintain balance in this dualistic world so as to save ourselves from decay, how to attain immortality, and how to accomplish everything without action are Laozi’s main philosophical concerns. By contrast, Mulamadhyamakakarika aims to get beyond all duality by way of examining identity/confirmation and