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Philosophy in Taiwan (Chinese:臺灣哲學) is the set of philosophical traditions inTaiwan, whileTaiwanese philosophy is taken to mean philosophical work from the country. Philosophical thought in Taiwan is diverse, drawing influence fromChinese philosophy duringQing rule from the 17th and 18th century, and Western philosophy through theKyoto School duringJapanese rule in the 19th and early 20th century. Taiwanese philosophy took a more endogenous turn during the modern era, with burgeoning philosophical debate regarding Taiwanese Gemeinschaft (social relations).[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
The history of Taiwanese philosophy is inextricably linked withTaiwanese history. The 1895Sino-Japanese War was not only a turning point for East-Asianrealpolitik,[1] but alsoEast-Asian philosophy. One of the earliest works of distinctly Taiwanese philosophy isLin Mosei's 1916 publication,Wang Yang-ming's Liangzhi (王陽明の良知說).[3]
The history of Taiwanese philosophy can be broadly understood in distinct sections: the Indigenous Era, the Ming-Qing Han period; the Japanese Era; the postwar era andWhite Terror; and more contemporaneously systemic studies that have followed since the country's democratization in the 1980s.
Literature on theTaiwanese indigenous peoples is scarce, and only through colloquial myths and legends can it be studied.[9] Studies regarding the epistemology of the indigenous peoples have offered new insight on normative principles in Taiwanese philosophy.[10][11]
During theMing andQing imperial times, theHan Chinese settled in Taiwan in large numbers.Confucianism was imported through Han private schools and temples. Canonical Confucianism lecture scripts -- theI Ching in particular -- were ostensibly produced, however, have since been lost. The understanding of Confucianism at that time was more likely to bephilology, rather thanphilosophy.[12]
Japan gained possession of Taiwan in 1895 following theFirst Sino-Japanese War. This marked a turning point for the development of modern philosophy in the region. During this time Taiwan received influences fromWestern philosophy through theKyoto School.
Taiwan was also influenced by the modernization of its neighbor China (May Fourth Movement), Japan (Taisho Democracy),Russia (October Revolution), and Korea (Korean Independence Movement).
Taiwanese philosophy during Japanese rule is understood by Taiwanese academics as following three distinct phases: Pre-Enlightenment (1896–1916), Enlightenment (1916–1930), and the Golden Times (1930–1945). Philosophical thought can also be divided into four camps: The Kyoto School,American Pragmatism,Christian Theology, and Modern Sinology.
ThePresbyterian Church in Taiwan had a large impact on Taiwanese modernization during the late Qing Dynasty.Li Chunsheng was aDadaocheng tea merchant who was baptized by the church and formulated his Christian thoughts as an opposition againstDarwinism.
Lin Mosei, the first Taiwanese to receive a doctorate in the United States was educated in aPresbyterian grammar school. Rev. J. S. Chou (周再賜) was the first Taiwanese theologian in the United States and was given reverend stewardship in Japan.
Li Chunsheng published a series of Christian studies after his magum opusZhǔ jīn xīn jí (主津新集, 1896) in Yokohama and worked on comparing his religions beliefs with Confucianism. He consideredConfucius an "anonymous Christian", a concept he borrowed from theologianKarl Rahner.[13] Taiwanese philosophy was not yet institutionalized until Lin Mosei's groundbreaking paperWang Yang-ming's Liangzhi was published during his studies at the Tokyo Imperial University in 1916.[14]
Lin Mosei analyzedYangmingism, one of the major schools ofNeo-Confucianism throughKant andDescartes.
Taiwanese philosophy was now burgeoning with theSturm und Drang -- the institutionalization of philosophy departments in East Asia, first beginning in 1910 in Tokyo Imperial University, then further in 1912 inKyoto University with the founding of the Kyoto School,[15] as well as similar movements atPeking University.
Taiwanese intellectuals read broadly and were multi-cultural and multi-lingual, borrowing from Taiwanese, Japanese, English, and even French and German thought.Hung Yao-hsün [zh],Chin-sui Hwang [zh], andZeng Tianzong [zh]) were among those associated with the Kyoto School and were familiar with Japanese and German languages; Lin Mosei,Joshua Liao [zh]) had their doctorates in the United States, studying and writing in English, and Joshua Liao wrote his manifestoQuo Vadis Formosa? in French.Su-Qing Lin [zh], the first Taiwanese female scholar holding a bachelor in philosophy, published her research based on theOeuvres de Descartes byCharles Adam [fr] andPaul Tannery in 1953.
The intellectuals trends of the day were also influential.Lin Qiu-wu [zh]’s critique of Buddhism was Marxist, and Joshua Liao's pragmatist approach on reading intellectual histories was considered pioneering.
Significant philosophical movements took place as the Kyoto School garnered attention. Lin Mosei's 1929 dissertationPublic Education in Formosa under the Japanese Administration: Historical and Analytical Study of the Development and the Cultural Problems was written under the supervision of American philosopherJohn Dewey and educatorPaul Monroe. Adopting a pragmatist approach, Lin Mosei unveiled the injustice of the education policy under Japanese colonial rule and argued instead for universal human values like equality and liberty. Other central works include Hung Yao-hsün’s review ‘View on Fūdo’ (風土文化觀) which took influence fromTetsuro Watsuji andHegelian dialectics and phenomenology.Shao-Hsing Chen [zh]'s Hegel's Theorem on Civil Society (‘黑格爾市民社會論’) in 1936 formulated relations between the individual and society, with particular emphasis on the works ofAdam Ferguson and Hegel. Zeng Tianzong’s ‘the Principles on Truth’ (真理原理論, 1937) was a phenomenological enquiry of truth. Philosophical developments ground to a halt in 1937 with outbreak of theSino-Japanese War.
Taiwanese philosophers such as Hung Yao-hsün, Chin-sui Hwang, Zeng Tianzong,Fa-Yu Cheng [zh], Shao-Hsing Chen,Isshū Yō [zh],Shoki Coe, C. K. Wu (吳振坤) were influenced byContinental philosophy from the Kyoto School. Hung Yao-hsün came to prominence for his 1936 textArt and Philosophy (藝術と哲學) which usedWilhelm Dilthey's perspective on literature and thinking; and later in 1938Existence and Truth – which was reviewed inSchala Nuzubidse'sTheorem on Truth (存在と真理─ヌツビッゼの真理論の一考察). Shao-Hsing Chen in 1935-36 was influenced by Adam Ferguson and Hegel. Isshū Yō in 1935 publishedInfinite Negation and Creativity (無限否定と創造性) which drew fromHenri Bergson, Martin Heidegger, andLev Shestov, arguing that the negation of life was not identified with passiveness and nothingness. Zeng Tianzong'sThe Principles on Truth (真理原理論) was one of the recognized philosophical works in Japan, it was published by Risosha (東京理想社) and prefaced byGen'yoku Kuwaki (桑木嚴翼). Shoki Coe studied philosophy in Tokyo, specializing in dialectical theology, and had his bachelor's degree in 1937. C. K. Wu ofTainan Theological College and Seminary studied with religious philosopherSeiichi Hatano during the 1940s and was later promoted inYale University, publishing his workPhilosophy of the Religion (宗教哲學, 1940).[16] Chin-sui Hwang was an apostle ofTanabe Hajime; his 1939On Dailiness – A Phenomenological Suggestion (日常性について―現象學的試論) contrasted the dialects of the dailiness and nightliness, and in 1959 he translatedRené Descartes'sDiscourse on the Method. Fa-Yu Cheng was supervised byNishida Kitarō, and in 1984 he transcribedAn Inquiry into the Good (善的研究) and foundedempirical psychology in Taiwan.
Pragmatism was an intellectual movement in 19th and 20th century America, and drew from philosophy, psychology, and education. Lin Mosei, andHu Shih, studied under pragmatist John Dewey. Lin Mosei used a pragmatist approach in criticizing the Japanese in hisColumbia University dissertationPublic Education in Formosa under the Japanese Administration: Historical and Analytical Study of the Development and the Cultural Problems.Joshua Liao [zh]'s dissertationThe Individual and the Community on intellectual histories was influenced byGeorge Herbert Mead's pragmatist social psychology.[17]Hsiang-yu Su [zh] who had studied in Peking University since 1924, was influenced by theMay Fourth Movement.
The influence of the Presbyterian church is intertwined with the intellectual history of Taiwan. Li Chun Sheng was the founder of the Presbyterian Church in Dadaocheng. His ‘Mín jiào yuānyù jiě’ (民教冤獄解, 1903), ‘Tiān yǎn lùn shū hòu’ (天演論書後, 1907), ‘Dōngxī zhé héng’ (東西哲衡, 1908) argued for the Christianity. Lin Mosei's Christian analysis of history was published on the ‘Taiwan Church News’. J. S. Chou was a son of the priest and the first Taiwanese to study theology in Kyoto and the United States and was made a reverend in Japan. Rev. Koe Bé-se (郭馬西) was recommended by the Church to Meiji Academy (Meiji Gakuin) to study theology and later went on to study at theAuburn Theological Seminary, theUnion Theological Seminary in New York City (1921), and the Department of Anthropology atColumbia University (1926).[18][19][20][21][22][23] Rev.Ai Chih Tsai [zh] was a graduate from a Presbyterian grammar school and founded the first Taiwanese church inSeattle, and was the first president of the Taiwanese Union.[24][25][26][27][28][29][30] C. K. Wu revived the Tainan Theological College and Seminary with Shoki Coe. Shoki Coe was also a founder ofTunghai University.[31]
Modern Sinology used western philosophy to elaborate further on Oriental philosophy. Lin Mosei,Shenqie Zhang [zh],Ming-kun Kuo [zh]), Lin Qiu-wu,Dong-fang Chang [zh] all drew new insight into the Confucian canons. Lin Mosei'sWang Yang-ming's Liangzhi (王陽明の良知說) compared Kantian and Cartesian thought with Yangmingism. Alongside Dong-fang Chang, he lectured on Oriental philosophy and literature at theNational Taiwan University. Lin Qiu-wu’s offered Marxist critique of Buddhism.
Postwar retrocession from Japan was expected from the Taiwanese. Engagement in politics included Lin Mosei'sMingpao (民報), Chin-sui Hwang'sHsin-hsin (新新),Joshua Liao [zh] and his brotherThomas'sAvant-garde (前鋒), Hung Yao-hsün and Shenqie Zhang'sNew Taiwan (新台灣).[1] The situation took a turn after theFebruary 28 Incident which killed thousands of civilians.
Lin Mosei was kidnapped and murdered during February 28 Incident.Dong-fang Chang [zh] spiraled into mental illness from prosecution during the White Terror, which sought the prosecution of political dissidents. Joshua Liao, witnessing corruption urged emancipation in Formosa Speaks (1950) which was written during his exile in Hong Kong.
Shenqie Zhang'sStudies on Confucianism (孔子哲學評論) (1954) was notably banned, and his manuscriptStudies on Laoziism (老子哲學評論) could not be published either.
Isshū Yō involved himself with theTaiwanese independence movement in Tokyo, and Shoki Coe left Taiwan but engaged with overseas Taiwanese independence movements and addressedSelf-determination for Taiwanese People (臺灣人民自決運動) in 1972, and co-organized theFormosan Association for Public Affairs in 1980. C. K. Wu held his deanship of Tainan Theological College and Seminary and devoted himself to sustaining the intellectual lineage of Taiwanese philosophy.
Hung Yao-hsün introducedExistentialism into the Taiwanese intellectual circles, Chin-sui Hwang promoted the Erlanger school ofconstructivism; in the 1960s,Yin Haiguang introducedlogical positivism andKeynesian thought. In 1958, ‘A Manifesto on the Reappraisal of Chinese Culture: Our Joint Understanding of the Sinological Study Relating to World Cultural Outlook’ was jointly addressed byCarsun Chang,Mou Zongsan, andXu Fuguan in Hong Kong.[32] In the meantime, Yin Haiguang,Lei Chen, andChang Fo-chuan [zh] promoted a liberal stance in theFree China Journal; however their organization of the China Democratic Party led to prosecution from authorities. In 1972, aMcCarthyist scandaloccurred in [zh] the department of philosophy at the National Taiwan University.[33]
Political reforms began the 1980s. Bookstores, salons, and soapboxes, along with mass movement, burgeoned. 15 July 1987 was a watershed moment of Taiwanese political history with theend of 38 years of military rule. The 1990s, however, remained a battlefront for civil rights.Cheng Nan-jung, a graduate from philosophy and a dissident magazine founder, argued for freed of speech, body, and mind. Taiwanese cultural sociologist Ren-yi Liao (廖仁義)’s stated that in 1988 that "Taiwanese philosophy has been a civil intellectual movement against domination, rather than an academic form of conception."[34] Systemic research on Taiwanese philosophers from Joshua Liao, Li Chunsheng, Hung Yao-hsün[35][4][36][37] included two works published in 2016[38] and 2019.[39]
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