Li Zehou and the concept of free will

Rošker, Jana S. (author)

Li Zehou was undoubtedly one of the most prolific and influential Chinese philosophers in China today. He stood among the most important and influential Chinese philosophers of our time and belonged to the few Chinese intellectuals whose works have found a wide readership abroad. In most of his works he has attempted to reconcile“Western”( especially Kantian and Marxist) theories with traditional Chinese ideas concepts and values in order to create a theoretical model of modernization that would not be confused or equated with pure“Westernisation”. Since the late 1970s he has espoused a set of views that have had a profound and lasting impact on contemporary Chinese intellectuals. Countless debates on aesthetics epistemology ethics or traditional Chinese thought have been inspired by Li Zehou's theories. In various intellectual artistic and cultural circles his ideas were extensively cited as authoritative and he virtually became the “intellectual icon or guru” of many Chinese intellectuals. His contribution to contemporary Chinese thought and culture is quite complex. Despite this complexity, which cannot be reduced to any dominant philosophical categories or currents, he is undoubtedly one of the most important modern scholars in Chinese history and culture. His elaboration and re-interpretation of the concept of free will belongs to his most innovative ideas that are still of outstanding importance for current developments in contemporary Chinese philosophy. In his view, free will belongs to the most important mental formations. It originates from conscious decisions of human beings to sacrifice their own, individual selfish interests for the greater good of a community. Such decisions are made when human beings consciously realize that their individual desires are in a sharp contradiction with the rational social demands of their community. Li Zehou presents us with the certainty that we ourselves possess our freedom, not only in the sense of free choices. but also in a broader and much more complex sense of such individual free will, which can be fully realised only through the full recognition and implementation of our social and personal responsibilities. Such a specific concept of free will ( ziyou yizhi 自由意志) and its close relationship to moral sentiments has a crucial significance for Li's entire ethical system. This article analyses the theoretical underpinnings of Li's specific concept of free will; it sets forth its significance within the framework of contemporary Chinese theory; and shows why and how it represents a call for a new humanism.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Li Zehou, Kant, free will, categorical imperative, comparative philosophy, Chinese philosophy
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2022
• Year: 2022
• Number of pages: Str. 143-157
• Numbering: Vol. 2, no. 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-138772
• UDC: 1(510)
• ISSN on article: 2096-9805
• COBISS.SI-ID: 117347587
• Publication date in RUL: 17.08.2022

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Guoji ruxue (Zhong-yingwen)
• Publisher: Guoji Ruxue Bianjibu, 国际儒学编辑部
• ISSN: 2096-9805
• COBISS.SI-ID: 117338627

Secondary language

• Language: Chinese
• Title: 李泽厚与自由意志概念
• Keywords: Li Zehou, Kant, svobodna volja, kategorični imperativ, primerjalna filozofija, kitajska filozofija

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P6-0243
• Name: Azijski jeziki in kulture

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: N6-0161
• Name: Humanizem v medkulturni perspektivi: Evropa in Kitajska