Experience and Subjectivity: François Jullien and Jean François Billeter
Résumé
The concept of subjectivity as we know it, especially since Descartes, does not appear as such in ancient Chinese thought. But the fact that subjectivity is not explicitly expressed does not imply that one can do without it. Subjectivity may remain hidden, or implicit, awaiting to be revealed by commentators. Thus, what is in stake is not to know if subjectivity has been theorized by Chinese thinkers, but rather to know if sinology may use this concept as a principle when studying Chinese classics.
This question was recently raised in the controversy between two sinologists, the Swiss Jean François Billeter (born in 1939) and the French François Jullien (born in 1951). Here will be briefly exposed the works of both sinologists, especially from
a methodological point of view, and then the controversies that, as we will see, emerged quite naturally. We will finally examine if the existence of subjectivity in ancient Chinese thought is a merely sinological question, or more generally a philosophical one.
Domaines
Philosophie
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
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