의미적 자연과 사실적 자연 -노자의 경우 = Nature as a Sense and a Fact in the Philosophy of Laozi

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This paper presupposes that Laozi’s nature does not denote a nature as an objective thing, but represents the nature of human beings. It could be a ‘naturality (naïvety)’. The original meaning of nature in the philosophy of Laozi is ‘Automatically Such’(ziran自然): “I am my master. My behavior is my result. Do not regard me as someone’s agency or subject.”
Great was the discovery of Automatically Such. The declaration that “All reason of All is not in another, but in me”, is the kernel of Laozi’s thought. So his philosophy becomes ‘natural philosophy’ (ziran). Therefore one should not bother others about their life. So his philosophy becomes ‘nonactive philosophy’(wuwei 無 爲). According to I, it is a philosophy of nature. According to others, it is a philosophy of nonaction. This is a principle of nonactive nature (wuwei ziran).
Nature (ziran) in Chinese must not be regarded as a noun. Nature is not an object, a name or a noun; but a situation, an attitude, and an adjective. After ages, nature has regrettably come to denote objective things (wanwu 萬物). It was a retrogression and adherence in the thinking of Laozi. Nature is not natural any more. The narrow meaning of nature is close to artificiality (human: ren人), and far from spontaneity (heaven: tian天), instead.
Nature in the philosophy of Laozi is wide, considerable, and imaginable. It has an ideal meaning, and is not a wild fact. In this way, Nature is an assumption and supposition which somebody longs for and nobody escapes from.
Mankind cannot help leaving this presupposition. I suggest that nature should be separated into ‘nature for a fact’ and ‘nature for a meaning’. Nature as a fact is a kind of circumstance, while Nature as a sense is an idea which people fancy, desire, and interpret. We are living in nature for a fact, however we can create nature for a meaning, for example: peaceful or innocent nature, and moral or aesthetic nature. Lovely nature, motherlike nature, and holy nature also belong to Nature as a sense.