Metaphorical Metaphysics in Chinese Philosophy

In Metaphorical Metaphysics in Chinese Philosophy: Illustrated with Feng Youlan’s New Metaphysics, Derong Chen explores Chinese philosophy through a comprehensive study and critical analysis of Feng Youlan’s new metaphysics, proposing a systematic analysis of meaning that differs from the approach of the comparative linguistic analysis that A.C. Graham and Chad Hasen employed in their studies of Chinese philosophy. This detailed analysis of Feng Youlan’s new metaphysics demonstrates that Feng’s system is not the completely Westernized philosophical system many scholars identify it as, nor is it the pure logical and analytical system Feng himself intended to construct. Rather, the essence and characteristics of the new metaphysics at the core of Feng’s philosophical system expose his philosophy as a continuation of the Chinese philosophical tradition in a new era. This approach is most applicable to scholars of comparative philosophy and of any era of Chinese philosophy.

Philosophers outside China are only beginning to realize that twentieth-century China was the scene of significant and creative cross-tradition philosophical endeavors. The work of these Chinese thinkers to critically develop Chinese philosophical thinking in the light of challenges from Western philosophy may in fact serve as a model for our own century, when philosophies both East and West need to attend to one another if they are to continue to grow. Derong Chen's impressive study of Feng Youlan (1895-1990)'s metaphysics is thus extremely timely. In addition to being a thorough and well-grounded interpretation of Feng's metaphysical doctrines, Chen's book offers two additional features: Chen's own critical, constructive developments of Feng's metaphysical thinking are very substantial, and Chen develops a large-scale interpretive frame ('metaphorical metaphysics') that applies to Chinese philosophy quite generally. For all those interested in metaphysics or in understanding that Chinese philosophy is a live, contemporary enterprise, I recommend the book highly.

Derong Chen is sessional lecturer II in Chinese at the University of Toronto Mississauga.