James Dominic Rooney, Review of Material Objects

1. A review of James Dominic Rooney, Material Objects in Confucian and Aristotelian Metaphysics: The Inevitability of Hylomorphism, London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2022. ISBN 978-1-3502-7634-5.

In this book, an interesting comparison is made between form–matter in Thomistic thought and the concepts of 理 (li) and 氣 (qi) in the twelfth-century philosopher 朱熹 (Zhu Xi):

「天下未有無理之氣，亦未有無氣之理。」
"In the world there is never qi without li, nor li without qi."

This expresses the inseparable unity between principle (理 li) and material force (氣 qi).
For Zhu Xi, li is the universal "normative structure" of things (somewhat like the Aristotelian form), while qi is the dynamic matter that realizes it.
All things exist as inseparable configurations of li–qi.
This view rejects both idealistic dualism (pure li without matter) and blind materialism (qi without order*).*

This is also interesting because Matteo Ricci in his 天主実義　(The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven) discusses the some problem with Zhu XI.

iPadから送信