COMPREHENSIVE HARMONY AND THE MIND-BODY PROBLEM

Abstract

In Sixteenth Century Europe, a new wave of thought gathered momentum: from the rejection of a geocentric universe, this wave swept the continent effecting the broad repercussions of the Scientific Revolution, But in addition to bringing about a new technology, it also introduced a totally new cosmology and manner of looking at the world. The effects of this Revolution have remained as some of the pillars of modern day thought. A special metaphysical problem also arose out of this mileaux and this was the mind—body problem, The new concept of Nature and man's place in it became the backdrop against which the problem emerged. Across the Asian continent in China, this almost obvious problem in Western philosophy never arose in Chinese philosophy. Why was this so despite the fact that Chinese philosophy has perhaps one of the greatest histories in the world? An explanation is sought in the Chinese concept of Nature and the very special notion of the unity of man and Nature as it existed in the pre-Ch’in era. The reason for this restriction is that this era has been considered as the Golden age of Chinese thought and subsequent philosophy was the development of the ideas generated in thig period. The advent of Buddhism offered a fresh impact, but this was really a foreign School, not indigenous to China. Also there is the practical impossibility of investigating all the concepts of Nature and man’s relationship to it in such a short study, Never having been through a Scientific Revolution, the Chinese concept of Nature remained essentially unchanged, Their concept of Nature was not a mechanistic one as existed in post Scientific Revolution Europe. Rather, Nature functioned in a comprehensive harmony, where every-thing fitted and resonated with one another. The emphasis was on balance and equilibrium for the smooth functioning of Nature. Similarly, the notion of unity between man and Nature emphasised by the Chinese philosophers contrasted sharply with the dichotomy of man and Nature by European philosophers after the Sixteenth Century. Although different schools of thought held differing beliefs in this relationship,they, nevertheless, affirmed the unity of man and Nature In the pre—Ch’in era, the Confucianists, Taoists, Moists and the Yin—Yang and five—agents philosophers, all exhibited this tendency, In both the concept of Nature and the unity of man and Nature, the tendency was to find a balance and harmony in all things. Rather than seeing conflicts and dichotomies, Chinese cosmology saw unity and sought to explain this unity. This was one of the basic beliefs that formed the backdrop for Chinese philosophical problems The new scientific metaphysics was the context and sufficient condition of the mind—body problem in Europe. China, did not undergo a scientific revolution and her concepts of Nature and man's place in were quite different from the scientific metaphysics, Thus, China had a very different philosophical scenario. As different philosophical problems arise out of different scenaries; an explanation of why the mind—body problem did not arise in China may be found in the very special context of Chinese philosophy.