Lecture 07 Principle, Material Force and Ethics: Zhu Xi (朱熹 1130-1200)

  • Principle and the material force
    • cosmology
    • principle/coherence as the organization regulation
    • material force as the substance
    • the relationship between principle and material force
  • Extending the statement that "human nature is Principle"
    • the natures of things are from the cosmic principle
    • human nature includes the principle in things
    • human nature includes the principles of affairs
  • The heart-and-mind include and lead human nature and emotions
    • the main functions of the heart-and-mind: to master the body and to perceive principles in things
    • the heart-and-mind of the Way: the certainty
    • the heart-and-mind of human beings:
  • Investigating things to exhaust the principles
    • Understanding the first and practice the second
  • Re-commentating the Classics
    • the great master to recreate tradition
    • becoming a sage through writing
    • From the Five Classics to the Four Books