Natural Spontaneities and Morality in Confucian Philosophy

Abstract

The concept of spontaneity is as rich as it is important. It is rich in meaning and ambiguity, and yet no thorough explanation has been given it in philosophy, although the word has been used in various contexts of common language. It is also important because it arises from some fundamental experiences of life and reality in their process aspect and seems to capture an essential characteristic of life and reality, thereby contributing to their understanding. Western philosophers in general have not particularly focused on this concept in order to explore its reference and structure, but seem instead to have attempted to explain it away. The mechanistic model of classical physics is a good example. Even in contemporary philosophy of mind and history, systematic explanation is based upon considerations of workings of mechanic laws or law-like regularities. Spontaneity is not considered as a principle of its own; it is not analyzed or made precise. There is an escape from spontaneity. On the contrary, Eastern philosophy, particularly Confucianism and Taoism, from the very beginning have focused on spontaneity as an ultimate principle: a principle of explanation and a principle of justification as well as a principle which is identified with the most general and most profound experience of man and his relation to the world. Vested in the concept of spontaneity is the whole corpus of our understanding of nature, life, reality, and the ultimate destiny and fulfillment of man. It can be shown that all the major concepts found in Confucianism and Taoism are based upon or derived from our understanding and experience of spontaneity.