The contents of the present volume on "Man and Nature" derive from the first of a series of joint colloquia sponsored by the Department of Philosophy of Peking University with The International Society for Metaphysics (ISM) and the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (RVP).

The times are particularly appropriate for this work. Throughout the world, intensive efforts were made after World War II to develop scientific and technical structures for economic, industrial and political life. More recently attention has turned to the search for ways in which the life of nations might better reflect persons and their creativity. Everywhere, it is hoped that this will contribute, not only to economic development, but to raising the quality of the life of persons and of entire peoples. This appears to be consistent effort of such diverse steps as the liberation movements of the l950's, the Second Vatican Council in the l960's, the student and minority movements of the 1970's, and efforts in this decade toward social reconstruction and perestroika. This promises to be the point of convergence for human efforts in these years of proximate preparation for the XXI'st Century.

This has placed a special responsibility upon philosophers to seek out the resources available for this work in the cultural traditions of their various nations, to analyze the precise nature of the present challenge, and to elaborate the component insights required for facing the problems and constructing the vision needed by mankind for the future.

To respond to this need the ISM and RVP joint colloquia have had the following characteristics:

(1) They are planned particularly for work with philosophers in areas in which metaphysics in principle has not been a point of recent interest, but who inevitably are concerned with the basic issues in philosophy.

(2) They focus upon a specific theme of common interest, which they treat in terms, not of a dialogue of opposing views, but of a point of mutual concern and cooperative inquiry regarding ideas still in flux.

(3) The number of participants at these colloquia have been kept to 15 or less so that all might join around the same table and all might be actively engaged.

(4) The number of papers presented has generally been held to one or at the most two papers during a three-hour session in order to promote in-depth discussion. Over a period of three days the cumulative effect of these discussions has been deeper joint insight regarding the central issue and complementary understanding which broadens horizons.

The present colloquium has been particularly successful. It took place in the midst of intensive changes in the life of the people of China. These have challenged philosophers to work intensively and simultaneously on a number of levels. They have had to reach deeply into the heritage of China to discover and articulate anew the deepest inspirations and aspirations of their people; they have had to do the same for Marxism in order to find new potentialities in this philosophies; and they have had to look forward to ways in which these resources could be articulated in truly new ways for new times. Hence, the visiting philosophers joined an on-going, deeply authentic and vibrant philosophical quest.

The theme chosen for the discussions was "Man and Nature" (to be followed by an exchange colloquium on "Man and Society"). The first term stands, of course, for "mankind", but appeared the most appropriate in the language context. The term "nature" included the physical universe, but extended much further, for the term "nature" means also mankind and even heaven. It stands then for the entirety of reality. The topic for discussion then was not merely the physical context or the material implementation of human life, but the much broader issue of the total horizon of that life.

In this light the discussions were rich and complex. They concerned both past and present philosophies, the spiritual as well as the material dimensions of the person, and looked perhaps above all for the horizons which were needed in order to develope a vision adequate for the future.

In this the resources of the participating philosophers proved quite complementary, both in drawing upon the past and for the work that lie ahead. Philosophers rich in a tradition of unity and stability looked with special interest at traditions built on dualism and dynamism; philosophers worried about the effect of an invasive and destructive practice on physical nature had hopes of drawing upon others more steeped in attitudes of harmony and mutual promotion. All sought sufficient understanding of the range of reality from matter to spirit in order to be able to integrate theory, practice and contemplation within their efforts to build the future. All shared richly what they had, and all listened and reflected intently.

More specifically the flow of the discussions is reflected, with slight adjustment, in the disposition of the Parts of this volume. The papers of the Chinese philosophers, discussed in the morning sessions, treated sequentially classical Chinese, Marxist, and modern European philosophy in relation to "Man and Nature"; the afternoon papers by the visiting scholars treated hermeneutics, the sense of the person and ethics. Together they joined in an effort to understand the resources available from the past, the modes of interpreting and applying those in the present and the role of materialism and subjectivity in developing an ethics for the future.

Part I concerns the resources of classical Chinese philosophy. Prof. Zhang Dai-Nian considers the range of theories regarding the relation of man to nature from a theory of original harmony which would be disturbed by any human action or machine to a theory by which mankind is called to assist nature in its changes and to help all things to perfect fulfillment. Here the human person has a central and honored place. Prof. Tang Yi-jie points to the great emphasis placed upon integration and the harmony of heaven and man, of knowledge and practice, and of feeling and scenery; unity and integration mark all three orders of world, ethics and art. Prof. Fang Litian shows a parallel dynamic relation of utilization and conservation, of exploitation and improvement. The Chapter by Prof. K. Schmidt tracing a series of understandings of nature in Western thought includes the formally structured view of ancient Greece and the more dynamic sense of nature in the Christian Middle Ages. Clearly, there is much to draw upon for future development in both East and West.

At the same time, it is noted that some elements of importance for our times are lacking in the classical Chinese thinkers, particularly, the logic required for analytic thought, a systematic structure for understanding, and a strong sense of the dynamic character of nature. A way is needed to draw upon the complementary resources from the classical Western tradition. In turn, this could be reciprocated by the Chinese themes of harmony and integration.

But how is this to be done; how is this wealth of wisdom from the past and even from another culture to be interpreted so as to live in our day? Should one--can one--seek to recreate the mind and life of times past; or must the past be made to live in new and dynamic ways in the present? In Part II the paper of Prof. McLean looks into the origin of a tradition as the expression of the cumulative free choices of a people and as bearing normative weight in making possible the free choices of the present. This concerns also the work of application, for the tradition lives only in those free and creative decisions made in its light, not as static repetitions of the past but as building a future that is ever new. Prof. G. Florival deepens this hermeneutic suggestion by tracing it to the very nature of being, while Prof. Chatterjee illustrates the richness of the resources regarding nature which have been developed in this manner in the Indian tradition.

Part III undertakes the work of constructing a modern approach to understanding the relation of man and nature by focusing upon the materialist approaches of Marxist thought. Profs. Huang Nansheng and Zhao Guangwu acutely analyze the continuities of physical nature, extending even from that which is not known, through nature as affected by man and humanized, to the human body and appropriate human interaction. Prof. Li Zhen approaches the issue in terms of opposition and struggle initiated with a hostile nature in primitive times and continued in terms of master and slave in the institutions of the ancient and medieval periods. A resolution is suggested through understanding all in terms of the one matter in evolution and the achievement by modern man of a mastery which is then converted into friendship.

Part IV directs attention to subjectivity and spirit as an additional dimension of reality. It is pointed out by Profs. Chen Kuide and Zhang Shi-Ying that Western thought has drawn its dynamism particularly from its unresolved dualism of spirit and matter, and subject and object, reflected in the parallel tension of transcendence and immanence. The panoramic paper of Prof. Zhu Desheng follows the restless history of metaphysical work upon this relationship. Earlier, the paper of G. Florival had noted the related rich hermeneutic significance of contemporary efforts in a personalist approach, while that of K. Schmidt pointed to the positive role of religion inspiring medieval culture and the struggles for liberation of the oppressed of our day.

Finally, Part V attempts to unite these elements in an ethical view for the future of mankind. The paper of J. Farrelly develops a notion of nature as guide to human action. Prof. T. Imamichi treats of ways in which our ethics must undergo development in order to be adequate for the new circumstances of our times. Prof. M. Dy extends this to the choice of values, their articulation in the various notions of ideology and their critique. Looking toward the future he echoes a passage of Wang Yang-Min cited by Prof. Tang, namely, "Knowledge is the purpose of practice and practice is the work of knowledge; knowledge is the beginning of practice and practice is the end result of knowledge." In Dy's terms this wedding of knowledge and practice in our day implies a search for institutions "to mediate man and technology, to render nature more humanized and man more . . . at home with his world. Ideology in its original sense of integration may then become a utopia, and man a co-creator with the One."

G. McLean, Sec. Council for Research in Values and Philosophy