A Reconsideration of the Question of “The True, the Good, and the Beautiful” in Traditional Chinese Philosophy

Abstract

What is the highest ideal in spiritual life human beings quest for? I believe it is “the true, the good, and the beautiful” and the unity of this three in one system. Of course, ideas of philosophers are different regarding what constitutes each of these three ideals. As far as how these are unified in one system, opinions differ from each other. There cannot be any final conclusion to this discussion, and actually there is no need for such one. As long as people quest for truth, goodness, and beauty, thinkers will undoubtedly want to construct systems unifying the concepts. In my opinion, the quest for spiritual realm of life in Chinese traditional philosophy can be referred as ancient philosophers’ quest for “the true, the good, and the beautiful” in another way. I wrote an article entitled “The Question of the True, the Good and the Beautiful in Traditional Chinese Philosophy” which was largely a historical discussion of the Confucian view about the question. This article is, however, not confined to a discussion of the Confucians and is not historical in its approach because such an approach would entail too unfocussed and lengthy an article. We will therefore analyze and discuss selected representative thinkers.