《莊子•齊物論》結構研究：論其問句形式、隱喻及寓言

Abstract

〈齊物論〉乃《莊子》一書當中，最為重要且解讀也最為分歧的一章。除了字句上的釋義，其詮釋困難主要有二：其一，對論證強度的解讀不同，亦即莊子屬於何種懷疑論以及其對語言和知識的否定到什麼程度；其二，對寓言主題的解讀不同，亦即天籟之音、莊周夢蝶等寓言是要說明什麼以及為何而被提出。 而這兩種詮釋困難，主要源自於〈齊物論〉當中極常出現的行文特點：問句形式和類比法。由於〈齊物論〉往往運用問句來質疑語言或知識等概念，在問句形式可被解讀為否定、疑問或是肯定語意的情況之下，論證強度的解讀因而有了極大空間；由於〈齊物論〉多有使用類比法的寓言，也就是藉由具體情況或事物來說明抽象意義，在上下文脈絡不甚明確的情況之下，各種與具體情況或事物有共通之處者皆可被說為是寓意，寓言主題的解讀因而有了極大空間。 為了解決這兩種詮釋困難，本文提出了一套理解〈齊物論〉的基本架構：其一，寫作目的—止辯與描述理想人格；其二，論述策略—複答式提問與類比法；其三，策略作用—論證強度與隱喻、寓言的說明主題。其中複答式提問是〈齊物論〉當中極為獨特的問句形式，它具有以下特質：其一，作者自問自答；其二，作者提出了兩個以上的答案；其三，作者並未指出自己只認同任一種答案。 藉由複答式提問，〈齊物論〉承認了多種主張皆有成立的可能性，並以此來解消以單一主張為絕對正確的無窮爭論；藉由類比法，〈齊物論〉迴避了直接提出主張所可能造成的偏見與誤解，以隱喻和寓言來說明理想人格的更佳態度與做法。由此可見，止辯和描述理想人格乃一正一反，相輔相成，皆提供了人們化解衝突與應對無窮的行為指導。

“Qiwulun” is the most important chapter with the most various interpretations in Zhuangzi. In addition to the explanation on words and sentences, there are two main difficulties of interpretation: First, the difference with the strength of argument, what kind of skepticism Zhuangzi is? How strong does he deny language and knowledge? Second, the difference with the theme of allegory, what is the meaning of “the pipe from heaven” and “the butterfly dream”? Why Zhuangzi wrote them? These two difficulties are from the writing features of “Qiwulun” itself: the question form and the analogy. Because “Qiwulun” always doubts concepts like language or knowledge by questions, when the meaning of questions could be interpreted as negative, interrogative or affirmative, then there is a large space for various interpretations with the strength of argument; Because “Qiwulun” often used the allegory by analogy, which means to show the abstract meaning by specific situations or things, when the context does not clear, then all the similarity between allegory and specific situations and things could be the meaning Zhuangzi want to presented. So there is a large space for various interpretations with the meaning of allegory. To deal with these two difficulties, this article offers a basic structure to comprehend “Qiwulun”: First, the writing purposes, the stopping of debate and the describe of ideal personality. Second, the discussing strategies, the double answerable questions and the analogy. Third, the function of strategies, the strength of argument and the meaning of metaphor or allegory. Double answerable question is a extremely unique question form in “Qiwulin” which has the following characteristics: First, the author questions and answers himself. Second, the author gives two or more answers for the questions. Third, the author does not point out that he prefer only one of the answers. By double answerable questions, “QiWulun” shows that the possibility for many different claims exist, so the debating with only one claim is absolutely right could be canceled; By analogy, “Qiwulun” avoids bias and misunderstanding caused by direct statement, describes the better attitude and way of ideal personality by metaphor and allegory. These shows that the stopping of debate and the describe of ideal personality are complementary writing purposes, provide the behavior guidance to resolve conflicts and response infinite situations.