"Tao" And "Water"

The theories of the arche are the earliest problem and format of philosophy. Different tradition of arche theory gestated Different tradition of philosophy thinking. Laozi and Thales was respectively the earliest philosopher of China and the western who put forward arche theory. Their thinking of arche contains the basic elements of the different philosophy tradition of China and the western. In this dissertation, the background and content of Laozi’s and Thales’theories are compared. Part of the differences of China and the western philosophy and the reason of these differences are shown. And a reasonable way of Chinese comparative philosophy is explored. The epistemology in Laozi’s and Thales’theories are compared, the different conception of logic in China and the western philosophy, and the common basic of knowledge stringency are explained. The non-conceptualization of Laozi’s theory and conceptualization of Thales’theory are illustrated by analyze the logical mode construction and substantiveness. Furthermore, the resemblances of Laozi’s and Thales’theories is analyzed, the results show that the two theory are not opposite in all categories, one theory can transmit to another in some conditions. The dilemma of epistemology in practice caused by these two theories is discussed. The different advantage of China and the western philosophy is different practical fields are shown. The development of Chinese modern philosophy and its dilemma and the opportunity in spreading to aboard are illustrated. The position and choice of Chinese philosophy in theory and practice are introspected.In Chapter1, the inheritance and introspection of Laozi and Thales form their predecessor are illustrated briefly to construct a main history clue. Chapter2is a key part of this dissertation. In Chapter2, Laozi’s and Thales’theories are compared and related. In the first segment, their theories of the arche are illustrated. In the second segment, the feature of the two theories are compared. In the third segment, the two theories are related. By introduction of four significant difference fields and revealing of the non-reconcilable contradiction, the two theory are linked. China and western arche theory can reach a state of understand each other. The main content of Chapter3is the introspection of China and western compare philosophy. The introspection is mainly explored and illustrated in the methodology field. The goal of the introspection is to maintain a real soul and energy for Chinese culture in the high speed globalization world.