The Transformation of Philosophy and the True Task of Human Philosophy

Philosophy has developed for over two thousand years since its emergence in ancient Greece. Aristotle classified first philosophy within the scope of theoretical science (Epistem) modeled on mathematics, establishing the dominant understanding of philosophy as a pure theoretical knowledge form concerning the essential understanding of things in the world. Hegel also believed that the task of philosophy is to faithfully understand nature and the entire empirical world, studying and grasping the reason within them, i.e., eternal essence, harmony, and laws. In current understanding, philosophy is also generally regarded as a generalization and summation of all human scientific knowledge (natural knowledge, social knowledge, and thinking knowledge, etc.). Is the nature and function of philosophy really so? It can be said that since modern times, the view of philosophy as a theoretical form of knowledge has been severely challenged, and the question of the nature and true task of philosophy has re-entered deep reflection and critique.

哲学自古希腊时期产生以来，已发展两千余年。亚里士多德将第一哲学归入以数学为典范的理论科学（Epistem）范围，奠定了哲学是一种关于世界事物本质性认识的纯粹理论知识形态的主导性理解。黑格尔也认为，哲学的任务就是如实地认识自然和整个经验世界，研究和理解其中的理性即永恒的本质、和谐与规律。在现行的认识中，哲学通常也被看作关于人类一切科学知识（自然知识、社会知识与思维知识等）的概括和总结。哲学的性质和作用真的是如此吗？可以说，自近代以来，哲学作为一门知识性理论形态的看法受到了严重挑战，关于哲学的性质和真正任务的问题，重新进入深度的反思与批判之中。

The prevalence of science, as the decisive mark of the era, has terminated the classical role of philosophy

作为时代决定性标志的科学之流行终止了哲学的经典作用

Contemporary human society is a scientific-technological society. Science and technology seem to have become an unstoppable force, almost eroding and controlling all of human existence and life. The legitimacy and meaning of the existence of traditional philosophy as a form of knowledge seem to have been lost, requiring self-reflection and critique and necessitating new changes.

当代人类社会是一个科学技术化的社会，科学技术似乎成为一种无法阻挡的力量，几乎侵蚀、控制了人的存在和生活的一切。传统的作为知识形态的哲学，其存在的合法性和意义似乎已经丧失，需要进行自身反思和批判并做出新的改变。

Re-establishing the question of the legitimacy of philosophy is an important topic of reflection for many contemporary philosophers. Gadamer is the founder of philosophical hermeneutics. In his view, the philosophy spoken of today is in rapid transformation. Faced with science, it has begun to seek proof of its own legitimacy in ways it never has before. This is because the cognitive task of classical philosophy concerning the essential knowledge of things in the world has been replaced by modern science. The prevalence of science, as the decisive mark of the era, has terminated the classical role of philosophy. One can no longer expect philosophy to provide essential knowledge about things in the world like science does. Hence, it is no longer reasonable for people to hold the hope that philosophy should once again exercise its old comprehensive function and synthesize all our knowledge with a unified picture of the world. Compared to the interpretations of the whole world provided by various worldviews, philosophy is no longer strictly treated in terms of its cognitive requirements. As an expression of life, philosophy has a value similar to other cultural creations of humanity (such as art, law, and religion). Habermas holds a similar view. Relative to science, morality, and art, philosophy as an interpreter can no longer possess the privilege of knowing essences; at most, it possesses knowledge that may be erroneous. Philosophy must abandon its traditional form; all it can do is understand and interpret the general structure of the lifeworld. Contemporary philosopher Rorty also believes that the word "philosophy" may never disappear, but it must change its own image and transform its mode of activity. The new mode of philosophical activity should shift from "Philosophy" with a capital P to "philosophy" with a lowercase p, i.e., what he calls "post-philosophical culture." It should abandon the temptation, peculiar to the Western tradition, to reduce all things to first principles or to seek a natural hierarchical order in human activities. Human modes of existence are diverse; philosophy is merely one voice in the understanding and dialogue about the meaning of the world.

重新确立哲学的合法性问题，是当代诸多哲学家思考的一个重要论题。伽达默尔是哲学解释学的创立者，在他看来，今天所说的哲学正处于急速变化之中，面对科学，它开始以过去从未有过的方式，为自己的合法性寻找证明。这是因为，古典哲学关于世界事物之本质性知识的认识任务已被现代科学所取代，作为时代决定性标志的科学之流行终止了哲学的经典作用，不能再期望哲学能提供如科学那样的关于世界事物的本质性知识，因而人们抱有这样的希望不再是合理的：哲学应再一次发挥它旧有的全面功能，并用一个统一的有关世界的图景把我们所有的知识综合起来。相对于各种世界观提供的对世界全体的解释而言，哲学不再被严格地从其认识要求方面来对待了，作为生活的一种表现，哲学同人类其他文化创造（如艺术、法律、宗教）具有类似价值。哈贝马斯亦有类似看法，相对于科学、道德和艺术而言，作为解释者的哲学不可能再具有认识本质的特权，拥有的最多只是可能会出错的知识。哲学必须放弃其传统形式，所能做的只是理解和解释生活世界的一般结构。当代哲学家罗蒂同样认为，“哲学”这个词或许永远不会消失，然而它必须改变自身形象和转换其活动方式，新的哲学活动方式要从“大写哲学”转向“小写哲学”，即他所言的“后哲学文化”，应当摈弃西方传统特有的那种将万事万物归结为第一原则或在人类活动中寻求一种自然等级秩序的诱惑。人类的存在方式多种多样，哲学只是人们关于世界意义的理解与对话中的一种声音。

In fact, since modern times, metaphysics as a pure theory of knowledge has been subject to critique and questioning. Kant's profound critique of dogmatic metaphysics completely transformed the nature of philosophy, heralding the emergence of a true future metaphysics. It was precisely with philosophy's self-reflection that a new concept, "worldview," appeared in 19th-century European intellectual culture, attempting to reconstruct a unified worldview within science separated from philosophy, so as to restore the hope for a holistic explanation that science could no longer provide. However, with the rise of modern positivist thought, within the modern scientific philosophy that rejected the metaphysics of "worldview" as unity and universality, philosophy as holistic and universal thinking gradually declined. Scientific philosophy no longer explored questions of the unity, universality, and absoluteness of things in the world but instead fell into the logical analysis of knowledge propositions, such as the logical premises, structure, and foundations of knowledge. The meaning of propositions became the central topic of discussion. Analytical scientific philosophy brought about the fragmentation, fragmentation, relativity, and non-unity of knowledge, failing to provide people with a holistic and universal view of things in the world. The demand for a unified "worldview" was rejected and dissolved. Philosophy lost its thinking about the wholeness of the world and also lost its ability to reflect on the meaning of human existence and action.

实际上，自近代开始，那种作为纯粹知识论的形而上学就受到批判与质疑，康德对独断论形而上学的深刻批评更是彻底转变了哲学的性质，预示着一种真正的未来形而上学的出现。正是随着哲学自身的反思，在19世纪的欧洲思想文化中出现了一个新概念，即“世界观”，试图在与哲学分离开来的科学中，重建一种统一的世界观，以恢复科学不再能提供的对于整体解释的希望。不过，随着现代实证主义思潮兴起，在拒斥统一性、普遍性的“世界观”形而上学的现代科学哲学中，作为整体性和普遍性思考的哲学日渐衰落，科学哲学不再去探讨关于世界事物的统一性、普遍性和绝对性问题，而是陷入了对知识命题如知识的逻辑前提、结构和基础的逻辑分析中；命题意义成为讨论的中心论题，分析性的科学哲学带来的是知识的碎片化、零散性、相对性和非统一性，无法给人们提供一种关于世界事物的整体性和普遍性看法，统一的“世界观”要求遭到拒斥和消解；哲学失去了关于世界整体性的思考，也不再拥有对人的存在和行为意义予以反思的能力。

In response, Gadamer emphasized that the nature and irreplaceable role of philosophy should be understood in terms of philosophy as a universal mode of thinking and holistic understanding. The end of metaphysics as a theory of knowledge indicates a change in the nature of traditional philosophy and the atrophy of its traditional functions, but it does not mean the end of philosophy itself. Although philosophy no longer seeks to grasp the essential knowledge of things as a cognitive activity, its role as an abstract, holistic mode of thinking, pursuing a holistic understanding and interpretation of worldly experience, remains irreplaceable. Providing a rational and unified philosophical explanation of things is a transcendental need, a never-ending process, regardless of whether people say philosophy is dead or not dead. It can be said that science has not prevented philosophy from continuing to exist in a changed image and manner. Only philosophy inquires into and studies the whole. However, this whole is not like any other limited whole that merely contains all its parts; as a whole, it is an idea that transcends the limited possibilities of all knowledge. Therefore, the whole that philosophy studies is not something we can know scientifically. This means that the disciplinary nature of philosophy as a cognitive form of knowledge is questioned. For philosophy to continue to exist, it must deeply reflect on its own nature and change its mode of functioning, linking the questions of philosophical existence and truth with human lived experience.

对此，伽达默尔强调，要从哲学作为一种普遍性思维方式和整体性理解上来看待它的性质及其不可替代的作用。作为知识论的形而上学的终结，表明的是传统哲学性质的改变和传统功能的萎缩，并不意味着哲学本身的终结。虽然哲学不再作为一种认知活动诉求对于事物本质性知识的把握，但其作为一种抽象的整体性的思维方式，追求对于世界经验的整体性的理解与解释，仍然是哲学不可替代的作用。对事物作出理性统一的哲学说明是一种超越性需要，这种需要是一个永无止境的过程，无论人们说哲学已经死亡，或者说哲学没有死亡。可以说，科学没有阻止哲学以改变了的形象和方式继续存在下去，唯有哲学才追问和研究整体。但是，这个整体并不像其他任何限定的整体那样，仅仅是包含了它的一切部分的整体；作为整体，它是超出各种知识的有限可能性的一种观念。因此，哲学所要研究的整体就不是我们以科学方式能够认识的东西。这意味着，哲学作为一种认知性的知识形态的学科性质受到质疑，哲学要继续存在下去，必须深刻反思自身性质并改变其作用方式，而将哲学之存在、真理问题与人的生存经验联系起来。

Philosophy's turn towards art and the humanities indicates that philosophy is essentially an enterprise of understanding

哲学走向艺术与人文学表明哲学本质上是一门理解性事业

In what changed image and manner can philosophy continue to exist? This is an era that extremely esteems scientific theoretical knowledge. Philosophy cannot be forcibly imposed upon scientific research work. On the contrary, philosophy truly functions only when science stops the restrictions imposed on it by philosophical supplementation and speculative dogmatism. That is to say, when philosophy ceases to function as essential knowledge for science, the understanding nature and new mode of functioning of philosophy truly manifest themselves. Therefore, since modern times, philosophy has increasingly integrated with art and the humanities. This is not to say that philosophy should disappear into art and the humanities, but rather that it is precisely in the understanding nature of artistic experience and the humanities that it becomes clear that philosophy is not a kind of knowledge of things, but an intellectual pursuit that attempts to understand the meaning of existence.

哲学能以什么样的改变了的形象和方式继续存在下去呢？如今是一个极度崇尚科学理论知识的时代，哲学是不能够被硬加在科学研究工作之上的。相反，只有当科学制止了哲学的补充和思辨的独断对它的限制时，哲学才真正发挥作用。也就是说，在哲学停止作为一种本质性知识对科学的作用时，哲学的理解性质和新的作用方式才真正显现出来。因此，自近代以来，哲学越来越与艺术、人文学结合起来。这倒不是说哲学要消失于艺术和人文学之中，而是说正是在艺术经验和人文学的理解性中，才显明哲学并非一种事物知识，而是尝试理解存在意义的思想追求。

First, philosophy moves toward art and proves the authenticity of artistic existence in various ways. People have discovered that the literary works of the 19th and 20th centuries, along with other artistic works of the same era, are closer to the old tasks of philosophy and regard them as the preservers of philosophy’s great legacy. Within the French cultural sphere, philosophy is classified under literature (lettres), giving a strong sense of the proximity between philosophy and poetry, because the word “literature” encompasses both philosophy and literature. The reason philosophy moves toward art, in Gadamer’s view, lies in the fact that the greatest advantage of art and beauty is that they have no pure rules of application whatsoever; one cannot find a rule of application by which to achieve an understanding of art and beauty. Art and beauty necessarily lead us to our own judgment. If we find something beautiful, that means we are making the judgment ourselves. Beauty manifests itself, presenting itself directly in its existence; “beautiful things are those whose value is self-evident,” entirely related to themselves. Artistic experience and beauty have no fixed and necessary answers; art is essentially a science of experiential understanding.

首先，哲学走向艺术并以各种方式证明艺术存在的真实性。人们发现，19、20世纪的文学作品和同时代的其他艺术作品，更接近哲学旧有的任务，并把它们视为哲学伟大遗产的保存者。在法国文化范围内，哲学就被归入文学（lettres），让人强烈感受到哲学与诗歌的接近，因为“文学”这个词包含哲学与文学两个方面。哲学之所以走向艺术，在伽达默尔看来，原因就在于艺术和美最大的优点是它们根本没有纯粹的运用规则，人们不可能找到一种应用规则，以便借此达到理解艺术和美的境地。艺术和美必然使我们达到自己的判断。如果我们发现某些东西是美的，那就是说，我们是自己在做判断。美是由自身得到表现，在它的存在中直接呈现出来，“美的事物就是那些其价值自明的东西”，全然与自身相关，艺术体验与美是没有固定和必然答案的，艺术本质上就是一种体验性的理解科学。

Second, in German-speaking countries, the humanities still retain a humanistic legacy of philosophy, one that not only distinguishes it from all other modern research but also brings it close to a completely different kind of non-scientific experience. Because the humanistic tradition continues to play a powerful role in the development of modern scientific thought, philosophy enters, as a historical science of understanding, everything that falls under the “humanities” or what is called “humaniora.” Even in Anglo-Saxon languages, the old humanistic concept has been transformed into a semantic contextual analysis marked by the “human sciences,” becoming a humanistic science of understanding that emphasizes the manifestation of linguistic meaning through specific language practices or pragmatic situations. Philosophy moves toward the humanities because the object of humanistic research is no longer the objective world but rather humanity’s understanding of itself and its own created world; its scientific purpose is not merely cognition but, more importantly, the continuous transformation of human self-understanding. Therefore, the humanities are not a science of knowledge in the sense of the natural sciences; fundamentally, they are a historical science of understanding in which people participate. In fact, the purpose of ancient Greek humanistic education was the pursuit of the ultimate “beauty” (kalon); the ungraspability of the good in the humanities lies within beauty, and the difference between beauty and the absolutely ungraspable good is that beauty can be grasped—the inherent essence of beauty lies in its ability to be manifested. Beauty and goodness are one; the essence of beauty is expressed in the pursuit of goodness, and beauty is a sign of goodness.

其次，在德语国家中，人文学科中还保留着哲学的一种人文主义遗产，这种遗产不仅使它区别于现代所有其他研究，而且使它接近于完全另类的非科学经验。由于人文主义传统仍在现代科学思想发展中继续起着有力的作用，哲学才作为一种历史性的理解科学，进入“人文学”或称之为“人学”（humaniora）的一切东西。即便是在盎格鲁—撒克逊语言中，旧有的人文主义概念也已被转换成以“人文科学”为标志的语义学语境分析，成为一门强调结合具体语言实践或语用情况来显现语言意义的人文理解性科学。哲学走向人文学，是因为人文科学研究的对象不再是客体的世界而是人对自己、对他的创造物世界的认识，其科学目的不仅仅是认识，更重要的是人的自我认识的不断改造。因此，人文科学不是自然科学意义上的知识性科学，从根本上说，它是一种人们参与其中的历史性的理解科学。实际上，古希腊人文教育的目的就是追求极致之“美”（kalon），人文学的善的不可把握性就在美之中，美与绝对不可把握的善的区别就在于它是可以被把握的，美的固有本质就在于能表现出来。美和善是一体性的，美的本质就表现于对善的追求之中，美就是善的一种标志。

Modern philosophy no longer seeks eternal and unchanging knowledge as traditional theoretical philosophy did; instead, through art and the humanities, it makes people realize that understanding is not only an important characteristic of art and the humanities but also the fundamental nature of philosophy as a discipline. Philosophy is essentially an undertaking of understanding. Art is experiential and understanding-based; artistic experience and beauty have no fixed or absolute answers; what they provide is a non-determinate understanding of meaning regarding the object. Similarly, the humanities are historical; unlike the natural sciences, their aim is not to obtain and possess precise knowledge about the things of the world. On the contrary, people always participate in the humanistic spiritual sciences, inheriting and advancing the development of the humanities—which are characterized by indeterminacy—through continuous understanding. The questions of truth and goodness in the humanities are not matters of objectivity and absoluteness but are issues of understanding related to human existence and the self—fundamentally, they are questions of the prior, original relationship between humans and objects.

现代哲学不再像传统理论哲学一样诉求一种永恒不变的知识，而是在艺术和人文科学中让人们意识到，理解不仅是艺术和人文科学的重要特质，而且是哲学这门学科的根本性质，哲学本质上就是一门理解性事业。艺术是体验性和理解性的，艺术体验和美没有固定与绝对的答案，其所提供的就是关于对象的一种非确定的意义理解。同样，人文科学是历史性的，与自然科学不同，其宗旨并非获得和拥有关于世界事物的精确性知识。相反，人始终参与到人文的精神科学之中，在不断理解中传承和推动着具有不确定性的人文科学的发展，人文科学之真与善的问题也不是具有客观性与绝对性的问题，而是基于人的存在、与自我相关的理解问题——从根本上说，是人与对象的先行的原始关系问题。

Clearly, in the traditional sense, the discipline of philosophy studies the essential laws of all things in the world. However, with the rise of modern scientific consciousness and scientific methodology, the nature of philosophy as a form of non-determinate cognition has prompted people to rethink it. The kind of theoretical philosophy that attempted to provide humanity with absolute, determinate, and necessary knowledge about the things of the world has lost its former glory; philosophy must continue to exist in a changed image and manner. Today, philosophy no longer manifests its role as a form of knowledge about the essence of all things in the world. Instead, like art and the humanities, it is understanding-based; it does not provide absolutely determinate conclusions but only unfolds an infinite understanding and interpretation of the meaning of the world’s existence. Of course, this does not mean that humanity no longer needs pure theoretical philosophy; rather, it means that the dominant theoretical form of philosophy and its most vital space of thought are no longer theoretical philosophy as a form of knowledge but have become a practical reflection on the meaning of human existence and action—that is, practical philosophy.

显然，在传统意义上，哲学这门学科研究世界万物之本质性规律。不过，随着近代以来新的科学意识和科学方法论的兴盛，哲学作为一种非确定性认识的性质引起了人们的重新思考，那种试图给人类提供一种关于世界事物的绝对、确定、必然的知识的理论哲学已辉煌不再，哲学必须以改变了的形象和方式存在下去。如今，哲学不再作为关于世界万物本质的知识形态来显现其作用，而是如艺术和人文学一样，是理解性的，不提供绝对确定的结论，而只是展开对世界存在意义的无限理解和解释。当然，这不是说人类不再需要纯粹的理论哲学了，而是说哲学的主导性理论形态和最具生命力的思想空间已不是作为知识性的理论哲学，而是变成了关于人的存在与行为意义的实践性反思，即实践哲学。

The shift from the theoretical paradigm to the practical paradigm is the true task of human philosophy.

从理论范式转向实践范式是人类哲学的真正任务

The term “praxis” originally referred to the activity of all living beings. Aristotle, by distinguishing theoretical knowledge, practical knowledge, and productive knowledge, singled out practical knowledge (phronesis) as an independent category, using this concept to refer specifically to human practical conduct. However, it does not refer to people’s specific actions; rather, it regards praxis as a reflective act concerning human activity and life, possessing the quality of acting according to reason or principle. The existence of philosophy is not only a need for people to inquire into the world as a whole; more importantly, it must integrate the understanding of the world as a whole into a practical reflection on the meaning of human existence and life. It is on this basis that philosophy must reverse and change the “theoretical paradigm” that has dominated the West for over two thousand years and establish a new, dominant “practical paradigm.”

“实践”（Praxis）一词原指一切生命体的活动，亚里士多德通过区分理论知识、实践知识与制作知识，将实践知识（phronesis）单列独立出来，用此概念专指人的实践行为，但又不是指人的具体行事，而是将实践看作关于人类活动与生活的反思行为，具有依理性或原理而实践的品质。哲学的存在不仅是人们追问世界整体的需要，更重要的是，要将对于世界整体的认识融合到人的存在和生活意义的实践性反思中来。正是基于此，哲学必须扭转和改变西方两千多年来的“理论范式”，确立起新的主导性的“实践范式”。

The concept of “paradigm” was proposed by the American philosopher of science Thomas Kuhn. Influenced by this, Gadamer regards the practical philosophy founded by Aristotle as a different kind of theoretical paradigm, distinct from pure theoretical science. He believes it can provide a legitimate justification for people to systematically deepen their consciousness of the spiritual sciences: “Aristotle’s program of practical science provides us with the only scientific theoretical paradigm to which the ‘science of understanding’ can refer.” The paradigm of practical philosophy stands in opposition to all views that place human reason under the methodological thought of “anonymous” science; instead, it regards practical philosophy as a theoretical paradigm different from pure theoretical science. This means that practical philosophy has a completely different object, nature, and mode of discourse. It is fundamentally not a form of knowledge about absolute immutability but an existential knowledge or wisdom reflecting on the meaning of human existence and action; it is changeable and situational. Fundamentally, “practical philosophy is philosophy; it is a reflection, more precisely, a reflection on what human society and forms of life must necessarily be.”

“范式”概念由美国科学哲学家库恩提出。受其影响，伽达默尔将亚里士多德所创立的实践哲学看作一种不同于纯粹理论科学的另类理论范式，认为它可以为人们重新有条理地深化关于精神科学的意识提供一种合法性证明，“亚里士多德提出的实践科学纲领为我们提供了‘理解’科学可据以参照的唯一科学理论范式”。实践哲学范式同所有把人的理性置于“匿名”科学的方法论思想之下的观点相对立，而是将实践哲学作为一种不同于纯粹理论科学的理论范式来看待。这意味着，实践哲学具有完全不同的对象、性质和话语表述方式，它根本上就不是一种关于绝对不变性的知识，而是关于人之存在和行为意义反思的存在性知识或智慧，它是变动的、处境化的。从根本上说，“实践哲学是哲学，它是一种反思，更精确地说，就是一种对于人类社会和生活形式所必须是什么的反思”。

People should not understand philosophy as a determinate and necessary form of knowledge about the things of the world; instead, it should be treated as a holistic mode of thinking and an existential practical wisdom that reflects on the meaning of human existence and action. Philosophy is understanding-based, and it is practical; comprehension and mutual understanding reflect the forms of human social life, not a methodology of understanding. Philosophy is meant to allow the meaning of things themselves to emerge and manifest to people through understanding and interpretation; all knowledge and action, including understanding and interpretation, are integrated into the holistic practical philosophy of humanity. Practical knowledge has a presuppositional, priority, and decisive significance; the ideal of reason or the ideal of practical philosophy constitutes the goal-setting and presupposition for all human action and cognition. Practical philosophy, as “first philosophy,” lies in the fact that its practical universality or commonality encompasses us; our task is to transform scientific knowledge and all knowledge about humanity that surges toward us from the great historical tradition into our practical consciousness. Only in this practical consciousness can people change the growing self-alienation in life; science and humanity’s knowledge of itself can truly be united; the mastery of knowledge and ability can become genuine self-mastery.

人们不应将哲学理解为一种关于世界事物的确定的必然的知识，而是要将之作为整体性思维方式和反思人的存在与行为意义的存在性实践智慧来对待。哲学是理解性的，而且是实践的，领悟和互相理解映射的是人的社会生活形式，而非一种理解方法论。哲学是要让事物本身的意义通过理解、解释向人们发生和显现，包含理解、解释在内的所有知识和行动都融合于人类的整体性的实践哲学之中。实践知识具有前提性、优先性与决定性意义，理智的理想或实践哲学的理想构成人们一切行动和认知的目标性设定与前提，实践哲学作为“第一哲学”，就在于它的实践的普遍性或者说共同性将我们包容起来，我们的工作就是要把科学知识和从伟大历史传统向我们涌来的关于人的全部知识变换成我们的实践意识。在这种实践意识中，人们才能改变生活中自我疏远不断增长的情况，科学和人关于自己的知识才能真正结合起来，掌握知识和能力才能变成真正的自我掌握。

The paradigm of practical philosophy needs to replace the status of the “theoretical” (theoria) paradigm, because the ontological proof of “theory” can only be found in “infinite intellect,” whereas our experience of being-here, which has nothing to do with revelation, knows nothing of this. The replacement of the theoretical philosophy paradigm by the practical philosophy paradigm signifies a major shift in the nature and task of philosophy: all traditional theoretical philosophy in the sense of epistemology will give way to a holistic reflection of practical philosophy on the meaning of human existence and action, and the understanding-oriented paradigm of practical philosophy will become the new dominant theoretical paradigm of human philosophy. The understanding of the life-world that has always been expressed in our language throughout human history cannot be achieved through the kind of scientific knowledge that is appropriate to it; the life-world believes only in itself and not in the object-world or the world of objects that is methodologically prescribed by science. This requires people to shift the object of traditional philosophy, from the contemplation and grasp of the essence and laws of all things in the universe to “the basic condition and theory of human beings, as well as the experience of dealing with things between practice and people, practice and people and things—things we do not want to call theory.”

实践哲学范式需要取代“理论”（theoria）范式的地位，因为“理论”的本体论证明唯有在“无限理智”中才能找到，而我们与启示无关的此在经验则对此一无所知。实践哲学范式取代理论哲学范式，意味着哲学性质和任务的重大转变，一切传统的作为知识论意义上的理论哲学将让位于关于人的存在和行为意义反思的实践哲学的整体性思考，理解性的实践哲学范式将是人类哲学新的主导性理论范式。对于人类有史以来总是表现于我们语言中的生活世界的理解，是不能通过那种适宜于科学的知识可能性实现的，生活世界只信奉自己而不信奉通过方法规定的科学的对象世界或客体世界。这就需要人们转换传统哲学的对象，从那种关于宇宙万物之本质和规律的思考和把握转向“人的基本状况与理论，以及实践和人与人、实践和人与物的处事经验这些我们不想称之为理论的东西”上来。

The paradigm of practical philosophy replaces the paradigm of theoretical philosophy; practical philosophy constitutes the true task of human philosophy. Practice is not the application of scientific theory; on the contrary, it is a unique source of experience and insight, bringing us before ourselves, possessing insight into its own limits and the uncertainty of knowledge. The task of human thought lies in embedding the progress of our knowledge and abilities into the pre-givenness of nature and culture in which we live, subordinating and subjecting theoretical understanding and human technological possibilities to human “practice,” and never the reverse—fitting our life-world, i.e., the world of practice, into a technical conception based on pure scientific theory. Practical philosophy emphasizes returning to a more primordial and holistic existential practical wisdom of thinking about human existence and action, integrating the holistic understanding of the world into a practical philosophy that reflects on the meaning of human existence and action. The true task of philosophy is the study of practical philosophy; this philosophical task is both urgently needed in the current era of scientization and is what the future, based on how humanity ought truly to exist, hopes for. As long as questioning does not end, philosophy will not end, and practical philosophy is precisely what makes people attentive to and jointly responsible for the universal future that integrates all human cognition and activity.

实践哲学范式替代理论哲学范式，实践哲学构成了人类哲学的真正任务。实践不是科学理论的应用，相反，它是经验和洞见的独特来源，将我们带到自己面前，具有对自身界限和知识不确定性的洞察。人类的思想任务就在于把我们的知识和能力的进步嵌入我们生活于其中的自然和文化的预先被给予性中，把理论的认识和人的技术可能性归于和隶属于人的“实践”，而绝不是相反，将自己的生活世界即实践的世界改装进一个立足于纯粹科学理论的技术构想之中。实践哲学强调的是，重新返回到更为本源性、整体性的人之存在和行为之思的存在性实践智慧上来，将世界的整体性认识融合进人的存在和行为意义反思的实践哲学之中。哲学的真正任务是实践哲学研究，这种哲学任务既是科学化的当下时代所急需的，也是基于人类应当如何真正存在的未来所寄望的。只要发问不终结，哲学就不会终结，而实践哲学正是让人们留心并共同负责融合人类所有认知和活动于其中的普遍的未来的东西。

Online editor: Paul

网络编辑：保罗