试论体、本体、体用的形而上学含义及王阳明的体用观

A Discussion on the Metaphysical Meanings of Substance, Function, and Ontology, and Wang Yangming’s View of the Unity of Substance and Function

摘要: 体(Substance)与用(Function)是中国哲学独特的一对范畴，用以解释存在之结构与状态，本体也由此范畴延伸而来。王阳明哲学的形而上学建构也深受这一范畴的影响，但是对于体、用以及本体的确切含义却历来众说纷纭。为了进一步厘清王阳明的体用观，文章从宇宙论和形而上学的角度，辨析了体用、本体之概念以及体用之关系，由此阐明王阳明的体用合一观念之所指。文章指出，中国哲学中的体的形而上学含义是指创生性的、动态的结构和系统，因而本体是指作为世界本源的动态的、相互依存的整体系统。王阳明哲学中的本体是理，指涉人心本然所具的至善的价值之理，同时也指涉客观之理。“心即理”“心外无理”“心外无物”等命题背后隐含的是王阳明对存在结构的整全性和一元论理解，即万物一体和心一元论思想。在万物一体的动态系统中，内外、主客与物我之分际被消解，心与物形成一体，使得以上命题具有了合法性。而用则是体的功能、效用或活动，是体于具体事物中的显现和应用。王阳明认为，体用相互依存、不可分割、同时共在，即体用一源。该学说认为体用虽然不可分割，但是彼此并不等同，而是一体两面、同时共在的关系，即体与用的可区分性和同时性。

Abstract: Substance (ti) and Function (yong) constitute a distinctive pair of categories in Chinese philosophy, serving to explicate the structure and state of existence. The concept of ultimate reality (benti) also derives from this categorical framework. Wang Yangming’s metaphysical construction is deeply influenced by this paradigm, yet the precise meanings of substance, function, and ultimate reality have long been subjects of scholarly debate. To clarify Wang Yangming’s view on the unity of substance and function (tiyong heyi), this article examines the notions of substance, function, and ultimate reality from both cosmological and metaphysical perspectives, and thereby elucidates the implications of his doctrine of the unity of substance and function. The article argues that, in Chinese philosophy, the metaphysical meaning of substance refers to a generative, dynamic structure or system. Consequently, ultimate reality is understood as a dynamic, interdependent whole system that serves as the origin of the world. In Wang Yangming’s philosophy, ultimate reality is identified with Principle (Li), which refers both to the inherently possessed moral goodness of the human heart-mind and to the objective order of the world. The propositions “the heart-mind is Principle”, “there is no Principle outside the heart-mind”, and “there are no things-event outside the heart-mind” all presuppose Wang Yangming’s holistic and monistic understanding of the structure of existence, namely the doctrine of the oneness of all things and the monism of the heart-mind. In this dynamic system of the oneness of all things, the boundaries between internal and external, subject and object, self and things are dissolved, and the heart-mind and things-event form an integral whole—thus legitimizing the aforementioned propositions. Function, then, is the efficacy, operation, or manifestation of substance within concrete affairs and events. Wang Yangming holds that substance and function are interdependent, inseparable, and simultaneously present—the unity of substance and function (tiyong heyi). This doctrine posits that while substance and function are inseparable, they are not identical. Rather, they represent two distinguishable yet simultaneous aspects of a unified whole.