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1、Philosophia(2010)38:157–167DOI10.1007/s11406-009-9188-2AButterflyDreaminaBraininaVatXiaoqiangHanReceived:10December2008/Revised:24February2009/Accepted:16March2009/Publishedonline:8April2009#SpringerScience+BusinessMediaB.V.2009AbstractZhuangzi’sButterflyDreamstorycanbereadasaskepticalres
2、ponsetotheCartesianCogito,ergosumsolution,foritpresentsIexistasfundamentallyunprovable,onthegroundsthatthenotionabout“I”thatitisguaranteedtorefertosomethingexisting,whichDescartesseemstoassume,isunwarranted.Themodernanti-skepticismofHilaryPutnamemploysadifferentstrategy,whichseekstoderive
3、theexistenceoftheworldnotfromsome“indubitable”truthsuchastheexistenceofmyself,butfromthemeaningofsomeparticularassertionImake.Inthispaper,Iargue,however,thatPutnam’sargumentfailstodeliveronthepromiseofshowingtheself-refutingnatureoftheskepticalhypothesis,asitreliesonadoubleuseof“I”,afalla
4、cyofequivocation,reflectinganunsolvedtensionbetweentheargument’sgeneralpremise,whichisratherZhuangzianinspirit,andhisunwittingadoptionofthatunwarrantednotionabout“I”.ItrytoshowfurtherthattheskepticisminZhuangzi’sButterflyDreamnotonlycanbeusedtorefutetheproofsoftheexistenceoftheempiricalI,
5、butalsoiseffectiveagainstaccountsconcerningtheexistenceofthetranscendentalI.KeywordsZhuangzi.ButterflyDream.Descartes.Cogito,ergosum.HilaryPutnam.BrainsinaVat.theTranscendentalITheButterflyDreamThefamous“ButterflyDream”episodefromtheZhuangziisoftenthoughttohave1anticipatedDescartes’dreama
6、rgumentintheFirstMeditation,asitraisesinastrikinglysimilarveinthepossibilityofallbeingadream,i.e.,thepossibilityofthefundamentalunrealityofallwhichappearstousassubstantialandreal.However,asitappears,whatdistinguishesZhuangzi’s“ButterflyDream”fromDescartes’dreamargumentisthatZhuangzi’sglob
7、aldoubtisfirstandforemostofthedoubtabouttherealityofthedoubtingsubject,i.e.,theexistenceoftheonewhodoubts,whichis1FordiscussionsonthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenZhuangziandDescartes,seeHansen(1983):121,Goodman(July1985):232,Chinn(Nov.1997):217,andChen(2005):494