Philosopher
Lao Sze-kwang
1927–2012
Also known as Lao Siguang
Chinese philosopher in Taiwan and Hong Kong whose New History of Chinese Philosophy defined Chinese thought by what it does, orienting values, and who later built a philosophy of culture.
Lao Sze-kwang, like many Chinese philosophers of his century, was uprooted by the revolution of 1949, fleeing first to Taiwan and then to Hong Kong, where he made his career. He was deeply concerned with China’s modernisation and took an active part in politics.
His work ranged over Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, Kant and Hegel, but above all the philosophy of culture. His history of Chinese philosophy shaped how generations of scholars in Hong Kong and Taiwan understood their tradition. He died in 2012.
Key ideas
- Orientative philosophy
- Lao defined Chinese philosophy by what it does rather than what it is: it works in an ‘orientative’ way, forming the deepest values people live by, more than putting forward propositions.
- Rebuilding the history of Chinese philosophy
- His multi-volume history rebuilt the account of China’s philosophical past using modern Western philosophy, partly like the New Confucians and partly not.
- A philosophy of culture
- From the 1990s he developed a philosophy of culture driven by a crisis of consciousness: traditional Chinese culture was losing its hold, while a modern culture had not yet taken its place.
- Tradition
- Chinese
- Region
- Taiwan and Hong Kong
Influences
Where these links come from
- Lao Sze-kwang drew on Immanuel Kant. Source: Andrew Ka Pok Tam, Lao Sze-kwang (Lao Siguang), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Lao Sze-kwang drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Andrew Ka Pok Tam, Lao Sze-kwang (Lao Siguang), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Key works
- New Edition of the History of Chinese Philosophy, 1984
- Lectures on Philosophy of Culture, 2003
Sources
- Andrew Ka Pok Tam, Lao Sze-kwang (Lao Siguang), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy