2.3 Abstract Regulation and Commonality

The greater the scope of application of a theory, the greater its value. Concrete things only exist within a specific space and time, abstract things can transcend a specific space and time and apply to a very large scope, so abstract things have great value. The national character, spirit and quality mentioned above are abstract things of great value.

Philosophers love to talk about the most abstract things, which became more and more mysterious. The philosopher's description became more and more bizarre, until it became something that no one could understand. Laozi calls the most abstract thing as Tao, the Book of Changes calls it as Taiji, the Confucianist as Li, Plato as the Idea, Hegel as the Absolute Reason or the Absolute Spirit. They all mean the regulation and commonality of all things.

What do philosophers like Parmenides and Heidegger mean by Existence? A table is a concrete existence, a person is a concrete existence. But Parmenides was not talking about this kind of concrete existence, but abstract existence, that is, abstract law and commonality. Plato's Idea is the commonality of things. When Aristotle talked about "Entity" or "Being", he was in the same way as Plato talked about the Idea, both are objective Ideas, except Aristotle is more thorough, and what he means by Entity is the Idea of all things, the Idea of all Ideas.

3. Two Kinds of Dao Li

3.1 Objective Dao Li and Subjective Dao Li

There are Shi, Wu, Dao, Li and relations in the objective world. Shi is event, Wu is substance, Dao is regulation, Li is commonality. There are two kinds of Dao and Li: Dao Li of the objective world and of the subjective world. The Dao Li of the objective world, like the concrete things of the objective world, exists objectively and truly outside the consciousness of human beings and is not diverted by human will. The Tao, Li, Idea, Reason and Essence mentioned by the Objective Idealism all refer to the Dao Li of the objective world. The Dao Li of the subjective world is not outside people's consciousness, being a part of consciousness, a kind of human cognition. People first get to know many kinds of concrete things, produce concrete experience, and then people abstractly think on the basis of concrete experience, and produce a variety of abstract cognitions. These cognitions are the Dao Li of the subjective world. All scientific and philosophical theories arise in this way, and all truths are Dao Li of the subjective world.