何謂「命」?對於「命」該抱持著何種態度與如何詮釋?歷代哲人皆曾對此議題提出看法,從老子「復命」、孔子「五十知天命」與孟子「立命」、莊子「安命」、墨子「非命」等。其實從王充於《論衡》中就已批判當時平民階層對「命」的興趣和認識與仕宦階級不同,在中國農業社會的結構中,無論是經濟、政治或文化上基本都已定型下,他對社會與思想無情的批判,雖已看不到先秦諸子那種積極政治設計的社會構想和藍圖,於其所見世傳儒書充斥著荒謬,民間言談充斥著迷信人生,這種世俗化的價值取向,卻正也是現代人面對「命」的看法與迷障。故本文試圖從儒、道與自然主義等前人裡對「命」的詮釋切入,再擷取林安梧教授的「存有三態論」重新來理解現代人對「命」的詮釋以及日後面對它時的反思、適用性與限制性的解決方式作一詮釋。
What is ”life”? What kind of attitude should we take for ”life”? Ancient philosophers had put forward their views on the topic, as Lao-tzu's ”Re-Life”; Confucius's ”Know the Mandate of Heaven”; Mencius's ”Heaven-Ordained Being”; Zhuang-zi's ”Life Comforting”; Mozi's ”Anti- Fatalism” and so on. In fact, from Wang Chong in the book ”Discourses Weighed in the Balance”, he advocated that the interest and understanding of life was different between civilian and official at that time. In the holistic structure of China's agricultural society, economic, political or cultural foundation been steadied. Wang Chong ruthlessly criticized society and thought, that had not see the positive political vision and blueprint for the society as pre-Qin Philosophers. Contrary to them, Wang Chong face the real life, the approach of secular values is precisely the modern people' point of view about life. Therefore, at first this article attempts to analyze the ancient philosophers's interpretation of ”life”, then adopt the theory from Professor An-Wu Lin's” The Theory of Three Manifestations of Being”, re-perceive the modern people' interpretation of life, and advance to solve the problem about it for the future.