The Category of Qun 群 in the Treatise Xunzi: The Existential-Hermeneutic Analysis Application Experience

Abstract

In the treatise Xunzi the concept of qun 群 expresses the tendency of humans and animals to generate communities. However, the concept appears in the context, where human and animal are opposed. The treatise states that animals “are unable to generate communities” (bu neng qun 不能群). This way the polysemy of the concept of qun 群 is accepted. This article is a methodologically focused consideration of this point. The concepts, which is the most important in the context of the human tendency to generate communities: yi 義 “duty”, zhi 知 “knowledge”, “awareness”, neng 能 “ability” were discussed. The article concludes, that the method of the existential-hermeneutic analysis allows to solve the ambiguity of the animal’s relation to qun 群 “community” without a hasty conclusion about the polysemy of the concept of qun 群, but with the recognition of the concept of neng 能 “ability” as a designating of the unique human relation to qun 群 “community”. This relation appears as a distinctive human internal principle, connected with the concept of yi 義 “duty”. This principle provides a possibility for a human qun 群 “community” to overcome its dependence from environment conditions.