我的專題演講要在語意學上釐清東方宗教思想裡的實在結構，著眼於人與超越者的關係。從關於宗教的語意學觀點，我想要探討東方宗教的本質特徵，它包含兩個哲學模式。在中國哲學傳統裡有一個唯實論的哲學模式，以儒家思想為代表，他們主張說，人在日常生活裡經驗到的萬事萬物都是實在的。這個思想將「道」解釋為「天道」和「人道」。孔子認為，一切真實存在的都有個「本質」，一個名實相副的客觀實在。因此，他很重視指稱事物的存有學本質的名字。相對於孔子關於「道」的論述，有另一個哲學模式，以諸如老子和莊子的道家哲學家為代表。他們強調說，儒家所謂的「道」不是永恆的「道」，後者才是在形上學的意義下整個存有的世界的原始根基。例如說，相對於儒家思想，老子認為事物的名字對於一個永恆而限且絕對無規定性的實在（也就是「無名」的道）的劃界和扭曲。就像中國傳統一樣，印度的哲學傳統，在語意學上也有兩個哲學模式。正如儒家思想所強調的，正理論和勝論思想主張說，實體的、有固定名字的事物，是真實存在的。因此，這樣的思想在哲學上可以說是「唯實論」或「本質論」，正如道家思想，商羯羅的吠檀多派思想主張說，世界是個幻網，由人類意識所造。就語言和實在的問題而言，值得注意的是，道家和商羯羅的吠檀多思想都強調說，名字和客體的關係完全是人為的、不穩定的；在實在的深處，萬事萬物都泯除分別，存在為一個無分別的整體。由宗教的語意學觀點去看，在討論上述東方哲學的兩個哲學模式時，我想要闡明東方宗教思想的實在的結構。

My plenary lecture is a semantic attempt to clarify the structure of reality in Oriental religious thought, focusing on human relations with the transcendent. From the semantic perspective of religion, I would like to explore essential characteristics of Oriental philosophy, which contain two philosophical patterns. In the Chinese philosophical tradition, there lies a realistic philosophical pattern, represented by Confucian thought, which argues that every thing and event that one ordinarily experiences is real. This thought explains the ＂way＂ as ＂the way of Heaven＂ and ＂the way of man.＂ According to Confucius, everything is what it really is with an ＂essence;＂ an objective piece of reality corresponding to its very name. Thus, he attaches great importance to names which indicate the ontological essences of things. In contrast to the Confucian discourse of the ＂way,＂ there is another philosophical pattern, represented by such Taoistic philosophers as Lao-tzŭ and Chuang-tzŭ. They emphasize that the ＂way,＂ which Confucian thought designates with the word ＂way,＂ cannot be the eternal Way (tao), which is metaphysically the primordial ground of the whole world of Being. Contrary to Confucian thought, for example, Lao-tzŭ regards the names of things as having many delimitations and deformations of an eternally limitless and absolutely undetermined reality, i.e., the Way which is ＂nameless.＂ Like the Chinese philosophical tradition, in the Indian philosophical tradition, too, there are semantically two philosophical patterns. As Confucian thought emphasizes, Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika thought argues for the real existence of something solid and eternally fixed with a name. Thus, this kind of thought philosophically deserves to be called ＂realism＂ or ＂essentialism.＂ By contrast, as is found in the Taoist thought, Śaṅkara’s Vedānta philosophy asserts that the world is but a fabric of illusion, constructed by human consciousness. In regard to the issues of language and reality, it is noteworthy that both Taoist and Śaṅkara’s Vedānta thoughts emphasize that the name-object relationship is entirely arbitrary and unstable; at the depth of reality, all things and events, united on account of the elimination of all distinctions, exist as the undifferentiated whole. From the semantic perspective of religion, while discussing the two above-mentioned philosophical patterns in Oriental philosophy, I would like to elucidate the structure of reality in Oriental religious thought.