On the Possibility of the Revival of the Philosophy of Family in China in Contemporary Age

On the Possibility of the Revival of the Philosophy of Family in China in Contemporary Age

With the looming conception of individual in modern Western philosophy, family as a self-standing ethical unit had faded away in Western philosophical discourse. In a sense, Even Heidegger’s existential analysis of Dasein is also some kind of individualism. Based on the existential structure ’being towards next generations’ in Chinese cultural tradition, which is totally different from the structure of ’Being towards death’, the concept of family and its ethical origination show its existential root. As the acceptance of individualism in Chinese circumstance is tortuous, it is necessary to rethink the positive and negative significance of individualism clearly in contemporary age. In the framework, the concept of family has the possibility to be reestablished in philosophy. The institutional form of family in contemporary age should differs greatly from the traditional, the idea of Family should be promoted once again to counteract the negative impact of individualism.