Humanity: Existing Through “Affairs”

Abstract

Abstract As human activity in the broad sense, affairs unfold through the entirety of the processes of human being. They are also intrinsic to each aspect of human being. Through affairs, humans create heaven and earth anew and thereby reconstruct being. Affairs are interconnected with action and manifest the essential human powers in which emotional attachments participate. The mark of action and the weight of emotional attachments, in sublating the original state of things and bestowing on them actuality, also give affairs diverse qualities. Affairs not only change objects; they also affect humans themselves. In the processes of “being capable in one’s affairs,” people also further “achieve their virtue.” The processes of enacting affairs both employ things and interact with other people, and behind human interactions with things lie the relations among persons. The unfolding of affairs thus occurs in the context of communicative interactions among humans and also constitutes the actual source of the formation of relations among them. Human being cannot be separated from concern for values and pursuit of meaning. As human activity, affairs also possess value content and are interrelated with the pursuit of meaning.