The Illusion of Mind as Ontology: An Ontological Critique of the Core Beliefs of Tu Weiming’s Confucianism

The central proposition of Tu Weiming’s Confucian system is that “the mind is ontology,” asserting that the human mind possesses ultimate significance, that ren constitutes a cosmic value, that the unity of Heaven and humanity embodies ethical transcendence, and that Confucianism should be elevated to a “humanistic religion.” Taking the Lao–Yang Genesis Cosmology as the philosophical and scientific measure, this paper employs rigorous scientific-philosophical and ontological analysis to conduct a systematic and incisive critique of Tu Weiming’s Confucianism. This paper argues: 1. Mind-nature is a terminal product of the cosmic evolutionary chain and cannot serve as the generative source; 2. Extending ren into a cosmic law is an inflation of the civilizational level and an expression of anthropocentrism; 3. If the unity of Heaven and humanity depends on mind-based interpretation, it subverts the independence of natural laws; 4. If religious Confucianism takes the mind as its foundation, its transcendence becomes hollow and dependent on subjective experience; 5. The inversion of epistemology and generative order wrongly elevates the terminal stage of civilization into the ontological source. Ultimately, this paper delivers a final judgment: cosmic ontology exists uniquely; mind-nature is dependent upon natural structure; if Confucianism insists on mind-as-ontology, it will forever remain within the internal ethical level of civilization. From the three dimensions of ontology, epistemology, and scientific philosophy, this paper reveals the logical paradox of mind-ontology and provides a profound reflection on the relationship between Confucianism and modern philosophy of science.