當代學者對《列子》一書關注之處往往以此書之真偽為核心,或不以此書之真偽為研究主軸,而以其形上學、宇宙論為研究主軸,對其聖人論卻未多所著墨。此乃可惜之事,蓋一書之真偽實不影響其哲學之價值,且所謂真偽之標準亦只是相對,而非絕對;再者,中國哲學以儒、釋、道三家為主流,而此三家之精華皆落在生命之實踐上,易言之,其深邃、精采處皆從生命之實踐上發顯,與《老》、《莊》同列道家之《列子》亦然。因此,本論文著力於研究《列子》所展現之聖人論,而此聖人論大致包含:聖人之特質、成聖之階段、成聖之工夫等;再者,本論文還會批判《列子》一書中〈楊朱〉與〈力命〉二篇之思想,直指此二篇與聖人論相違之處,以使《列子》聖人論真實彰顯。除此之外,本論文雖不以《列子》真偽為研究焦點,但仍會略述眾學者對《列子》真偽之見解,並在其中提出幾點相關問題,以供讀者進一步思索。
For the research issues in Liezi, previously published results usually focus on either its authenticity or the concept of the metaphysics and cosmology. Unfortunately, few of the previous researches undertake the theory of saints in Liezi. In the fact, the philosophic merit of a scripture would not be shattered whether the scripture is authentic or not. In addition, the criterion of the authenticity is relative and none absolute measure could be used to evaluate it. Further, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism are the three mainstream cultures of Chinese philosophic and the essence of them is performed by the practice of the live. In the other words, the profound and outstanding parts of the above three mainstream cultures are carried out by demonstrating the practice of the live, and so is that in Liezi, which is one of the scriptures of Taoism the same as Lao-tzu and Zhuangzi. Thus, in this thesis, we attempt to undertake the research on the theory of saints preformed in Liezi. The theory of saints consists of the following three parts: the characteristics of saints, the stages towards the becoming of saints, and the exercises towards the becoming of saints. Further, in order to manifest the theory of saints in Liezi truly, in this thesis, the contexts of the two writings, namely Yang Zhu and Li Ming, respectively, are criticized by pointing out where the two writings disobey the theory of saints. Finally, although this thesis does not focus on the authenticity of Liezi, based on some opinions proposed by the previous publications, the conceptions about the authenticity of Liezi are still stated slightly and some related questions to think deeply are addressed further.