Background
Youwel Xie was born in Meixian, Guangdong, China.
谢友伟
Youwel Xie was born in Meixian, Guangdong, China.
Youwel Xie was an acute critic of early twentieth-century philosophy under the neo-Hegelian influence of Royce and Bradley. His philosophical interests were accompanied by work in psychology, history and culture.
Youwel Xie translated "Royce’s Philosophy of Loyalty" and "Bradley’s Ethical Studies" but, unlike many neo-Hegelians, did not develop a personal system of philosophy. Instead, he wrote critical essays on a variety of thinkers, including Xiong Shili, He Lin, Zhang Shizhao, Dewey Price, Hume, Adler. Whitehead. Croce, Alexander and Tagore.
In common with many Chinese philosophers Youwel Xie tried to establish the essential characteristics of Chinese and Western thought in order to understand the different patterns of historical development and as a guide for the future. He saw ancient Chinese philosophy as idealistic, practical, proceeding by intuitive affirmation rather than proof, and religious in attitude.
In his moral thinking Youwel Xie shared neo-Hegelian hostility to utilitarianism, but tried to reconcile the western theories of Royce and Bradley with Confucian doctrines.