The Cosmological Source of Creativity in the Light of Metaphysical Hermeneutics

Abstract Jean Grondin’s endeavor to revive metaphysics in a “post-metaphysical” age resonates with the ramifications of Cheng’s onto-generative hermeneutics for Western philosophy. However, Cheng also pinpoints a shortcoming in Grondin that undermines his aims, an underdeveloped understanding of the cosmological source of creativity. To ameliorate this dilemma, Grondin’s claim that Gadamer rejects the source of metaphysical light in Plato is reassessed based on (1) Heidegger’s rethinking of existence as the Daoist Fourfold and (2) a re-interpretation of “the Good beyond Being.” Rather than a boundary to understanding, for Cheng, “beyond Being” signals an existential encounter with the Daoist void. In this way, the light in Grondin’s metaphysical hermeneutics resurfaces from the ground up in Cheng’s cosmo-ontology.