Brief Notes from the First/Third/Fourth Day of Classes in the New Semester

A Brief Note on the First Day of the New Semester’s Classes

Xingding posted on 2006-02-20 22:12:01

1. Liu Zhuanghu: Set Theory
— Teacher Liu is very likable. Unlike Xing Taotao, who paced back and forth slowly in front of the blackboard, Teacher Liu dashed rapidly back and forth… I copied the textbook; at first glance, set theory still seems like a difficulty one can bear. Set theory is quite important. If one is studying philosophy of science and technology, one must understand science; it is unacceptable to stand on a humanistic position and speak in airy abstractions while having no understanding of science at all. One can begin to understand science through the history of physics, but the core of physics is still mathematics. Mathematics stands somewhat apart from “natural science,” yet it is unquestionably the most crucial thing. If one has no real feel for mathematics, one can only confine one’s view of science to the “outside”—of course, it is quite important, and indeed one of the most meaningful aspects of philosophy of technology and the humanistic study of science, to reflect on science from outside perspectives such as history, sociology, and philosophy; however, observing from outside all the time is inevitably one-sided, and if one wants to “experience” science from within science itself, then one must begin with mathematics. Set theory is a key topic in mathematics and logic, and those doing philosophy of technology ought to have some understanding of it. The purpose is not to go deep into set theory as a discipline and do research in it; rather, as Teacher Liu said, the goal of this course is to enable us to understand and apply the ideas and methods of set theory. In addition, after class Teacher Liu mentioned that he wanted to open a “mathematics course” that would not be limited to going deep only into specialized fields like mathematical analysis and linear algebra, but would instead hope to give students a “panoramic view” of mathematics—not necessarily in great depth, but with the key aim of letting them understand what mathematics as a whole is all about. I think this idea is quite good. A course of this sort could be called something like “Introduction to Mathematics.” This would not only be beneficial to us in philosophy of technology and logic, but would also be needed by other science and engineering departments. Because even in science and engineering departments now, the mathematics courses they take are often just advanced calculus (or mathematical analysis) and linear algebra (or higher algebra), and although these are the foundations of mathematics, the field of mathematics is in fact much broader! Simply by taking these two relatively specialized courses, one cannot obtain an overall picture of modern mathematical science. If there were a course that could, even in a cursory way, introduce the various branches of modern mathematics as well as the ideas, methods, and a guide to the philosophy of mathematics, I believe it would be extremely meaningful!
2. Wu Zengding: Topics in Modern European Philosophy
— Reading Leviathan, Teacher Wu really is formidable. Too bad my GPA is still the priority, so I’m not choosing it for the moment…
3. Li Silong: How to Understand Religion
— I’ve discovered another formidable person! Teacher Li has a clear line of thought and a tolerant mindset. This course is a popular introduction to religion, aimed at eliminating people’s misunderstandings and prejudices about religion; at understanding religion with a tolerant and rational attitude; at exploring how nonbelievers and believers, and the various religious faiths, can coexist peacefully; at examining religion—both tangible and intangible (Teacher Li has clearly read Luckmann’s The Invisible Religion ^_^ )—in modern society and its influence and significance; and also specialized topics such as religion and healing, religion and mysticism, religion and China, religion and scientism, and so on. In short, it sounds like a very good course. In particular, when Teacher Li answered several students’ questions at the end, the clarity of his thought and the rigor of his expression left a deep impression on me.
2006年2月20日

A Brief Note on the Third Day of the New Semester’s Classes

Xingding posted on 2006-02-22 18:50:07

1. Xu Longfei: The Current State of World Religions
— In fact, the course is called “An Introduction to Contemporary Christian Philosophy,” and it is jointly taught for undergraduates and graduate students; for undergraduates, it is shown as “The Current State of World Religions.” I dropped this course precisely because it is too good, and this semester my main focus is logic and philosophy of technology, so I cannot guarantee that I will have enough energy to devote to it. For such a good course and such an outstanding teacher, I am not willing to scrape by. If I were really going to take it, I would definitely devote myself to it wholeheartedly, but this semester I cannot. Besides, this course has a connection to the earlier courses, and since it is jointly taught for undergraduates and graduate students, the difficulty is too great. Perhaps I will often go sit in.
2. Wu Fei: Life and the Love of Wisdom
— It is about the problem of “suicide,” but not suicide as a current social issue. Rather, it is a course in intellectual history. By reading three texts—Phaedo, Canto 13 of The Divine Comedy: Inferno, and King Lear—it explores topics in Western philosophy concerning life, soul, and human nature. The format, content, and the teacher are all excellent. However, I am also hesitating whether to drop this course, simply because of a philosophical issue. The purpose of this course is obviously “to help students learn how to think about the meaning and value of life, and to cherish life more.” The teacher’s view is obviously that suicide, in any case, is not acceptable. Yet I hold a slightly different view—obviously, I myself cherish life very much, and love life very much, and at no time would I ever think of suicide. However, the proposition “life is meaningful” is regarded, in the overall system of my thought (this system may be immature, childish, full of holes; what I mean is that it is independent, that the views are mutually connected and together form a whole, and that it is relatively self-consistent…), as a presupposition, or one could say it is simply a pre-established belief. It is guaranteed by certain irrational things, just as in Euclid’s fifth postulate, or more accurately, the best analogy would be something like the “law of excluded middle” in logic—apparently we ought to take it for granted that the proposition “P or not-P” is always true, but intuitionists can refuse to believe it. Although it seems absurd, dishonest, and perversely pedantic not to believe in the law of excluded middle, they are still able to construct a complete logical system and make it self-consistent; it is impossible to persuade them through rational argument! Whether “life is meaningful” and whether “suicide is acceptable” may also be denied, and yet we cannot persuade them rationally. Therefore, for this course to achieve its purpose, it will unavoidably have to use irrational means—moral suasion, persuasion, and so on. In fact, that does seem to be the case: the three texts we are to read are not purely philosophical works, but literary works; they are plays, they are poems. In short, they use artistic and aesthetic means, rather than merely philosophical speculation, to persuade people to cherish life. This method is very desirable, and the selection of these texts also demonstrates Teacher Wu’s mastery! But the crux of the matter lies precisely here: because I personally am not good at these things, literature and the arts are very weak areas for me; what I like and what I am good at is philosophical speculation, and this course may make it hard for me to bring my strengths into play. This semester I need to consider my GPA, and I do not know whether taking this course is a bit risky…
2006年2月22日

A Brief Note on the Fourth Day of the New Semester’s Classes

Xingding posted on 2006-02-23 22:13:56

1. Chen Bo: Philosophy of Logic
— The legendary Bobo really is adorable… He was an hour late, saying something like he had mistaken periods 5–8 for starting at 2 p.m., and then later, thinking it over, he realized that if class were to go from 11 p.m. to midnight, that would seem impossible, and only then did he come to his senses… That speaking voice, that intonation… anyway, it was very interesting… And also… today in class… probably because he was in too much of a rush… one of the zippers was not pulled up…………….
Enough of that. The pressure in this course seems to be quite high. It is jointly taught for undergraduates and graduate students, and the main requirement seems to be writing a paper worth about 80 points, along with regular classroom participation—Bobo said that we need to read some English-language literature (fortunately I have already found some Chinese translations…), and we also need to frequently ask students to “report,” to “report”! … A paper on philosophy of logic seems really hard to handle. My head aches just thinking about it. I’ve bought a whole pile of books too, but I’m still determined to fight logic to the bitter end this semester…
2. Wu Guosheng: Introduction to Natural Philosophy
— The Philosophy Department’s most handsome man has finally started teaching. It is said that this is the first time he has taught a course specifically for undergraduate students in the Philosophy Department, and also the first “natural philosophy” course in China in decades. But Teacher Wu’s requirements are still very high: there are three units in all, and for each unit there is homework to write; each assignment is four or five thousand characters! There is also a final exam. And it is rumored that Teacher Wu grades extremely stingily. People say that in some previous course, the highest score in the whole class was only a little over eighty. If that is true, then I must also work hard to break this precedent; I cannot accept just a little over eighty.

Latest Comments

• chong

  2006-02-24 01:31:05 

  Haha~~~ me 88~~~ yeah~~~ why are my philosophy of science and technology grades all so high呢~~~~ what a pity~~~~

• Wu

  2006-02-24 08:16:08 

  Haha, Bobo!

Translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The original text is authoritative.