Year: 2010

The Road of the Azure Sky

Life & Notes2010.05.20
The Road of the Azure Sky
After being busy for a stretch, one should, as usual, allow oneself a little indulgence. Before I begin my book-scanning plan, let me first finish scanning a whole manga series…… Stirred by the new Three Kingdoms TV drama, I remembered this masterpiece, hailed as the best Three Kingdoms manga. Back when I watched the animated version—the first season was roughly equivalent to a third or a quarter of the manga—I already had a sense of being dazzled. In the first few episodes I still couldn’t quite make out what was special about it, and thought it was just another little-Japanese gag on the Three Kingdoms, until I saw the appearances…
everyday life China tradition anime
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2010年5月20日
A Preliminary Exploration of Heidegger’s Media Ontology

History of Science & Scholarship2010.05.11
A Preliminary Exploration of Heidegger’s Media Ontology
I’ve once again squeezed this out at the very last moment… abstract and table of contents still pending… A Preliminary Inquiry into Heidegger’s Media Ontology 1 When Heidegger’s philosophy of technology is mentioned, what often comes first to mind is Heidegger’s late “question concerning technology,” the thought of technology as revealing, as a mode in which truth happens, as the consummated form of metaphysics, as well as propositions such as the fourfold of earth and sky, mortals and divinities, and poetic dwelling. Technology is unquestionably a keyword of Heidegger’s late thought. Yet the crucial significance of the technological question in Heidegger’s thought, and Heidegger’s important status as a philosopher of…
media Heidegger phenomenology paper
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2010年5月11日
Two earthquake orphans on stage? What are you thinking?!

Life & Notes2010.04.30
Two earthquake orphans on stage? What are you thinking?!
SB will be opening, and of course that’s not bad. I’ve always been in favor of this sort of large-scale celebratory event—in my view, throwing money at song, dance, and fireworks is better than throwing money at the Three Gorges Dam. And yet I can’t help it, I can’t help but vent a little. This opening ceremony is fine in every other respect, but the appearance of these two orphans really set me off. What on earth were they doing? It reminds me of the Olympic opening ceremony two years ago, when there was likewise a huge earthquake, and likewise children from the disaster area took the stage. At the…
everyday life China faith tradition
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2010年4月30日
Phenomenology Notes 4: Speech and Propositions, Ready-to-Hand and Present-at-Hand

Philosophy & Thought2010.04.29
Phenomenology Notes 4: Speech and Propositions, Ready-to-Hand and Present-at-Hand
I’ve read quite a lot over the past two weeks, but because I’ve been bottling up a paper I haven’t managed to write notes in time. Still, I’ll jot down a few lines offhand, since this may also have something to do with the paper I’m about to write (about Heidegger’s ready-to-hand and guidance, and so on), so I won’t follow the order of the books. In other philosophy, especially early analytic philosophy, language is often analyzed as proposition, and what is called “truth” is also taken to be some kind of proposition or something that corresponds to a proposition. For example, Tarski said, “‘It is raining’ if and only…
philosophy book reading notes Heidegger
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2010年4月29日
Doctoral Research Plan (Media Phenomenology)

AI & the Future of Technology2010.04.13
Doctoral Research Plan (Media Phenomenology)
Following Professor Wu, the direction I am undoubtedly taking as my main focus in the doctoral stage is the philosophy of technology in phenomenology; more specifically, my research should be organized around the theme of “media phenomenology.” Under the theme of media phenomenology, my research can unfold from three angles, or in three ways. Depending on the progress of study and research over the next few years, the final doctoral dissertation will be confined to one of these angles and developed under an appropriate title. The themes and angles proposed in this research plan are merely lines of inquiry, or points of entry, for the research. This theme mainly involves…
technology media phenomenology McLuhan
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2010年4月13日
On CCTV’s Blocking of English Abbreviations

Chinese Civilization & the Way of Chinese2010.04.08
On CCTV’s Blocking of English Abbreviations
After all, the General Administration of Radio, Film, and Television has always been an institution that only knows how to issue bans. That said, it is not the case that I would automatically oppose, or even ridicule, every ban issued by the General Administration of Radio, Film, and Television. As for this particular ban, overall I am affirmative and supportive. If replacing foreign-language abbreviations with their full Chinese names does not involve much difficulty, then why not do it? If the difficulty is very great, and switching over and adapting is hard, then all the more reason there is for correction. One argument is that most people actually do not…
culture commentary tradition Chinese
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2010年4月8日
Phenomenology Notes 3

Philosophy & Thought2010.04.07
Phenomenology Notes 3
Today I only read two sections, about the distinction between what is called the natural attitude and the phenomenological attitude. Simply put, the natural attitude is the non-reflective attitude of everyday life, whereas the phenomenological attitude is the reflective philosophical attitude. To distinguish these two attitudes is not to set them against each other, as if one were the natural attitude of ordinary people and the other the phenomenological attitude of philosophers. In fact, the phenomenological attitude is a kind of transcending of the natural attitude, not a rebellion or a rupture. After all, the natural attitude is the basic condition of human life; reflection can only be discussed on…
book reading notes media Heidegger
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2010年4月7日
Quantum Mechanics: Did It Introduce the Observer, or Send God Away?

History of Science & Scholarship2010.03.26
Quantum Mechanics: Did It Introduce the Observer, or Send God Away?
Back when I was in high school, I became interested in philosophy, and to tell the truth it was also by starting with some popular books on quantum mechanics, just as Feynman said: if you think you understand quantum mechanics, then you don’t understand it. The astonishment that quantum mechanics brought me has stayed with me ever since. But then again, though I may be overstepping or even being presumptuous, I still feel that I have some understanding of quantum phenomena; especially after several years of studying philosophy, I have gained quite a few insights. From the standpoint of some of the philosophical ideas I have accepted, quantum phenomena are…
philosophy science God physics
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2010年3月26日
Phenomenology Notes 2

Philosophy & Thought2010.03.26
Phenomenology Notes 2
This time I’ll mainly talk about “presence and absence.” Presence corresponds to “fulfilling intention,” and absence corresponds to “empty intention.” What is meant by presence, or by fulfillment, is the situation in which a thing is vividly and concretely presented before you, directly pointed out by you. More precisely, though, presence is determined by absence: “When we apprehend the presence of something, we apprehend it precisely as not absent: if we are to become aware of what is present, then there must exist the horizon of its possible absence. Presence is given as the removal of a certain absence.” When can we say that a thing is present? It is…
book reading notes phenomenology intentionality
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2010年3月26日
Who Has “Politicized” Google?

Culture & Public Commentary2010.03.25
Who Has “Politicized” Google?
Google ultimately still withdrew from the Chinese market. Whether this is good or bad, right or wrong, I do not want to comment at length; nor do I want to enshrine Google as a heroic fighter, much less regard it as a symbol of freedom and democracy. But in any case, Google’s withdrawal is bound to become a landmark event. At the very least, we can expect that some years from now, when we discuss issues such as politics, economics, morality, media, diplomacy, human rights, and so on in the Internet age, this case will always be cited. Here I only want to mention one interesting little problem that I…
China commentary politics experts
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2010年3月25日