分类：Culture & Public Commentary

On “Tian Song: Why Does a Human Animal Drink the Milk of a Cow Animal?”

Culture & Public Commentary2008.01.08
On “Tian Song: Why Does a Human Animal Drink the Milk of a Cow Animal?”
http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=269 A recent series of remarks of mine was prompted, in origin, first by a dialogue with “folk science” enthusiasts, and second by a discussion with Teacher Tian. Although Teacher Tian’s serial has not yet reached its conclusion, my response has long since come to an end. I’ll post it here for the record. (No need to indicate which words are mine, I suppose.) Tian Song: Why Does Such an Animal as Human Need to Drink the Milk of Such an Animal as Cow? (Serialized Essay) Why Does Such an Animal as Human Need to Drink the Milk of Such an Animal as Cow? (Part 1): Beyond Scientific Grounds (2498…
culture Tian Song anthropology
阅读全文

2008年1月8日
[France] Tony Anatrella: “The Forgotten Sex”

Culture & Public Commentary2007.10.14
[France] Tony Anatrella: “The Forgotten Sex”
[Fr.] Tony Anatrella, “Forgotten Sex,” trans. Liu Weixu and Xu Jun, Guangxi Normal University Press, June 2003, 18.8 yuan The author is a Freudian social psychologist. Taking sex as his thread, he discusses topics such as the body, society, love, and growing up. In terms of readability and intellectual stimulation, this is a good book. The author points out that modern people seem on the surface to have “liberated” sex and liberated the “body,” but in fact they are often negating and rejecting them, so much so that they eventually move toward forgetting them. Today’s “sex” has been stripped away from reproduction, love, morality, and “sexual relations”; “sex for sex’s…
book reading notes psychology body
阅读全文

2007年10月14日
[Dutch] J. Huizinga: Man the Player, 35 yuan — ☆

Culture & Public Commentary2007.10.11
[Dutch] J. Huizinga: Man the Player, 35 yuan — ☆
[Dutch]J. Huizinga: Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture, translated by Cheng Qiong, proofread by Wang Zuohong and Chen Weizheng, Guizhou Publishing Group, Guizhou People’s Publishing House, first edition January 1998, second edition August 2007, 35 yuan—☆ Often, just when I am thinking about certain topics, I can promptly find the book I want at a bookstore, and even at the new-books counter…… This book immediately came out in two editions, one of which (the one I chose) is a reprint, and the other is the latest translation by Huacheng Publishing House (the third Chinese translation), Huizinga: 2007, 9th month, first edition. I compared these two books for quite…
book reading culture notes human nature
阅读全文

2007年10月11日
Is Literature Human Studies? — A Response

Culture & Public Commentary2007.10.08
Is Literature Human Studies? — A Response
This is a response to UNIC; taking this opportunity, I’d like to briefly state my attitude toward conceptual analysis and inquiry. You want to say “literature is human studies,” and that’s fine; I do not object. Of course, this phrase is not your own invention, but already a widely used expression. I looked it up, and its source seems to be Gorky; it has also been used by many writers on different occasions. Every sentence has its context and must be judged within a specific context. Otherwise, a bald assertion dropped out of nowhere cannot be properly understood or assessed. For example, I say “the Earth is round.” Is that…
philosophy culture human nature humanities
阅读全文

2007年10月8日
What Is “Literature”?

Culture & Public Commentary2007.10.08
What Is “Literature”?
I claim that this year I’m going to make a serious study of literature, so what exactly do I mean? What is literature? Although I understand that I’ll have more of a say on this question only after I’ve read more literary books, if I have no idea what “literature” is, then what exactly am I planning to read? Of course, the simplest method is to follow the categories already made by others and look for books on the literature shelf in a bookstore; that would count as reading literature. But as someone who does philosophy, I really shouldn’t be too lazy. Besides, this topic has come up recently anyway,…
philosophy culture scholarship literature
阅读全文

2007年10月8日
[France] Michel Manson: “The Eternal Toy”

Culture & Public Commentary2007.10.06
[France] Michel Manson: “The Eternal Toy”
[French] Michel Manson: “The Eternal Toy,” translated by Su Qiyun and Wang Xinlian, Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House, August 2004, 26 yuan The reasons that attracted me to buy this book are as follows: first, it was on sale; second, it is serious scholarly work on something that appears to be an ordinary object. The seriousness of this is evident from the 46 pages of notes appended at the end of the book (the Chinese edition reproduces all the notes in facsimile, which was no small feat); third, I am very interested in this topic. After reading it, I found myself somewhat disappointed. Neither the writing nor the argument…
book reading technology notes children
阅读全文

2007年10月6日
On the Peng Yu Case

Culture & Public Commentary2007.09.11
On the Peng Yu Case
About the Peng Yu case has recently become quite popular online; you can find it anywhere if you search casually, so I won’t quote much here: “On September 5, the Gulou District Court in Nanjing delivered its ruling in the Peng Yu case, deciding that Peng Yu should compensate the plaintiff for 40% of her losses, amounting to 45,876 yuan. The judgment said, ‘From common sense, it is more likely that Peng Yu collided with the old woman. If Peng Yu had not knocked down the old woman, he would have had no need at all to send her to the hospital.’ Once the verdict was announced, public opinion across…
China commentary sociology public sphere
阅读全文

2007年9月11日
On the Problem of Wealth Inequality in China

Culture & Public Commentary2007.09.05
On the Problem of Wealth Inequality in China
The problem of China’s rich-poor gap is both a sharp short-term issue and the most crucial issue in the long-term strategic picture; how to handle this problem is vitally important to China’s economic and political future. What needs to be addressed is the problem of the rich-poor gap, not the elimination of the rich-poor gap. The rich-poor gap cannot be eliminated, neither in theory nor in reality; all one can do is figure out how to face it. China’s rapid economic development has, to a very large extent, been driven by a huge rich-poor gap, and the paradox is this: if the poor want to become a little richer, they…
culture China modernity rule of law
阅读全文

2007年9月5日
On the “Ungrateful Poor College Student” Incident

Culture & Public Commentary2007.09.03
On the “Ungrateful Poor College Student” Incident
A little while ago I saw a piece of news online saying that five poor college students in Xiangfan had their funding canceled because they were “ungrateful.” Today I happened to see a follow-up report on TV, and I can’t help writing a few words. At first, when I heard the two words “ungrateful,” I thought: just how badly had they behaved, and how much embarrassment had they caused the benefactors, that those female entrepreneurs would angrily give up their sponsorship? But after watching for a long time, I found it was only that after receiving the money they never took the initiative to write letters or make phone calls…
China commentary sociology
阅读全文

2007年9月3日
On Protecting Tradition and What Tradition Is, and So On

Chinese Civilization & the Way of Chinese2007.08.19
On Protecting Tradition and What Tradition Is, and So On
First, I’m reposting a discussion from the Ceiling blog. http://ariela.ycool.com/post.2668095.html Omitted above… mist @ 2007-07-29 10:29 If contemporary people are only preserving tradition, then where are we to create the spirit of our age? Ceiling @ 2007-07-30 00:11 I believe that tradition and creation should, in essence, be continuous. Besides, what is being shouted about most fervently right now is the preservation of tradition, even more than the creation of spirit…… so I’m chiming in *_^ 古 @ 2007-08-05 21:35 I recommend that Mist listen to a lecture by Wu Guosheng~ Which occasion of “creating the spirit of an age” has not taken preserving tradition as its basis?…
culture China tradition Wu Guosheng
阅读全文

2007年8月19日