标签：freedom

An Essay on Freedom of Speech

Culture & Public Commentary2008.10.05
An Essay on Freedom of Speech
“Freedom of thought” is reflected at the social level as “freedom of speech,” and “freedom of speech” at the legal level appears as the principle that one can never be “punished for what one says.” It is necessary to distinguish “punished for what one says” from crimes committed by means of speech, such as incitement, defamation, insult, agitation, deception, and so on. There are countless offenses carried out through speech, and these convictions are not necessarily unreasonable. But one must always remain clear-headed in distinguishing this: none of these charges can be “punished for what one says”; the basis for conviction can never be the speech alone, but must rest…
culture freedom trust law
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2008年10月5日
[Spanish] Fernando Savater: “The Invitation to Ethics” —★

Philosophy & Thought2008.09.21
[Spanish] Fernando Savater: “The Invitation to Ethics” —★
[西]Fernando Savater: “An Invitation to Ethics,” translated by Yushi Yang, Peking University Press2008, 9月,20 yuan——★ As for the earlier An Invitation to Philosophy (see https://yilinhut.net/2007/11/01/1070.html), I had a very high opinion of it; the author’s better-known An Invitation to Ethics was also long anticipated. It finally went on sale a few days ago, and after buying it I finished it in a little over an hour. It is indeed quite good, and worth recommending. Printed at the top of the cover of this book is the sentence: “The only purpose of ethics is to strive to improve oneself, rather than to drone on condemning others.” Even if I had not…
philosophy book reading freedom notes
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2008年9月21日
A Few Words on “Olympic” — “Olympic Game”

Culture & Public Commentary2008.08.08
A Few Words on “Olympic” — “Olympic Game”
I had long said I would write some articles about the Olympics, but the reason I kept putting it off was mainly that I had read far too little, whether primary or secondary sources, on ancient Greece, so I would certainly be speaking without much confidence. Recently, in a last-minute dash, I read a few introductory books; of course that does not really solve anything, but in order to get something written before the opening of the Olympics, I could only make do. Though I lack confidence, I have always had ancient Greece and the “Olympic spirit” on my mind, and I have a large heap of related thoughts. Because…
culture freedom tradition pursuit
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2008年8月8日
Seven Subjects of Moral Education (How to Do Moral Education?)

Culture & Public Commentary2008.07.17
Seven Subjects of Moral Education (How to Do Moral Education?)
Moral education is not the task of the university. By the time they enter college, most students are already adults, and their individual character has long since taken basic shape. A university ought to build a stage on which all kinds of different personalities can coexist, guiding each character to shine in its own distinctive way; it should not then try to remake students’ personalities. Primary and secondary education are different. Primary and secondary schools, together with parents, bear the mission of cultivating and shaping children’s character. The “not yet complete” in “minors” refers precisely to the fact that their personality and character have not yet taken shape, and their…
philosophy culture freedom education
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2008年7月17日
Reading and Freedom (I)

Enlightenment & the Spirit of Freedom2008.06.03
Reading and Freedom (I)
In the essay “Reading as a Way of Thinking,” I said roughly this: if one merely sits there alone thinking desperately and turning things over and over, the effect is often counterproductive; one’s distress only sinks deeper and deeper, while the problem does not necessarily become any clearer. With the aid of reading, by contrast, one can both turn thinking into a pleasure and, with the help of books, carry out broader, clearer, and deeper reflection. However, not only is it not always a good thing to sit there daydreaming in silence, but burying one’s head in books is not always effective either. In particular, when someone reads with too…
philosophy scholarship freedom history
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2008年6月3日
Choosing Peking University, Taking on Freedom

Enlightenment & the Spirit of Freedom2008.05.22
Choosing Peking University, Taking on Freedom
The original writing plan for “Yanyuan—The Four Schools” had stalled for a long time because I shut myself away and hid from the blog. Now that graduation is practically upon me, it’s time to restart this task. Just then the student union was organizing a “My Yanyuan Memories — A Commencement Essay Collection for Peking University’s Class of 2008 Excellent Graduates,” asking each department to nominate writers. Although I do not like taking part in essay contests, especially those initiated by official bodies, I was going to write something anyway. So I might as well take part. There was also a call for submissions from 《Communist Youth Garden》, and perhaps…
philosophy scholarship freedom education
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2008年5月22日
Sense of Responsibility

Culture & Public Commentary2008.01.25
Sense of Responsibility
I remember that when I first entered the preparatory class in junior high school (sixth grade in elementary school), in the first “weekly journal” assigned by our homeroom teacher (the politics teacher) — that is, a way of “snitching” (though I always talked only about “problems,” never about any specific person) — I emphasized two concepts: “the sense of right and wrong” and “responsibility.” I thought teachers should focus on cultivating these two things in students. All along, my indignation toward my peers has been far greater than my indignation toward teachers. I thought that my classmates only knew how to mock and resist teachers’ discipline, that they were self-righteous,…
culture freedom responsibility power
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2008年1月25日
On “Feyerabend Quotations”

History of Science & Scholarship2008.01.22
On “Feyerabend Quotations”
Xinzhai Lao Jiang Quotations from Feyerabend I’m a fanatical admirer of Feyerabend, so from now on I’ll post some of the old gentleman’s quotations whenever I have nothing better to do: A free society is one in which all traditions have equal rights and equal opportunities to enter the centers of power (this differs from the usual definition: that everyone has equal rights to enter the positions defined by one special tradition—namely, the tradition of Western science and rationalism). A tradition acquires these rights not because it is important to outsiders, but because it is meaningful in the lives of those who participate in that tradition. Science in a Free…
philosophy science freedom politics
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2008年1月22日
The Search for “Possibility”

Philosophy & Thought2008.01.14
The Search for “Possibility”
The following statement may be regarded as a certain “translation” of Heidegger, though of course it cannot conform to Heidegger’s original intention. Traditional Western philosophy, or rather the entire history of Western thought, has taken as its main thread the “search for certainty.” Around this craving for certainty have unfolded philosophy’s pursuit of “being,” science’s pursuit of universal laws, ethics’ pursuit of clear rules, religion’s pursuit of immortal bliss, and so on. All learning seeks certainty, seeks what is fixed and unchanging. Originally, the search for certainty and the search for possibility were not necessarily in conflict. However, the search for certainty eventually expanded beyond measure, so much so that…
philosophy freedom Heidegger tradition
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2008年1月14日
On “Feyerabend Quotations 3 and 4” (Prescribing Remedies for the Age and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Etc.)

History of Science & Scholarship2008.01.05
On “Feyerabend Quotations 3 and 4” (Prescribing Remedies for the Age and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Etc.)
http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=335 http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=336 XinZhaiLaoJiang Feyerabend Quotations 3 “I did not say that epistemology should become anarchist, or that philosophy of science should become anarchist. I said that these two disciplines should accept anarchism as a medicine. Epistemology is sick now and must be treated, and the medicine is anarchism. Medicine is not something people have to take all the time. People take medicine only during a certain period, and then stop.” Science in a Free Society: P139-140 [楼主] | Posted: 2008-01-24 01:01 GuChen This kind of “medicine” is too fierce and stimulating; it is not in keeping with the Chinese medicine way of nourishing life and regulating and supplementing the body~~…
philosophy science freedom politics
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2008年1月5日