标签：humanities

Value and Rights—The Ethics of Reification

Philosophy & Thought2008.02.17
Value and Rights—The Ethics of Reification
This topic had already been discussed long ago in The Second Assignment for the Special Topic on Life and Death in Ethics: On the Value of Life and Outline for the First Discussion in the Introduction to Philosophy of Technology, but those earlier discussions were tucked away inside two assignments, and perhaps not prominent enough. Since this issue is quite important for my own “system of thought,” I am putting together a special post on it. I have not done any etymological detective work myself; I am simply going by Kingsoft PowerWord and a philosophical dictionary. The lineages of words like “value” and “right” are probably something like this: “to…
philosophy value modernity humanities
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2008年2月17日
Lecture 42 of the Science Forum: Science Matters (November 9)

History of Science & Scholarship2007.11.09
Lecture 42 of the Science Forum: Science Matters (November 9)
Science Forum Lecture No. 42: Science Matters (November 9) 2007.11.07 Peking University Forum on the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Lecture No. 42 Time: Friday, November 9, 2007, 2:00–4:00 p.m. Venue: Academic Lecture Hall, Center for the Study of Science and Society, Chengzeyuan Speaker: Lin Lei (Professor, Department of Physics, San Jose State University, California, USA) Topic: Science Matters: The Newest and Largest Interdisciplinary Field Commentator: Wu Guosheng Brief introduction to the talk: What is science? The answer is: “everything in the natural world is part of science.” What are generally called the “natural sciences” are in fact sciences of simple systems; the humanities/social sciences—fields of learning related…
science philosophy of science history humanities
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2007年11月9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
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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
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2007年10月6日
[English] Maugham: The Moon and Sixpence

Culture & Public Commentary2007.07.17
[English] Maugham: The Moon and Sixpence
[English] Maugham: *The Moon and Sixpence*, translated by Fu Weici, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, August 2006, 12 yuan As for works of literature, I have never dared to pass judgment too readily. To put it simply, this book depicts an artist who exists in my ideal world—and for that reason his life did not surprise me very much. Of course, I completely identify with and admire Charles Strickland’s “conduct”; although my own life could in no way be similar to his, perhaps, as Captain Brono said (p. 247), I too am pursuing the same thing. What Strickland’s attitude toward love and marriage tells us is precisely what I have always…
philosophy book reading notes humanities
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2007年7月17日
[U.S.] Margaret Visser: “All Depends on Dinner”

Culture & Public Commentary2007.07.16
[U.S.] Margaret Visser: “All Depends on Dinner”
[US]Margaret Visser: “It All Depends on Dinner,” translated by Liu Xia'ai, New Star Press2007May, 29yuan Introduction, page 1 In everyday life, the things we take for granted in using rule us and saturate our lives.……The shape of chairs has changed continuously over the centuries; the number and form of the tines on forks have also kept changing; in addition, the width and length of corridors have likewise been adjusted again and again. These formal, or accidental, changes in things are a language, telling the story of our cultural ideas while also recording the history of life. One of the eye-opening realizations of the twentieth century (like every discovery, it…
book reading culture notes tradition
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2007年7月16日
Repost: 2007 French Baccalaureate (BAC) Essay Questions

Life & Notes2007.06.13
Repost: 2007 French Baccalaureate (BAC) Essay Questions
发信人: Eagle (Kuma), 区: Philo 标题: 2007 French Baccalaureate (BAC) Essay Questions 发信站: Peking University Unnamed BBS (2007年06月13日11:30:34 Wednesday) , site message June 11, 2007 Time: 4 hours Graduates in the literary, economics and social sciences, and science tracks may each choose one of the following three topics: Questions for literary-track candidates 1) Is any realization of insight also a liberation from the shackles of thought? （Toute prise de conscience est-elle libératrice? ） 2) Are works of art realities like any others? （Les oeuvres d'art sont-elles des réalités comme les autres? ） 3) Explain Aristotle’s discussion of “responsibility” in Ethique à Nicomaque （Expliquer un extrait de "Ethique à Nicomaque"…
philosophy everyday life Aristotle humanities
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2007年6月13日
Some Questions from the Classroom Discussion on “Studies of Globalization Issues”

Culture & Public Commentary2006.10.25
Some Questions from the Classroom Discussion on “Studies of Globalization Issues”
On the Question of Quoting Authorities I would never deny the importance of basic reading of the literature, and I certainly would not oppose making citations in an article; my own style of writing places quite a strong emphasis on quotation. But writing is one thing, discussion is another. At first I mistakenly thought that the text written in ZW’s class was aimed at our earlier discussion, and so I reacted with displeasure. If it was only written as a private note to himself, then of course there is no problem. In discussion, even in scholarly discussion, the ultimate purpose of citing the classics is either to explicate another person’s…
philosophy culture humanities
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2006年10月25日
A Sand County Almanac

History of Science & Scholarship2006.08.23
A Sand County Almanac
[U.S.] Aldo Leopold: Sand County Almanac — Leopold’s Meditations on Nature, translated by Wu Meizhen, revised by Wang Ruixiang, China Social Sciences Publishing House, March 2004 This is the Taiwanese edition of Sand County Almanac (Leopold); it seems to include the most complete set of essays, and should be the best version. From whatever angle you look at it, this book is essential reading. It is praised, together with Walden, as a model of nature-and-humanity writing; it was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the ten must-read books in the humanities in its “Books of the Century” list; it has been called the Bible of ecologism;…
book reading notes humanities natural history
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2006年8月23日