标签：modernity

Lecture Notes on The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage (Postdoctoral Exit Report)

History of Science & Scholarship2017.01.07
Lecture Notes on The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage (Postdoctoral Exit Report)
This is the postdoctoral exit report I did with Teacher Tiansong. To be honest, it was done rather half-heartedly; many interesting parts were not developed in depth, but the problem itself should still be a good one. First let me explain the title. I did not make the meaning of this title explicit in the article, and some of the phrasing may well have caused misunderstandings. I only noticed this omission after reading Teacher Wu Tong’s evaluation, so my live report began with a remedial explanation. My “The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage” is obviously modeled on Bert’s book The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science, which was my introduction…
Heidegger phenomenology environment modernity
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2017年1月7日
The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage (Postdoctoral Exit Report): Lecture Notes

History of Science & Scholarship2017.01.07
The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage (Postdoctoral Exit Report): Lecture Notes
This is the postdoctoral exit report I did together with Teacher Tian Song. To be honest, it was done somewhat half-heartedly; many interesting threads were not able to be developed in depth. But the question itself should still be a pretty good one. First let me explain the title. In the article I did not explicitly spell out what this title meant, and some of the wording may well have caused misunderstanding. I only noticed this omission after seeing Teacher Wu Tong’s review comments, so my live report began with a remedial explanation. My “The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage” obviously imitates Bert’s work The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical…
Heidegger phenomenology environment modernity
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2017年1月7日
The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage

History of Science & Scholarship2016.12.01
The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage
Introduction: From Philosophy of Technology to Philosophy of Garbage 1. The Historical Absence of a Philosophy of Garbage 2. How Is Garbage Possible? 3. Garbage Has Existed Since Ancient Times 4. The Modernity of Garbage I. The World of Ideas That Rejects Decay 1. The Age of the World Picture 2. The One-Sidedness of the World Picture 3. Plato’s World of Ideas 4. Aversion to Mortality II. Intellectual Purism That Rejects Ambiguity 1. Binary Opposition 2. Is and Ought 3. Identity and Garbage 4. Kant’s “Discarding Method” III. Foundationalism That Rejects Recycling 1. The Triple Synthesis 2. Memory and Its “Recycling” 3. Learning and Technology 4. The Cycle of History…
technology media Heidegger phenomenology
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2016年12月1日
The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage

History of Science & Scholarship2016.12.01
The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Garbage
Introduction: From Philosophy of Technology to Philosophy of Garbage 1. The Historical Absence of a Philosophy of Garbage 2. How Is Garbage Possible? 3. Garbage Has Existed Since Ancient Times 4. The Modernity of Garbage I. The World of Ideas That Rejects Decay 1. The Age of the World Picture 2. The One-Sidedness of the World Picture 3. Plato’s World of Ideas 4. Aversion to Mortality II. Intellectual Purism That Rejects Ambiguity 1. Binary Opposition 2. Is and Ought 3. Identity and Garbage 4. Kant’s “Discarding Method” III. Foundationalism That Rejects Recycling 1. The Triple Synthesis 2. Memory and Its “Recycling” 3. Learning and Technology 4. The Cycle of History…
technology media Heidegger phenomenology
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2016年12月1日
On Cities (1): What Is a City?

AI & the Future of Technology2016.02.02
On Cities (1): What Is a City?
Mumford’s many specific views on the history of cities and urban planning may perhaps have become outdated, but his insights into the essence of the city and its meaning are something we cannot get around. Mumford has discussed what a city is from two angles. He pointed out that a city is “a special container for storing and transmitting information” and “the theater of social activity.” By way of comparison, we can look at how modern dictionaries explain the word city. The Oxford Dictionary, for example, says that a city is a large and important town; as for town, it refers to a place with many houses, shops/stores, etc. where…
technology modernity Mumford industry
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2016年2月2日
On Garbage (1): From Discarded Things to Useless Things

AI & the Future of Technology2016.01.02
On Garbage (1): From Discarded Things to Useless Things
My postdoctoral research project at the time was to work on a history of garbage. I am ashamed to say that, although I have been collaborating with Professor Tian for more than a year, there has been little real progress under this topic, and whether I will ultimately be able to turn it into my exit report is somewhat worrying. One compromise would be to write the exit report on the history of technology or the philosophy of technology, while inserting discussions of garbage at appropriate points. My intention to study garbage was not a whim, nor did I think of this topic merely because I happened to collaborate with…
technology Heidegger Scientific Revolution value
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2016年1月2日
An Initial Exploration of Simmel’s Philosophy of Money

History of Science & Scholarship2014.07.01
An Initial Exploration of Simmel’s Philosophy of Money
From ancient times on, philosophy has always concerned itself only with the pure world of ideas and grand ultimate questions, and has prized “useless learning.” Money, by contrast, plainly sat ill with the interests of mainstream philosophers. Even after contemporary philosophers began to turn their gaze toward technology, money as this distinctive artifact still rarely became a topic of central concern. Georg Simmel (1858–1918) was an exception. From *The Psychology of Money* to *The Philosophy of Money*, money was one of the focal points and pivots of his philosophical system. In particular, the massive *The Philosophy of Money* has had a far-reaching influence; even today, whenever one speaks of “philosophy…
philosophy freedom media modernity
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2014年7月1日
Art: The Margin of Technology

AI & the Future of Technology2013.10.19
Art: The Margin of Technology
**Art: The Margin of Technology** **Explanation:** This was a philosophy of technology talk I was invited to give to the young artists at the West Five Arts Center. The original title was “Toys and Art: The Margin of Technology,” but in the actual talk I still mainly talked about technology and art; toys were only mentioned in passing. So now I’ve changed the title a bit. What I call “margin” could also be called “defect.” To speak of art as technology’s defect sounds somewhat offensive, so “margin” sounds more positive. A defect always means something that can be supplemented; hitting a wall always means there is room to turn back….
philosophy technology Heidegger Aristotle
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2013年10月19日
On Elitism and Esoteric Truth

Culture & Public Commentary2012.10.18
On Elitism and Esoteric Truth
Today I went to sit in on the World Congress of Chinese Philosophers, took a look at some academic celebrities whose names I had only heard before, and was greatly disappointed. I’m too lazy to go again tomorrow. That Tang Yijie was unreliable I already knew; that Chen Lai was reliable I also already knew. But I didn’t know many of the other famous figures very well. After listening to one round today, basically the only one of any interest was Chen Lai; the others, such as Lin Yusheng, sounded academically fairly sound, but the reports themselves were a little dull. As for the much-vaunted Gan Yang and Liu Xiaofeng,…
philosophy China culture media
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2012年10月18日
Reading Foster: “The Christian Doctrine of Creation and the Rise of Modern Natural Science”

History of Science & Scholarship2012.06.14
Reading Foster: “The Christian Doctrine of Creation and the Rise of Modern Natural Science”
On the relationship between science and religion, if one were to say that the two are irreconcilable, then the focal point of the conflict often lies in Christianity’s doctrine of creation, where Christian teachings about the universe or nature come into direct collision with natural science. Conversely, if one were to say that science and religion complement and support one another, one would still have to begin from creation theory. In 1934 Michael Foster wrote the article “The Christian Doctrine of Creation and the Rise of Modern Natural Science,” attempting to reduce Christianity’s doctrine of creation to a necessary condition for the rise of modern natural science, and offering a…
science Aristotle modernity religion
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2012年6月14日