标签：philosophy

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
Winter Break Essay V: Love, or the Search for Certainty

Philosophy & Thought2010.02.12
Winter Break Essay V: Love, or the Search for Certainty
Philosophy, or “love of wisdom,” is fundamentally an activity of love. I have always said that love is like philosophy, and philosophy is like love; related remarks can be found in the blog folder “谈情——说爱.” I also once wrote “Philosophical Style and Attitudes Toward Love,” in which I crudely mapped various philosophical styles across ancient and modern times onto various attitudes toward love. This was not some offhand joke of mine, The resemblance between philosophy and love is by no means merely a literary analogy; rather, it means that these two activities share something in certain fundamental senses. A culture, or a thinker, who has a certain philosophy will also…
philosophy pursuit Plato love
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2010年2月12日
Third Winter Vacation Essay: Will and Responsibility

Philosophy & Thought2010.02.01
Third Winter Vacation Essay: Will and Responsibility
Speaking of which, Kantian ethics contains a very rigid conception of duty—for example, the command “do not lie.” This injunction is an absolute duty: even if a murderer asks you where your beloved is, and you know that if you tell the truth and do not lie to mislead him your beloved will be killed, you still must not lie. Moral duty is that hard. For, in any case, murder is the murderer’s fault, whereas lying is your fault; whether or not there is a murder, lying is always wrong. If your beloved happens to appear at the very place you falsely claimed she was, then would her being killed…
philosophy Kant human nature emotion
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2010年2月1日
Winter Break Essay No. 2: Relativism

Philosophy & Thought2010.02.01
Winter Break Essay No. 2: Relativism
Modernity is accompanied by a certain nihilism, and that is natural: because the past is severed from the future, the present becomes a void point. But relativism is not necessarily nihilism; or rather, its aim is precisely the opposite. Relativism, or “relationism,” emphasizes not rupture but connection. Relativism does not accept an isolated point; any node has meaning only in the midst of the network of relations that interconnect it. Nihilism loses all aspiration, but relativism is not without aspiration; what it aspires to is connection. Relativism does not reject certainty, but what is called certainty can be understood as those important “nodes” in the whole web of relations. These…
philosophy ontology God relativism
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2010年2月1日
Winter Vacation Miscellany I: What Is Modernity?

Culture & Public Commentary2010.02.01
Winter Vacation Miscellany I: What Is Modernity?
The blog has been neglected for quite a long time. I’ve been at home over winter break without much in the way of momentum, and before I knew it I was about to welcome the New Year in a state of neglect—that won’t do at all. No matter what, I should at least make an effort to update it a bit. Let me first write down some scattered bits and pieces I’d accumulated earlier but never got around to writing. Winter Break Essay No. 1: What Is Modernity? Back when the science-and-metaphysics discussion group was meeting, there was a classmate who rather arrogantly criticized everyone for talking at length about…
philosophy culture history modernity
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2010年2月1日
The Naturalization of Mathematics — A Wordplay on the Mechanization of the World Picture

History of Science & Scholarship2010.01.15
The Naturalization of Mathematics — A Wordplay on the Mechanization of the World Picture
What is meant by “a mechanistic world-picture”? Dijksterhuis’s *The Mechanization of the World Picture* revolves around this question. He asks: “When we say this, are we thinking of the meaning of ‘tool’ or ‘machine’ implied by the Greek word μηχανή (that is, of viewing the world [whether or not it includes the human spirit] as a machine)? Or does it mean that natural events can be described by means of concepts and handled through the methods of mechanics, this branch of science (in which case the word is used in a very different sense from its original one, signifying the science of motion)?”[1] In the end, Dijksterhuis gives his answer:…
philosophy science Aristotle mathematics
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2010年1月15日
Notes from Today’s Xindao Salon, 09-11-21 [The Next Session May Be Paused Once]

Life & Notes2009.11.21
Notes from Today’s Xindao Salon, 09-11-21 [The Next Session May Be Paused Once]
Today’s salon was quite lively after a long time. Besides dr, three web friends also came, and the long-absent xxj classmate made a splendid passing appearance~ Besides the eat-melon king (Institute for History of Natural Sciences, CAS) classmate, today’s two new friends were respectively from the computer science department of Forestry University and the School of Philosophy at Renmin University. Welcome, welcome—clap clap clap~ Besides chatting idly, as originally planned, I talked a bit about McLuhan; the effect is unknown… We also brought up the question of the meaning of philosophical thinking, and I still use games as a metaphor: for example, you have a box in your hands, and…
philosophy everyday life human nature McLuhan
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2009年11月21日
(For the first assignment in the General History of Science—“Briefly describe the basic features of Greek cosmology and astronomy”) A few words before I’ve even graded the assignment~

Teaching & Courses2009.10.27
(For the first assignment in the General History of Science—“Briefly describe the basic features of Greek cosmology and astronomy”) A few words before I’ve even graded the assignment~
Before the homework is graded, let me say a few words~ The third question on this assignment, namely “briefly describe the basic features of Greek cosmology and astronomy,” was set by me and will also be graded by me. Perhaps because the topic seemed difficult, or because it was listed last, in any case comparatively the fewest students chose my topic. I only received 36 submissions, which just so happens to make it possible for me to offer a bit of special kill-you-while-serving-you (service)~ That is to say, in addition to learning their scores, everyone will also know exactly why they were inevitably killed by the TA~~ I will explain…
philosophy history of science course Aristotle
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2009年10月27日
Notes from Today’s Xindao Salon, 09-10-10 [Part 1 of the Special Topic on “Science and the View of Life”]

Life & Notes2009.10.11
Notes from Today’s Xindao Salon, 09-10-10 [Part 1 of the Special Topic on “Science and the View of Life”]
One of the themes in Science and View of Life Today’s plan was to kick off the activities of the “Science and View of Life” discussion group. Yesterday I sent a mass email to the students who had signed up with me for the group, saying that they were welcome to drop by my salon today for an informal chat. Although I had not set my expectations very high, I had still hoped that at least two or three of the twelve would come, so that there would be something to discuss. The result was regrettable: only Xiao Zhou showed up. Although Xiao Zhou was a newcomer, visiting the salon…
philosophy everyday life philosophy of science blog
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2009年10月11日
Notes from Today’s Xindao Salon, 09-08-29

Life & Notes2009.08.29
Notes from Today’s Xindao Salon, 09-08-29
Today was the first trial reopening of the salon after the summer break, and two new friends came by. Next week’s salon time is still undecided. As for the positioning of ethics and philosophy: what is ethics studying? Good and evil (right and wrong)? Ends? Human relations? The manner and aim of philosophy? Conceptual analysis? Taxonomy? The mode of expression of philosophy? What is environmental ethics? Philosophy of technology, art, and ideas… Overall, I didn’t say much; I mainly played the role of the one asking questions. The girls who were present spoke very little—perhaps they could add some comments on the blog? Anyway, I won’t record too…
philosophy everyday life blog salon
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2009年8月29日