标签：philosophy

What Is Temperamental Compatibility and Scattered Association

Life & Notes2009.08.07
What Is Temperamental Compatibility and Scattered Association
Phrases like “compatible personalities” or “incompatible personalities” are often used to comment on interpersonal relations, especially male-female relationships. This kind of concept sounds rather abstract and elusive, yet it also seems very concrete and tangible. I have also used notions like compatible or incompatible to describe my own relationships or those of others; as for what I meant by it, let me just jot it down here. When I wrote my post looking for a relationship back then, I did not include compatibility of personalities as any requirement anywhere. The reason is simple: this is something that cannot possibly be demonstrated in advance, before getting to know one another; it…
philosophy autobiography human nature emotion
阅读全文

2009年8月7日
On “Benefiting Others by Serving Oneself”

Philosophy & Thought2009.07.15
On “Benefiting Others by Serving Oneself”
“Wei ji li ta” is a concept that Wang Haiming loves to talk about, his eureka moment, the core term in Wang Haiming’s ethical system… For some reason, these few words suddenly came to mind, so I might as well write a little about them. As for Wang Haiming and his philosophy, I certainly have no fondness for them at all; I can’t even bear to read his books, and I don’t want to spend much time evaluating them. But on the other hand, I feel a certain sympathy for him—“new philosophy,” “new ethics,” unifying and integrating the doctrines of all schools, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, and founding…
philosophy China freedom value
阅读全文

2009年7月15日
How to Reason with Emotion

History of Science & Scholarship2009.07.07
How to Reason with Emotion
Feeling and reasoning seem to be two utterly opposed things; many people would think that a good argument ought not to be mixed too much with private feelings, and that the intrusion of subjective feeling will make a paper bad. Of course, broadly speaking, that is not wrong. Good papers at least seem cold; apart from the opening and the closing, they rarely contain any lyrical sentences. Still, leaving aside scientific and technical papers, as far as philosophy is concerned, I believe the best philosophical papers must be saturated with the author’s personal feelings. The key lies in how to infuse feeling, and absolutely not in how to drive feeling…
philosophy scholarship writing reason
阅读全文

2009年7月7日
The Problem of Degrees of Freedom in Love

Life & Notes2009.06.25
The Problem of Degrees of Freedom in Love
This, really, is not even a true problem; I’m just using these two keywords to say a few things. First, there are two layers to the matter here: one is the problem of love, the other is the problem of freedom, and these two problems can often be discussed separately. For instance, sometimes a relationship runs into problems, and on the surface it seems that the conflict was caused by mutual interference with each other’s freedom; but in fact some act of interference or intrusion is at most merely the spark that set things off, while the more fundamental problem had already been planted long before. As for the more…
philosophy freedom autobiography human nature
阅读全文

2009年6月25日
Notes from Today’s Xin Dao Salon 09-06-20

Life & Notes2009.06.20
Notes from Today’s Xin Dao Salon 09-06-20
Today I brought three slim books of minor historical studies, but looking at them I felt nothing much— or rather, I had no mind to read. In the morning, an old classmate who has been staying at my place these past few days came along, and left before lunch to go to a gathering. byz came at noon to keep me company while I sat there in a daze; a little later qy&zgz came by to chat idly; a little later byz left for a meeting. In the evening zzg arrived to chat idly; a little later qy&zgz left, and zzg and I sat there in a daze; a little…
philosophy everyday life blog public sphere
阅读全文

2009年6月20日
Mirror and Glass: Tactility and Reality (Postscript to “Aristotle’s Tactile World”)

Philosophy & Thought2009.06.19
Mirror and Glass: Tactility and Reality (Postscript to “Aristotle’s Tactile World”)
The little essay I finished the day before yesterday, “Aristotle’s Tactile World,” was an assignment for Teacher Sun’s course in Selected Readings from Original Works in Natural Philosophy. This semester we’ve been reading the first two parts of The Mechanization of the World Picture. I should say that I chose the topic in close relation to the course theme. I also kept the length to four thousand characters, which for me is rather unusual. Although this paper itself only touches the matter lightly, I believe it points to a huge problem. Behind all kinds of philosophical questions about causality, reality, modernity, and so-called embodied phenomenology, there lies a profound connection…
philosophy Aristotle being consciousness
阅读全文

2009年6月19日
When Reading a Philosopher, One Must Pay Attention Not Only to What He Says on the Surface, but Also to the Emotions and Intentions Lurking Behind His Words.

History of Science & Scholarship2009.06.19
When Reading a Philosopher, One Must Pay Attention Not Only to What He Says on the Surface, but Also to the Emotions and Intentions Lurking Behind His Words.
When reading a philosopher, one must pay attention not only to what he says literally, but also to the emotions and intentions lurking behind his words. This is where the key and the pleasure of interpreting philosophical texts lie. Of course, if we are to interpret a text by means of the text itself, extracting what the philosopher said is only the most elementary procedure. But if your interpretation is merely a straightforward paraphrase of the philosopher’s views, then what is the point of such an interpretation anyway?—and by “point” I always mean both “meaning” and “interest.” If you can express a philosopher’s thought in a more concise and lucid…
philosophy scholarship Aristotle intentionality
阅读全文

2009年6月19日
Reflections Inspired by Feeling

Life & Notes2009.06.17
Reflections Inspired by Feeling
Philosophy should be weaving a web, not forging chains. It should establish connections rather than draw chasms; it should move toward a more open world rather than bury itself in a closed cave. So the philosopher does not want, before himself or before others, to draw a trench or dig a pit, pressing for a decision: jump down—are you coming over, or not coming over? Philosophers like to probe and reflect, but they never force. By probing, I mean that when we step into a new world, we are not content to linger at the threshold, but must also gaze into the far distance, then move forward—and keep going; by…
philosophy everyday life intentionality philosophy talk
阅读全文

2009年6月17日
A Supplement to “Poetry Is the Most Originary Rationality”:

Culture & Public Commentary2009.06.12
A Supplement to “Poetry Is the Most Originary Rationality”:
Previously, in the essay “Philosophy and Poetry,” I mentioned this line. I’ve forgotten the exact source of this formulation; it was probably from Heidegger, or perhaps from my own understanding of Heidegger. Of course, no matter what Heidegger said, since I brought up this line, I always have my own set of thoughts about it. Under Unic’s questioning I gave some explanations; since it came to more than a thousand characters, I’m整理ing it here on the blog: Of course, this is a vague way of putting it. The key is to look at what “源始” means. If reason is the use of concepts, then what kind of use is the…
philosophy culture Heidegger language
阅读全文

2009年6月12日
Notes from Today’s Xindao Salon, 09-06-06 [and Part Two of the Announcement for the Next Round of Salons]

Life & Notes2009.06.06
Notes from Today’s Xindao Salon, 09-06-06 [and Part Two of the Announcement for the Next Round of Salons]
Today there weren’t many people who came, but the good thing was that at last a newcomer dropped by again. From our initial contact, judging by things like his motivation for study, academic background, interests, and personality, he belongs to the type I look favorably upon. I hope you’ll continue to take part in my salon or other activities next semester. As for the specific conversation, it mainly included my asking about his situation, and my restating some of my own basic ideas, introducing a bit about philosophy of technology, as well as talking about philosophy department courses and other casual chatter. I won’t go into that further here. As…
philosophy everyday life history of science Wu Fei
阅读全文

2009年6月6日