标签：philosophy

Immortality from the Perspective of Historicism

Culture & Public Commentary2008.01.22
Immortality from the Perspective of Historicism
Historicism holds that all standards of truth or morality are “historical,” that is, rooted in their own age and culture, and that there is no eternal truth standing outside history. But does historicism imply that people are fated never to “transcend” history? Not at all. We should note that “transcend” does not mean “detach oneself from.” Rather, it means unfolding new history on the premise of standing within history. I have already said before: “Only by relying on history can we possibly transcend history.” Put another way: only by possessing the past can we face the future. Those who have no “past” also have no “future.” The concept I want…
philosophy history pluralism immortality
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2008年1月22日
How to “Persuade” Extreme Irrationalists?

Culture & Public Commentary2008.01.20
How to “Persuade” Extreme Irrationalists?
Does this kind of “extreme irrationalist” simply not exist at all, merely a target I’ve erected for myself? Not necessarily. Although no great philosopher has been so absurd, such tendencies are not uncommon among general theorists. Many people do indeed take irrationalism as a “refuge” in order to evade their intellectual laziness. Every utterly and extremely radical position is an impregnable fortress: those outside cannot break in, but those inside cannot fight their way out either. For a completely irrationalist, how can one be persuaded? A completely irrationalist cannot be “persuaded,” because “persuasion” means “arguing reasonably,” “convincing by reason”; but if the other party is completely irrational, then no amount…
philosophy culture reason violence
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2008年1月20日
[Repost] What Is Whig History? (“Whig History” and “Contemporary History,” Whig History of Mathematics and Whig History of Philosophy, and So On)

Culture & Public Commentary2008.01.20
[Repost] What Is Whig History? (“Whig History” and “Contemporary History,” Whig History of Mathematics and Whig History of Philosophy, and So On)
http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=297 Gu Che What Is “Whig History”? This forum is updated the slowest of all, so let me ask a “layman’s question”~ In a previous post (see: http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=284), Brother Yuzhile said that the discussion had “changed in nature,” shifting from professional questions to layman’s questions. Since he put it that way, I was no longer comfortable pursuing the matter in that post. But the very basic layman’s question involved there struck me as something really worth pressing further! Brother Yu said: “History is necessarily Whig history. Don’t say that you know the original history, or a philosopher’s original thought, unless you are God.” Good heavens! What does that mean? I’ve…
philosophy history mathematics Whig history
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2008年1月20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
Inner Sense, Outer Sense, Time, Space…

Philosophy & Thought2008.01.11
Inner Sense, Outer Sense, Time, Space…
Since Kant introduced the notion of “inner sense” and assigned time to inner sense, it has seemed self-evident that time corresponds to inner sense and space to outer sense. And the idea that time is more fundamental than space—because while time can still be grounded when cut off from all outer sense, space without time has nowhere to stand—has also seemed to follow naturally. But what, exactly, is “inner sense”? What sort of sense is that, really? If the so-called “intuition” of the sixth sense is still some kind of outer sense, then could this be the legendary seventh sense? Thinking of Saint Seiya, just joking~ What I want to…
philosophy Kant space time
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2008年1月11日
The Path to “Authenticity”—On the Intent of Being and Time

History of Science & Scholarship2008.01.10
The Path to “Authenticity”—On the Intent of Being and Time
Please choose one of the following topics; of course, you may also write more than one essay, but there will be no extra credit~ 1. Discuss the relation between “authenticity” and inauthenticity in *Being and Time*. 2. Briefly explain the intellectual intention of *Being and Time*, and give your evaluation. (From the description of Dasein itself to the description of Being) 3. Choose your own topic. This is not recommended; unless it is especially well written, it is hard to get a high score. Requirements: 1. Stay close to the text; only with paraphrase can there be evaluation. 2. No fewer than 5,000 characters. The Road Toward “Authenticity” ——On the…
philosophy Heidegger pursuit paper
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2008年1月10日
The 7th Beijing Forum on Philosophy of Technology and the 48th Lecture of the Peking University Forum on History and Philosophy of Science and Technology

Philosophy & Thought2008.01.09
The 7th Beijing Forum on Philosophy of Technology and the 48th Lecture of the Peking University Forum on History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
The 7th Beijing Forum on Philosophy of Technology and the 48th Lecture of the Peking University Forum on History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (January 8, 2008) Time: Tuesday, January 8, 2008, 9:30–11:30 a.m. Venue: Academic Lecture Hall, Center for Social Sciences, Chengze Garden Speaker: Deng Bo (Professor, School of Humanities, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology) Topic: The Architect’s Original Ethical Responsibility Commentator: Wu Guosheng I listened to the recording. But listening to a recording really feels so much worse than listening in person; after listening, I found that it was hard to write a report like the ones I had written for the previous few sessions, so…
philosophy Heidegger Wu Guosheng
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2008年1月9日
Relativism and Absolutism Are Birds of a Feather

Philosophy & Thought2008.01.07
Relativism and Absolutism Are Birds of a Feather
Some people fly the banners of relativism and postmodernism, claiming to oppose absolutism and universalism; in fact, they are unconsciously poisoned by absolutism, and at bottom they are nothing more than a further development of absolutism itself. Relativists will say one moment, “There is no absolute, universal, singular standard,” and then a moment later, either bluntly or obliquely, they say: “There is no standard”; one moment, “There is no interpretation beyond context,” and then a moment later, “interpretation is nothing but telling stories”; one moment, “Every argument has its limits,” and then a moment later they can, with righteous assurance and in complete ignorance of those limits, use their own…
philosophy scholarship Kant modernity
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2008年1月7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
Words and Fragments, Episode 5

Philosophy & Thought2007.12.14
Words and Fragments, Episode 5
l In response to someone’s question about how to systematically grasp philosophy of technology: “The introduction to philosophy of technology is not difficult in one sense, because its field is so broad that in fact one can find a doorway into it from any side. Rather than, from the very beginning, pursuing a systematic and comprehensive grasp, it is better to try to identify a point of entry, find the clues, and then follow the vine to find the melon; in this way one can go deeper and deeper. You can begin with any issue you care about—whether it is a classic topic in the history of philosophy, or concern…
philosophy Heidegger language intentionality
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2007年12月14日