标签：philosophy

Theory Is Not Merely a Set of Propositions or Statements; A Theoretical System Cannot Be Self-Contained

Philosophy & Thought2007.05.05
Theory Is Not Merely a Set of Propositions or Statements; A Theoretical System Cannot Be Self-Contained
Recently I’ve talked about the relevant issues twice: (studying Wittgenstein, without any tidying up, just pasting the chat log~) “Is theory a set of propositions? Agree or not?”—— A proposition, a declarative sentence, in itself has no meaning if you do not know the meaning of each word in it, but the meaning of words cannot be given entirely within a set of propositions; ultimately, the meaning of words still has to involve referential definitions, so it is bound to draw in practical activity and the question of the way we contemplate the world. “Can a system close itself off?”—— A system cannot close itself off A theoretical system is…
philosophy language Wittgenstein proposition
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2007年5月5日
Virtue, Reason, and Spirit

Philosophy & Thought2007.05.03
Virtue, Reason, and Spirit
I once said, “The sublime are often rational; their decisions or choices should be guided more by reason than by mere whim, or by blind obedience to habit—a person of limited intelligence can also be trained into a selfless sacrificer, and a fanatical cultist may likewise completely abandon his own interests, but they cannot be called sublime, because behind their consistent behavior we see more irrationality. Only someone who has freely reflected upon his own life and can autonomously and rationally control his behavior is possibly capable of becoming sublime.” Later I added: “Actually, there is also a matter of level here. When the sublime reach a certain level, their…
philosophy reason emotion virtue
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2007年5月3日
On “the Sublime”

Philosophy & Thought2007.05.01
On “the Sublime”
Reply to UINC’s second question: “How do you view human morality? Do you believe that an absolute, sublime morality exists?” This question is really too broad—especially the first half, which basically requires a review of my views on ethics. However, my ethical position has not yet truly taken shape, so I can only talk about some scattered, immature ideas. “Sublime” is a word I quite like, and in fact this word is neglected in mainstream modern normative ethics, because they are more concerned with the minimum moral norm than with the highest pursuit of virtue. And since I lean toward virtue ethics, the first thing I have to do is…
philosophy pluralism virtue
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2007年5月1日
[Repost] What Do Philosophy Graduates Go On to Do?

Life & Notes2007.04.27
[Repost] What Do Philosophy Graduates Go On to Do?
古雴 I’m reposting some information here (slightly revised according to later additions) Sender: anthonyricky (迷花倚书不倚石), Philo section Subject: Re: Asking for advice on where philosophy graduates go Posted at Peking University Weiming BBS (Monday, April 16, 2007, 23:00:30), forwarded 2002 cohort, graduated in 2006, undergraduate students My own incomplete statistics 40 people in the class 9 sent on to graduate study within the department (direct PhD track), 3 recommended to graduate study at Peking University outside the department (two to the School of Marxism, one to the School of Government) Recommended to other universities: 1 to Renmin University, 1 to Nankai 3 to the United States, 1 to Canada,…
philosophy everyday life scholarship education
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2007年4月27日
Outline for a Discussion of the Philosophy of Religion: Does the Sacred Reality in Religious Experience Really Exist? How Can We Know?

Philosophy & Thought2007.04.27
Outline for a Discussion of the Philosophy of Religion: Does the Sacred Reality in Religious Experience Really Exist? How Can We Know?
I am a scholar of philosophy of science, so let me begin with a few examples related to science: First question: Can we experience “force,” or how do we experience it? The concept of “force” is used extremely widely: we speak of gravity, pressure, magnetic force, tensile force, and so on. But how do we experience or come to know the existence of “force”? In fact, we do not directly feel “force.” When we touch or weigh something with our hands, we may say that we feel pressure or gravity, but in fact all that happens is that our sense of touch is stimulated in certain ways. And at other…
philosophy faith Aristotle religion
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2007年4月27日
Chewing on Pure Critique by the Shores of Weiming Lake

Life & Notes2007.04.22
Chewing on Pure Critique by the Shores of Weiming Lake
Gnawing Pure Critique by the Side of Weiming Lake Gu Chi posted on 2007-04-22 19:18:50 April 14, 11:30 a.m., Langrun Garden April 15, 1:18 p.m., Langrun Garden April 15, 11:40 a.m., Langrun Garden (a cat was wandering around me; just as I was about to take its picture, it ran off) April 17, 2:47 p.m., Langrun Garden April 17, 3:56 p.m., Langrun Garden (that water-spraying thing has been on the whole time, sigh…) April 18, 12:15 p.m., Langrun Garden (willow catkins were flying all over the sky; I sat for a while and then left) April 18, 12:24 p.m., Weiming Lake (after leaving Langrun Garden, I wandered over here instead,…
philosophy everyday life poetry
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2007年4月22日
Are There Hierarchies of Value, Higher and Lower, Noble and Mean?

Philosophy & Thought2007.04.18
Are There Hierarchies of Value, Higher and Lower, Noble and Mean?
In response to UINC’s question. Questions in ethics and morality are very difficult to discuss. As Teacher Cheng said, many great philosophers only expressed opinions on ethical questions in the later period of their academic lives, when their entire philosophical systems had reached maturity. For the likes of us, insignificant nobodies, it is even less realistic to expect to have anything like definite views on ethical questions very early on—especially since many questions are never something one can gain deep insight into while still young. Young people will always be confused; if one is not confused at all, that in itself is abnormal. Confucius said that at thirty he stood…
philosophy pluralism virtue Confucius
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2007年4月18日
Outline for the First Discussion in the Introduction to Philosophy of Technology

AI & the Future of Technology2007.04.12
Outline for the First Discussion in the Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
Instructions: 1. Every student enrolled in the course must prepare carefully in light of the lecture notes and assigned readings, and take an active part in discussion. This discussion class is also a quiz, and the grade will account for 20% of the final course grade. Anyone absent will receive a score of 0. Anyone who attends class but does not speak will receive a score of 0. 2. Audit students are welcome to prepare carefully and participate actively in discussion. 3. Every question should be prepared seriously, but questions in which one has greater interest and for which one has a stronger knowledge base may be given priority. Everyone…
philosophy technology Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2007年4月12日
Ethics Course on the Life-and-Death Question: Second Assignment — On the Value of Life

Philosophy & Thought2007.04.08
Ethics Course on the Life-and-Death Question: Second Assignment — On the Value of Life
Choose one of the following four questions for discussion: 1. Is life itself valuable, or is life merely a necessary condition for other values? 2. If life itself is valuable, why? What kind of value does life have? 3. If it is precisely life itself that is valuable, does that mean all living beings possess value equally? 4. If only certain beings have value, what is the basis for drawing such a limit? Is life itself valuable, or is life merely a necessary condition for other values? It is worth noting that these four questions are arranged in a progressive sequence: if one does not accept the previous position, then…
philosophy value virtue life
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2007年4月8日
Useless Technology? — Reflections on Mumford’s Philosophy of Technology

AI & the Future of Technology2007.04.05
Useless Technology? — Reflections on Mumford’s Philosophy of Technology
Today’s introduction to philosophy of technology class talked about Mumford, and his views are very interesting. Mumford criticized the traditional account of human origins that says “man is the maker of tools,” replacing it with “man is the maker of symbols/meanings.” He upheld an idealist view of human nature, believing that human needs are first and foremost not material but spiritual. He thought that Maslow’s sequence—from the needs of survival, material provision, and food and clothing, all the way up to the needs for safety, aesthetics, and self-actualization—was exactly backwards: humans first have a need for self-actualization, and within any material need there already permeates a prior spiritual need. Mumford…
philosophy culture technology Introduction to Philosophy of Technology
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2007年4月5日