标签：philosophy

[Fr.] Poincaré: “Last Thoughts”

History of Science & Scholarship2006.02.09
[Fr.] Poincaré: “Last Thoughts”
[French] Poincaré: “The Last Reflections,” translated by Li Xingmin, proofread by Fan Dainian, Commercial Press, December 1996 Poincaré was such a great, even legendary, figure! Poincaré is widely regarded as the “last all-around mathematical genius,” comparable to Gauss; in fact, it would not be at all excessive to remove even the word “mathematical.” “Poincaré’s achievements in the four main branches of mathematics—arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and analysis—were all pioneering; in particular, he made outstanding contributions to branches such as function theory, algebraic geometry, number theory, the mathematics of strings, differential equations, and algebraic topology.” (p. ii) “In astronomy, Poincaré’s main work fell into three areas: the equilibrium shapes of rotating fluids;…
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2006年2月9日
Jin Kemu: “Candle Flame Ashes—The Melody of Thought”

Culture & Public Commentary2006.02.06
Jin Kemu: “Candle Flame Ashes—The Melody of Thought”
Jin Kemu: “Wind, Candle, Ash — The Melody of Thought,” Sanlian Bookstore, July 2002 Recommended by ZW. This was the last collection the old man personally compiled before his death, so naturally there is nothing to be said about its contents. ZW said I could learn from his style, but how on earth could I manage that?!? To write essays that come so effortlessly, so gracefully and fluently, one needs, beyond vast learning and a mind that remembers widely and knows both ancient and modern, China and the West, decades of hard practice as well. Besides, my own style is only suited to science or philosophy; I can’t do literature…
philosophy book reading notes scholarship
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2006年2月6日
[German] Feuerbach: “The Essence of Religion”

Philosophy & Thought2006.02.06
[German] Feuerbach: “The Essence of Religion”
Feuerbach [German]: The Essence of Religion, translated by Wang Taiqing, The Commercial Press, July 1999 2: pp. 1–2 Human trust is the basis of religion; and the object of this sense of dependence—that is, that on which human beings rely, and on which they also feel themselves to rely—is originally nothing other than nature. Nature is religion’s original primordial object; this is fully demonstrated by the history of all religions and all peoples. ////—This section states the central idea of the whole book: that the sense of dependence is the basis of religion, and that nature is religion’s original object. I agree with this. 3: p. 2 To say that…
philosophy book reading notes faith
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2006年2月6日
“A Philosophical History of Poetry”: “A Feast of Thought”

Philosophy & Thought2006.02.05
“A Philosophical History of Poetry”: “A Feast of Thought”
Zhang Rulun, ed.: The Philosophical History of Poetry — Annotated Notes on Zhang Dongsun’s Poems on Western Philosophy, Guangxi Normal University Press, June 2002 Introduction Wanting to wash my tortoise-gut belly, I have not abandoned singing; the Xijiang has become a trickle under my feet. Laughing at the splendor that flits before the eye, I claim only half a day’s shade beneath a awning window. Thales Though all things differ, if they share one source, they may all return to what came from water. This man has turned back to the bottom of all processes, drawing a thousand men to draw again from the spring. Anaximander Only the boundless can…
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2006年2月5日
[Eng] Martin Oliver: “The History of Philosophy”

Philosophy & Thought2006.01.31
[Eng] Martin Oliver: “The History of Philosophy”
[Eng] Martin Oliver: The History of Philosophy, translated by Wang Hongyin, Hope Publishing House, October 2003 This is neither a rigorous, in-depth academic book, nor a particularly illuminating or useful introductory guide; it is nothing more than an excessively flashy, so-called “illustrated” popular read. The only reason I thought of reading it was that I happened to pick it up and, since I had bought it before, figured I might as well read it rather than leave it unread; so I leafed through it once. Of course, although I would not recommend this book, it would also be wrong to say that it is merely all style and no substance….
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2006年1月31日
[German] Ernst Cassirer: An Essay on Man

Culture & Public Commentary2006.01.29
[German] Ernst Cassirer: An Essay on Man
[German] Ernst Cassirer: An Essay on Man, translated by Gan Yang, Xiyuan Publishing House, 2nd edition, July 2004 It seems I read this book a very long time ago, and it was the Shanghai Translation Publishing House edition; but I have forgotten almost everything I read. Now I happened to pick up a discounted copy bought somewhere for 30 percent of the original price, and I don’t even know whether it is genuine or pirated, a good edition or a bad one. In any case, I just picked it up and gave it another quick read. This book is also introductory in nature. In a not very long span of…
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2006年1月29日
Sun Xiaoli, editor: Philosophical Debates on Modern Science

Philosophy & Thought2006.01.27
Sun Xiaoli, editor: Philosophical Debates on Modern Science
Sun Xiaoli, ed.: *Philosophical Disputes in Modern Science*, 2nd ed., Beijing University Press, August 2003, (editor in charge: Su Xiangui~~, Gu Weiyu) Du XunSun Xiaoli: New Features of Modern Mathematics Pages 8–9 While mathematics was moving toward “specialization” and “complexification,” many ideas in the major disciplines were gradually becoming unified, and the boundaries among the major disciplines were becoming increasingly blurred. Therefore, although the content of mathematical science is immensely abundant and its scope enormous, the holistic conception of mathematics has reappeared, and workers in all kinds and branches of mathematical science have once again realized that they are engaged in a common undertaking. ////——This is good news. Liu Xiaoli:…
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2006年1月27日
[U.S.] Tom Rockmore: “Hegel: Before and After”

Philosophy & Thought2006.01.26
[U.S.] Tom Rockmore: “Hegel: Before and After”
[U.S.] Tom Rockmore: “Hegel: Before and After—An Introduction to the Historical Thought of Hegel,” translated by Ke Xiaogang, Peking University Press, April 2005 This is a very good introduction to Hegel’s thought. As the blurb on the cover says: “The main aim of this book is to provide a very simple—but by no means simplistic—road into Hegel, serving as a guide to the thought of a man who belongs among the most important philosophers of all time.” After reading this book, I have deeply felt the profundity and importance of Hegel’s thought, even though my appreciation of Kant’s philosophy still seems to far exceed my appreciation of Hegel’s. But I…
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2006年1月26日
Deng Xiaomang: Lectures on Hegel’s Dialectic

Philosophy & Thought2006.01.24
Deng Xiaomang: Lectures on Hegel’s Dialectic
Deng Xiaomang: Lectures on Hegel’s Dialectics, Peking University Press, October 2005 The immediate consequence of finishing this book is that the image of Mr. Deng Xiaomang in my mind has taken a big hit! Of course, Mr. Deng’s views and arguments are relatively profound, and the rigor and perseverance he showed in translating the Three Critiques have always made me admire him. However, the problem is that this book is a lecture transcript of his course for undergraduates, and I think the simplistic critical style he displays when teaching undergraduates and beginners is irresponsible. In particular, as for his appraisals of Chinese culture, the simplistic denigration he practices is very…
philosophy book reading notes Hegel
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2006年1月24日
Selected Diary Entries of Kierkegaard

Life & Notes2006.01.23
Selected Diary Entries of Kierkegaard
[Denmark] Søren Kierkegaard: Selected Kierkegaard Diaries, selected and edited by [Denmark] Peter P. Rohde, translated by Yan Kejia and Yao Beiqin, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Press, 1996 Kierkegaard is one of the philosophers of irrationalist currents whom I admire rather more. What I admire in him chiefly are his “three stages of life” and his view of religion (it seems that a thinker’s attitude toward religion is what most determines how much I like him; only after that comes his attitude toward science). Of course, admiring a thinker’s ideas does not in the least mean agreeing with them. I take a reserved attitude overall toward the excerpts below that…
philosophy book reading notes faith
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2006年1月23日