Suixuan

标签：philosophy

  • Media and Morality

    Philosophy & Thought

    Media and Morality

    In the previous article, I said I wanted to make a transition from one thing to another; in fact, I only wrote half of it. I had originally planned to move from the Olympics to media, but the Olympics piece ended up being about the right length, and the latter half was a bigger theme. So let me pick it up again now. At the time I mentioned that, although on the one hand we were paying attention to the reeducation-through-labor case and satirizing politics, on the other hand we were also thrilled by the Olympics’ gold-medal contest. That is not a contradiction, much less something shameful. Recently I reposted…

    philosophytechnologymediavalue
    阅读全文

  • Solving Problems and Institutional Reform

    Culture & Public Commentary

    Solving Problems and Institutional Reform

    The previous article mentioned that a despotic system constantly needs imminent crises to overcome, with hatred and struggle as its basic posture. Of course, a democratic system too must keep solving immediate problems; “solving problems” is the normal state of governance. However, the basic paradigms for solving problems differ under different systems. This is not merely a matter of keeping pace with the times or adapting measures to local conditions—for example, Chinese people solving China’s special problems, Americans solving America’s problems, and so on. The difference in paradigms is not limited to that kind of distinction; it also includes differences in standards of judgment, such as what counts as a…

    philosophycultureChinahistory of science
    阅读全文

  • A Further Discussion of “Formal Indication”

    Phenomenology & Heidegger

    A Further Discussion of “Formal Indication”

    Watching Jing Qi struggle on the issue of “this” and formal indication, I can’t help but keep pushing back, and for that reason I have also read, intermittently, some material on Heidegger’s early concept of “formal indication,” gradually coming to some understanding. Basically speaking, I have never placed much weight on the concept of “formal indication” (formale Anzeige, 形式指引), for several reasons: first, the phrase feels too Westernized, too specialized, and is easily read as jargon, leaving outsiders completely baffled. If there is a more plain and straightforward way of putting it, then there is no need to go through this phrase at all; second, this concept belongs to the…

    philosophyHeideggermathematicsspace
    阅读全文

  • Patriotism and Hatred of Enemies

    Culture & Public Commentary

    Patriotism and Hatred of Enemies

    In an earlier article about the left and the right, I mentioned that the spiritual driving force of the so-called left is in fact narrow nationalism, and that although this nationalism flies under the banner of “patriotism,” it is in fact not proclaiming “love” at all, but rather preaching hatred: We might notice the contexts in which those people extol and emphasize the word “patriotism”: how many of them are gentle, affirmative scenes full of love, and how many are destructive scenes of brave struggle, courageous sacrifice, pressing forward wave after wave, and dying together with the enemy? The essence of the left-wing nationalism is resentment—xenophobia and enemy-hatred, hatred toward…

    philosophycultureChinapolitics
    阅读全文

  • The Philosopher’s Profession, or the Professional Philosopher?

    Life & Notes

    The Philosopher’s Profession, or the Professional Philosopher?

    The occasion for writing this piece was yet another email discussion recently. Our class Party secretary forwarded a publicity push for the vote in the “2011 China University Student of the Year” selection, and our department’s 2009 undergraduate student, the “ticket-selling master” Pei Jiyang, had made the shortlist. But the comrade secretary, who has always been quite strong-minded, said that he himself did not support this publicity campaign, on the grounds that “(since Department Chair Wang Bo said) the philosophy department should cultivate philosophers,” and that “promoting him is more suitable for the Railway Institute than for Peking University’s philosophy department. If the Peking University philosophy department actively publicized that…

    philosophyeducationautobiographyPeking University
    阅读全文

  • The Distanting and Severing of “This”

    Philosophy & Thought

    The Distanting and Severing of “This”

    Today in the discussion session, Ban Jingqi gave a presentation, and I could clearly feel that Jingqi was in high spirits—especially at the very end, when he hoisted up the blackboard to discuss Heidegger, he looked full of swagger and dash, seeming even more spirited than before he fell ill. Congratulations, congratulations~ After the classroom discussion, Jingqi also sent emails and posted on Weibo to continue the discussion, and I wrote a long response as well. Since he is also happy to publish it publicly, I might as well repost it on the blog too~ As for Jingqi’s original text, I have directly pasted his long Weibo post here (see…

    philosophyHeideggerphenomenologydiscussion
    阅读全文

  • On “Gongqingyuan”

    Life & Notes

    On “Gongqingyuan”

    《共青苑》 is putting out a special issue for its 20th anniversary, and this piece is specially written for it. When I was a freshman, Brother Wang Xin was the editor-in-chief of issue 39 of 《共青苑》, and I took part in doing some of the layout. When the handoff came to issue 40, it seemed that no suitable successor could be found for the moment, so I volunteered to become editor-in-chief. Apart from having some interest in layout work — now that I think about it, I already had a bit of a tech-nerd bent back then — I was also very happy to edit a magazine like this. Of course,…

    philosophyeveryday lifePeking UniversityGongqingyuan
    阅读全文

  • Night Reading Mencius: The Traitor Faction

    Chinese Civilization & the Way of Chinese

    Night Reading Mencius: The Traitor Faction

    This article arose from the explanation in the previous post. Of course, apart from taking issue with one particular junior classmate, my more important intention is to emphasize that interpretations of the Confucian classics are plural, and the Mao left can forget about monopolizing the right to interpret the Confucian classics. When I was a freshman, under Yang Zi’s influence, I read some chapters of the Mencius. Though I have little recollection of them now, I did come away with a rough impression: even though the Mencius is not as invigorating to read as the Analects, it still felt pretty good. The night before last I dug it out and…

    philosophycultureChinafreedom
    阅读全文

  • Notes on “Being and Time” II: “Being and Media”?

    Philosophy & Thought

    Notes on “Being and Time” II: “Being and Media”?

    The portion I read today is, in my view, not especially important; Heidegger lays out the framework of “the book” (including the unfinished second part). To me, this framework is open to question. What I admire most is the first half of *Being and Time*; but once “temporality” is unveiled and the whole thing is repeated on the basis of temporality, I can no longer keep up with Heidegger’s train of thought. Still, broadly speaking, my line of thought remains corresponding to Heidegger’s—only, starting from “time,” perhaps more revisions are needed. Last week I said that what Heidegger calls “that which is asked about” (问之所及), “that which is questioned” (问之所问),…

    philosophybook readingtechnologynotes
    阅读全文

  • Black Bear and Virtue Ethics

    Culture & Public Commentary

    Black Bear and Virtue Ethics

    The black bear issue has been blazing hot lately, so I’ll throw in my two cents as well~ Simply put, morally speaking, I oppose live bear bile extraction. As for whether Genuizhang should be allowed to go public, I think that’s another matter; I’m not familiar with the relevant legal framework. Why oppose live bear bile extraction? The usual arguments tend to focus on whether the bears are in pain, but I think that is actually a secondary issue. If the bears were injected with some kind of drug so that they not only felt no pain, but even became addicted to bile extraction, would that make everything okay? Utilitarianism,…

    philosophyChinafreedomcommentary
    阅读全文