标签：relativism

NFT Value Viewed Through The Philosophy of Money

Philosophy & Thought2023.01.03
NFT Value Viewed Through The Philosophy of Money
This article was published in China Book Review. For reprints, please contact the magazine. Citation format as follows: Hu Yilin.The Value of NFT from the Perspective of The Philosophy of Money[J]. China Book Review, 2022(12):7-17 Introduction: Simmel’s The Philosophy of Money elaborates a relativist version of Kantian transcendental philosophy, explaining the origin of value through “distanciation” and the formation of objectivity through exchange activity. Simmel criticizes the modern monetary economy for inverting means and ends, severing property possession from the freedom of the subject. Seen from Simmel’s perspective, cryptocurrencies or NFTs, supported by blockchain, seem to contain certain opportunities to help people reshape their values, prompting them to recall the…
philosophy technology Web3 Heidegger
阅读全文

2023年1月3日
From the Altar to the Forum: The Practical Significance of the History of Science (A Review of Modern History of Science)

Culture & Public Commentary2022.01.27
From the Altar to the Forum: The Practical Significance of the History of Science (A Review of Modern History of Science)
This article was published in the April 2021 issue of Book City Magazine. It was a review from last year, but I forgot to repost it then. Since the magazine allows me to republish my own articles on my blog, I might as well put it here too. Making Science—An Over-the-Syllabus Title When Chinese publishers introduce foreign academic works, they often have the habit of changing the title. For example, A Short History of Modern Science: From the Steam Engine to Grebe Courtship, published by the Electronics Industry Press in 2018, had the original title “The Making of Modern Science: The Making of Modern Science: Science, Technology, Medicine and Modernity:…
book reading science history of science philosophy of science
阅读全文

2022年1月27日
History of Science as a Nature Reserve—A Darwinian View of Science

History of Science & Scholarship2018.04.05
History of Science as a Nature Reserve—A Darwinian View of Science
Last Friday (March 30), I was invited to Shanghai Natural History Museum to take part in a “reading session,” where I introduced my own Outdated Wisdom. Although it was an internal event, there were quite a few listeners—more than 50 friends from museums and publishing houses took part. The title I set for my talk was “Outdated Wisdom and Its Contemporary Significance.” I heard that Liu Su was going as well, so I especially strengthened the Darwinian evolutionary logic in it, and won myself a remark: “Thought-provoking; I hadn’t expected it could be used that way.” I was pretty satisfied with that~ This talk was rather unusual for me, because…
science history of science philosophy of science Scientific Revolution
阅读全文

2018年4月5日
An Initial Exploration of Simmel’s Philosophy of Money

History of Science & Scholarship2014.07.01
An Initial Exploration of Simmel’s Philosophy of Money
From ancient times on, philosophy has always concerned itself only with the pure world of ideas and grand ultimate questions, and has prized “useless learning.” Money, by contrast, plainly sat ill with the interests of mainstream philosophers. Even after contemporary philosophers began to turn their gaze toward technology, money as this distinctive artifact still rarely became a topic of central concern. Georg Simmel (1858–1918) was an exception. From *The Psychology of Money* to *The Philosophy of Money*, money was one of the focal points and pivots of his philosophical system. In particular, the massive *The Philosophy of Money* has had a far-reaching influence; even today, whenever one speaks of “philosophy…
philosophy freedom media Kant
阅读全文

2014年7月1日
Winter Break Essay No. 2: Relativism

Philosophy & Thought2010.02.01
Winter Break Essay No. 2: Relativism
Modernity is accompanied by a certain nihilism, and that is natural: because the past is severed from the future, the present becomes a void point. But relativism is not necessarily nihilism; or rather, its aim is precisely the opposite. Relativism, or “relationism,” emphasizes not rupture but connection. Relativism does not accept an isolated point; any node has meaning only in the midst of the network of relations that interconnect it. Nihilism loses all aspiration, but relativism is not without aspiration; what it aspires to is connection. Relativism does not reject certainty, but what is called certainty can be understood as those important “nodes” in the whole web of relations. These…
philosophy ontology God relativism
阅读全文

2010年2月1日
Relationism and the Philosophy of Communication

Philosophy & Thought2009.03.24
Relationism and the Philosophy of Communication
Thinking of the “banner” of the latest version of old-school philosophy. It could be called “relationalism” or “communication philosophy.” Earlier, I preferred “pluralism” and “perspectivism,” and felt that “relativism” was too extreme or too forceful. But now it suddenly strikes me: why not translate “relativism” as “relationalism”? That better matches the original meaning of “relate,” and it can also express a line of thought that suits my taste more. When people hear “relativism,” they’re likely to shout: “Huh? Everything is relative?” But if I say “everything is related,” doesn’t that feel rather different? If “absolutism” pursues the “absolute,” then what does “relativism” pursue? What does it mean to “pursue the…
philosophy discussion pluralism relativism
阅读全文

2009年3月24日
Reading and Freedom (I)

Enlightenment & the Spirit of Freedom2008.06.03
Reading and Freedom (I)
In the essay “Reading as a Way of Thinking,” I said roughly this: if one merely sits there alone thinking desperately and turning things over and over, the effect is often counterproductive; one’s distress only sinks deeper and deeper, while the problem does not necessarily become any clearer. With the aid of reading, by contrast, one can both turn thinking into a pleasure and, with the help of books, carry out broader, clearer, and deeper reflection. However, not only is it not always a good thing to sit there daydreaming in silence, but burying one’s head in books is not always effective either. In particular, when someone reads with too…
philosophy scholarship freedom history
阅读全文

2008年6月3日
On Feyerabend Quotations 5 (Philosophy, Science, and Language Games)

History of Science & Scholarship2008.01.26
On Feyerabend Quotations 5 (Philosophy, Science, and Language Games)
http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=338 http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=339 NewStudioOldJiang Selected Quotes from Feyerabend 5 “Catastrophes in the natural environment, war, the collapse of an ethical system that has been perfected, and political revolution, too, will transform human patterns of response, including important patterns of argumentation. Such transformation may well be a completely natural process, and the only function of rational argument may perhaps lie in this fact: it increases psychic tension, and this tension is the precursor of action’s eruption and the cause of that eruption.” (Against Method, 2) “An analysis of the relation between thought and action also shows that, in the growth of our knowledge and the growth of science, the roles played by…
science language game Wittgenstein
阅读全文

2008年1月26日
[Repost] Related Discussion on “Zhang Tiankan: For Maglev, We Must Persuade the Public with Scientific Evidence zz”

History of Science & Scholarship2008.01.21
[Repost] Related Discussion on “Zhang Tiankan: For Maglev, We Must Persuade the Public with Scientific Evidence zz”
http://hps.phil.pku.edu.cn/bbs/read.php?tid=316&fpage=1&toread=1 It is obvious that the discussion in this thread is mainly aimed at Teacher Tian (the Lean Knight). Schopenhauer’s swagger is long gone; what is being displayed now is basically my own swagger. Personally, I find this sort of dispute quite interesting. Although such arguments are hard to develop into something profound, they can still expose problems fairly well. Many of the ways I now phrase things first emerged in similar disputes—in the past on Teacher Liu’s and Teacher Jiang’s blogs, and now with BBS as an even better venue. I’ve been eagerly hoping that someone would come to my blog too and “provoke” me. How interesting that would…
science discussion sociology scientism
阅读全文

2008年1月21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
阅读全文

2008年1月7日