Introduction to the Special Theme： Finding out the Contemporary Value of Marx＇s Philosophy

Theorists in the period of the Second International mostly regarded Marx＇s theories as an empirical science but refused to admit the existence of ＂Marx＇s philosophy.＂ Marx himself also held the idea of ＂abolishing philosophy＂ and in The German Ideology, he even drew an analogy comparing the relationship between philosophy and empirical science and that between masturbation and actual sexual love. Since Plekhanov, and particularly since Lenin, Dialectical Materialism has been considered to be synonymous with Marx＇s philosophy. Early Marxists from Luk~ics and Gramsci to Korsch were all against the trend that theorists of the Second International consigning Marx＇s theories to empirical science, but, at the same time, they also objected to systemizing Marx＇s philosophy in terms of Dialectical Materialism （they even traced the origin of this approach back to Engels）, and, as the result, they created a new interpretive approach to Marx＇s ＂praxis philosophy.＂     

Edmund Husserl＇s Political Praxis and Theoretical Reflections during World War I

Husserl the philosopher personally experienced World War I breaking out 100 years ago. Like most German and Austrian commoners, at the initial stage of the war, Husserl was extremely passionate for it. After undergoing the cruelty of war and losing many relatives and friends, he was once enmeshed in extreme confusion and disappointment, albeit he still made every effort to offer spiritual and ethical support to the soldiers at the front. Along with the proceeding of the war, he soon changed his views with respect to this war and confessed that more and deeper reflections were needed to address issues about problems of nationality, super-national ethics and about problems of wars relevant to them. He made philosophical theoretical reflections with regard to this war after it ended, and presented, eventually, requirements for himself： to be satisfied with taking the possibility of the practical activities of philosophy as the topic of philosophical theoretical study and to give up, in drastic fashion, the intention in such philosophical practices as providing political proposals and exerting political influences, ＂living purely as a scientific philosopher.＂     

On the Philosophical Relevance of Marx＇s Views Today

This paper revisits some of Marx＇s central philosophical ideas with the attempt to understand the thinker＇s real place in the history of the Western philosophical tradition. It does not only show that the philosophical dimension is central to Marx＇s economic and political works, and therefore his contributions to philosophy merit special investigation, but it also argues that Marx is a descendant of classic German philosophy, and thus his views should be assessed in the context of the development of the philosophical ideas that emerged within that tradition.     

Empirical Propositions and the Change of Language-Games

People unavoidably provide reasons for their words and deeds when reasoning in a language-game.Wittgenstein thinks that when people in different language-games argue with one other,they insist on adopting a doubtful attitude toward the reasons provided by the other side.His use of the term "language-game" here is a metaphor,and implies that people in different cultures can scarcely reason with one another.Indeed,according to Wittgenstein's consideration of concepts of logic in On Certainty,language-games are incompatible with one another because their internal logic and reasons are different from each other.However,in his discussion of empirical propositions Wittgenstein has also shown us the possibility that the intemal reasons of one language-game can transmit beyond its own borders and be valid in another language-game.     

What Can Artificial Intelligence Learn from Wittgenstein＇s On Certainty？.

Meta-philosophically speaking, the philosophy of artificial intelligence （AI） is intended not only to explore the theoretical possibility of building ＂thinking machines,＂ but also to reveal philosophical implications of specific AI approaches. Wittgenstein＇s comments on the analytic/empirical dichotomy may offer inspirations for AI in the second sense. According to his ＂river metaphor＂ in On Certainty, the analytic/empirical boundary should be delimited in a way sensitive to specific contexts of practical reasoning. His proposal seems to suggest that any cognitive modeling project needs to render the system context-sensitive by avoiding representing large amounts of truisms in its cognitive processes, otherwise neither representational compactness nor computational efficiency can be achieved. In this article, different AI approaches （like the Common Sense Law of Inertia approach, the Bayesian approach and the connectionist approach） will be critically evaluated under the afore-mentioned Wittgensteinian criteria, followed by the author＇s own constructive suggestion on what AI needs to try to do in the near future.     

Erica Fox Brindley,Music, Cosmology,and the Politics of Harmony in Early China.

Chinese music is a broad topic that includes a wide variety of methodological premises, which music historians, ethnomusicologists, music theorists, and systematic musicologists can use for fruitful exploration. In her book Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China （MCPH, hereafter）, Erica Fox Brindley, who is an intellectual and cultural historian of early China, undertakes an historical approach and works out the role of musical sound in the social, natural, and religious order. She explores ＂the role of music, and even sound itself, as both an agent and indicator of moral, orderly, and cosmically balanced rule＂ （42）. Based on early imperial texts Brindley points out that already during the Warring States period （481-221BC） sound （sheng 声） is clearly a component of the cosmos and later, during the Han Dynasty （202BC-220AD）, possesses special cosmic efficacy （69）. The concept of sheng plays an important role in her explanations of the cosmological and political aspects of music,     

Plato＇s Attempts at Defining Sophistry

In the Sophist, Plato offers seven definitions of a sophist. In this paper I will consider the relationship between these definitions, and examine how the first six definitions contribute to the final definition, and how the final definition, in turn, incorporates elements of the first six. Through this examination, we can also have a better grasp of Plato＇s method of division, and Plato＇s aporetic approach to philosophy.     

BOOK REVIEW——Stephen C. Angle,Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy.

Contemporary Confucian Political Philosophy can be regarded as a creative development and comprehensive expression of Stephen C. Angle＇s former works integrating Neo-Confucian tradition and contemporary ethical and political thought. He cites the idea of conservatism from Mou Zongsan and Tang Junyi to propose his own idea that conservatism is rooted in creative practice. It is in the affirmation of basic Confucian values that he sets up his view of progress, which means growing ethically and making the world better （18-19）. In this light, Progressive Confucianism can be seen as a theory that interprets and conserves traditional Confucian values in agreement with contemporary demands. Thus it can be compared with Western ethics, especially with liberalism, which also emphasizes civic virtue and moral education. And so Progressive Confucianism aims at opening up dimensions like constitutionalism and democracy that accord with Western traditions while remaining consistent with Confucian ethics and rituals.     

The Future of Psychology： Evolutionary Approach to Scientific Psychology

＂Evolutionary psychology is an approach to psychology, in which knowledge and principles from evolutionary biology are put to use in research on the structure of the human mind＂ （Cosmides ＆ Tooby, 2001, p.1）. The approach can be used to study and to provide broad theoretical framing of nearly all of the issues and topics within the traditionally defined fields of psychology. The 19 papers included in this special issue on evolutionary psychology are written by leading scholars in the field and address topics that can be organized by the familiar divisions of cognitive, developmental, and social psychology.     

进化心理学：心理科学的未来发展

“Evolutionary psychology is an approach to psychology, in which knowledge and principles from evolutionary biology are put to use in research on the structure of the human mind” (Cosmides & Tooby, 2001, p.1). The approach can be used to study and to provide broad theoretical framing of nearly all of the     

Steve Coutinho,An Introduction to Daoist Philosophies

Steve Coutinho has provided us with a new introduction to Daoism.The scope of "Daoist Philosophies" covered by this introduction is the Laozi,the Zhuangzi,and the Liezi.The author makes no use of the materials of the Daoist canon,considering them to be "folk beliefs,rituals,spiritual practices,and sacred texts...a pluralistic amalgamation of rival sects and teachings that have developed in lineages over the centuries..." (7).The overriding approach taken in this work is to relate Daoist thought to contemporary philosophical issues,and the author does not hesitate to make use of Western ideas and categories to structure his interpretations.The goal of this introduction is to show how Daoism can be embraced as a living philosophy,rather than to offer the history of the tradition.     

An Interview with David Alderson

<正>Wang Jie:Here are some questions that I think are very important to China's research on Marxism,so I'd like to know your opinions.I'd like to start with the research on Terry Eagleton.As far as I know,you are the first to have written a book on Terry.In China,there are also many scholars who are researching Terry and a group of articles are recently coming out in China's most important core journal,Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art.When I talked with Terry at the University of Manchester,he specially mentioned that he was a Marxist,instead of a Post-marxist.Later,he wrote me a letter to add that it was a matter of principle.For the relationship between Marxism and Postmarxism, there are still confusions among scholars in China,so can you make further clarifications in combination with Terry's situation? David:I would say that Terry is without doubt a Marxist,not a Post-Marxist. That is very clear to me.At a recent conference about Terry's career at Manchester University,there was discussion about the extent to which his thought had changed over years,and one of the comments that he made was that he believes roughly the same things as he used to believe in the 1960s.From having read and studied his work,I would say that there's overwhelmingly a sense of continuity through the work.     

Marx on Nature

Ecological Marxists argue that Marx forged a view of nature compatible with more recent models of environmentalism. John Bellamy Foster argues that Marx ascribed an ecological value to nature by asserting a co-evolution between man and nature. James O＇Connor presents a more nuanced view in which Marx at best defended a conservationist defense of nature. I argue that such ecological views of Marx tend to overlook his abandonment of an ontology of nature as a totality of relations among physical objects with respect to their interactions and mutual preservation and order. He followed Kant in reducing nature, or the physical world, effectively to a regulative notion, thus reducing its value to a simply a heuristic one for judgments about and actions towards objects. But he also radicalized this reduction by envisaging nature only as a material field of fungible and consumable things, such that each thing is a mere locus of energy or force that human labor cannot substantively perfect but only change to a function. Labor in this view creates new arrangements of natural things for a singular ultimate purpose： the formation of associations of free labor. I conclude that Marx＇s thinking thus cannot be utilized to support an environmental philosophy, such as deep ecology or eco-socialism, that would posit any intrinsic value to nature.     

On Cheng Chung-Ying’s Bentiyong Onto-hermeneutics

The onto-hermeneutic approach to bentiyong 本体用 championed by Cheng Chung-Ying 成中英 is a valuable addition to comparative philosophy. In his well-honed reading, bentiyong is described as the continuous, integrative substance at the base of things, which becomes known through an ongoing hermeneutic integration and interpretation of reality. However, his use of the English word “substance” to describe bentiyong is problematic, mainly because substance, being without properties and existing without change, cannot be read as part of a hermeneutic process. Luckily, there are resources within the Chinese philosophical tradition that can help in overcoming some of the difficulties in translation presented here. Namely, the way that Zhu Xi 朱熹 approaches ti-yong as a principle (li 理) provides a better and more fittingly discursive basis for expressing the onto-hermeneutic character of bentiyong intended by Cheng, and allows English translation of the term with a firm footing in mainstream Neo-Confucianism.     

Joining the Transformation of Nature—The Post-Natural and Confucian Perspective on Earth Stewardship in the Anthropocene

The emergence of the Anthropocene creates a new set of conditions for understanding the relationship between human power and the natural world. These conditions include an increasingly humanized and de-natured natural world, and greater responsibilities of stewardship for human beings. In current literature, there are diverse views on the meaning of the Anthropocene and the role of modern technology in future earth stewardship. Post-natural thought regards the Anthropocene as representing the end of nature, and thus appeals to disenchantment with respect to the idea that nature is an external moral norm. Although this approach correctly addresses the significance of locality and the mutuality between humans and the environment, it fails to provide us with adequate normative boundaries for preventing the endless artificialization of nature. Alternatively, this article defends the position that Confucianism is a more plausible philosophical ground for earth stewardship in the context of the Anthropocene. The Confucian approach is an inclusive humanism which is established on the cosmological ideal of realising the virtue of shengsheng 生生 (life generation) in all beings. Moreover, Confucian ethics draw much attention to the self-regulation of human beings as virtuous persons. This is indeed what is needed in the age of the Anthropocene.     

Justice and Civic Friendship： An Aristotelian Critique of Modern Citizenry

Modem moral and political theorists make a sharp separation between justice and civic friendship, arguing that justice deals with the fair terms of co-operation in the social sphere whereas civic friendship is about an individual＇s contingent affections in the political domain. In addition, they also argue that the principles of justice must determine the nature and function of civic friendship in modem liberal society. Even though the historical origin of the above view can be traced to the writings of Immanuel Kant （2007）, John Rawls provides us with its most cogent formulation in recent times. In his book A Theory of Justice （1971）, Rawls argues that the considerations of right are prior to the considerations of good; therefore the principles of justice must determine the limits of civic friendship. Against RaMs, I argue that justice and civic friendship are intrinsically connected and that they cannot be separated in experience. I draw upon Aristotle＇s theory of virtue to strengthen my arguments. Following Aristotle, I show that both justice and friendship are virtues and that all virtues hold together. The Aristotelian coherence of virtues, I argue, can be useful in redefining the obligations of justice and civic friendship in contemporary liberal democracies.     

Daoism and the German Mission in Martin Heidegger’s “The Thing”

In this article, I examine Martin Heidegger’s 1950 lecture/essay “The Thing” (Das Ding) in two ways. First, as a piece influenced by chapter 11 of the Daodejing. And second, as a postwar writing which can be interpreted vis-à-vis the Black Notebooks and his other writings. There are instances in “The Thing” which are analogous to his statements found in the Black Notebooks and his other writings which describe and clarify his controversial political affiliation. In brief, I suggest here that Heidegger’s articulation of the concept of wu 無 of chapter 11 of the Daodejing as the void of the jug in “The Thing” may potentially describe his controversial engagement with German National Socialism as part of his response to the call for German mission. Notably, the fundamentality of the void of the jug is comparable to the exclusivity and exceptionality of the Germans in their mission; and the use of the void of the jug as outpouring is an interesting way to emphasize his disagreement with the regime by pointing out that his support to German National Socialism is not to the extent of brutally annihilating the Jews.     

Confucian Ethical Practice as a Method of Creating and Sustaining Whiteheadian Beauty

I argue that Confucian ethical practice can be considered as a feasible method of creating and sustaining Whiteheadian beauty. I first investigate Whitehead’s understanding of value, beauty and morality. Next, I show the affinity between Confucius and Whitehead in their understanding of value, beauty, and morality through an analysis of the Analects (Lunyu 论语), focusing on the aesthetic aspects of Confucian ethics understood as role ethics. Finally, I argue that Confucian ways of moral self-cultivation can be viewed as methods that foster our disposition to create and sustain the beauty of experience.     

On Confucian Political Philosophy and Its Theory of Justice

Traditional Confucian political culture (including its concepts, systems, practices and folk customs) has a legacy that deserves careful reconsideration today. Its theories, institutions, and practices address the source, legitimacy, division and balance, and restriction of political power. Confucian politics is a type of “moral politics” which sticks to what ought to be and what is justifiable, and holds that political power comes from Heaven, mandate of Heaven or Dao of Heaven, which implies that justification and standards rest with the people referring to scholars peasants, workers and merchants. This type of justification is rooted in the public space and the autonomous strength of the people, and it finds guidance in the involvement, supervision, and criticism of the class of scholar-bureaucrats (shi 士). In this article, Western political philosophy will be taken as a frame of reference for evaluating Confucian conception of justice as well as Confucian ideas of distribution, fairness of opportunity, caring kindness for “the least advantaged,” and institutional construction. It will argue that the leading characteristic of Confucian political theory is that of “substantive justice.”