试论莱布尼茨的现象主义与单子主义的内在关联——对国际莱布尼茨研究中一个重大问题的回应

一、国际莱布尼茨研究中的一个“痼疾”众所周知 ,由于种种原因 ,对莱布尼茨思想的系统研究 ,差不多是从 1 9世纪中叶以后才起步的。这 1 0 0多年来 ,国际莱布尼茨的研究虽然取得了一些令人瞩目的成就 ,但是也确实存在一些需要改进的问题。例如 ,差不多从 1 9世纪末起 ,总有一些学者不断重复印度童话“瞎子摸象”的故事 ,对莱布尼茨的思想缺乏整体的和统一的理解和把捉 ,并以这样那样的方式“肢解”莱布尼茨。早在 2 0世纪初 ,罗素就在其奠基性著作《对莱布尼茨哲学的批评性解释》中 ,把莱布尼茨“肢解”为“俗人莱布尼茨”与“学者莱布尼茨…     

科学与自由如何兼得——浅析康德对先验主义的选择

康德哲学是德国古典哲学的奠基,它来源于对牛顿经典物理学和休谟怀疑论哲学的冲突的调和。康德借助莱布尼茨的天赋观念说来解决这一问题,这形成了康德先验主义的根源。同时,为了确保自由的不可侵犯,康德引入了不可知的物自体。物自体是康德自由概念和道德哲学的本体论基础。     

寻求莱布尼茨哲学智慧的现代意义──《莱布尼茨》评介

陈修斋先生早在40年代末就撰写了长篇论文：《黑格尔对莱布尼茨思想中矛盾律与充足理由律二元并列问题的解决》，开始致力于莱布尼茨哲学研究。数十年，他翻译了《人类理智新论》等书，写了《莱布尼茨哲学体系初探》等近20篇莱布尼茨哲学思想研究的力作，对于在中国开展、深化莱布尼茨哲学研究作出了重大贡献。到了晚年，陈先生的莱布尼茨哲学研究终成体系，并富于拓新。遗憾的是，陈先生因病魔缠身，未能亲自将这些研究成果撰写成书。先生去后，他的学生段德智根据先生准备成书的写作提纲及写作思路，对其留下的成稿略加调整、删增，形成了…     

作为社会思想家的哥特弗利德·威廉·莱布尼茨

莱布尼茨的哲学思想体系,在苏联文献中一再详细地阐述过。但是,莱布尼茨作为一位社会思想家却很少为我们读者所了解。其实,社会政治问题在莱布尼茨的著作中占有非常重要的地位,以至有些历史学家首先把他看作是一位政治家,而后才是哲学家和数学家。然而问题决不在于在莱布尼茨的遗著中政治和哲学各占何“比重”,问题在于政治和哲学是一个有机的统一体。莱布尼茨的社会观点是他的整个理论体系的不可分割的组成部分。甚至像这样抽象的哲学著作“单子论”和纯粹神学的论文“神正论”,都有其“实用”的社会目的,都是与莱布尼茨的政治纲领相协调的。本文就是打算对莱布尼茨哲学的和社会的观点之间的有机联系作一番考察。     

德国技术哲学的历史与现状 --访李文潮教授

20 0 3年 3月 7日～ 15日 ,柏林理工大学哲学系李文潮教授在大连理工大学举办了题为“德国技术哲学的历史与现状”的学术讲座。该讲座深入浅出 ,全面展现了作为技术哲学发源地的德国的技术哲学历史与现状。李文潮教授系德籍华人学者 ,德国柏林 -布兰登堡科学院莱布尼茨编辑部研究员、爱尔朗根大学客座教授。其主要研究方向为莱布尼茨哲学、 17世纪西方哲学史、佛教哲学、科技哲学、技术伦理、 17世纪基督教传教史。主要论著有 :《佛教哲学思维引论》 (德文版 ,1999) ,《莱布尼茨与中国———纪念莱布尼茨〈中国近事〉发表 3 0 0周年国际研讨…     

德国古典哲学的奠基之路——论海德格尔对莱布尼茨的“发现”与“定位”及其意义

人们通常把康德看作德国古典哲学的奠基人,但从海德格尔的相关反思和他对德国古典哲学的整体评判来看,莱布尼茨思想和德国古典哲学的奠基具有非同寻常的内在关联,理解这一关联具有重要意义。海德格尔并非从一开始就认识到这一点,而是在本己思想的推进中逐渐"发现"和"定位"了莱布尼茨思想的关键位置。在海德格尔看来,莱布尼茨哲学不仅传承着古代哲学传统,而且通过其转化工作构成了德国古典哲学的开端根据。对海德格尔这一"发现"和"定位"的深入研究,有助于我们重新理解莱布尼茨与康德哲学的关系,进而全面理解德国古典哲学的奠基之路:德国古典哲学的奠基工作乃是以"根据律"问题为基本形态的对哲学传统问题的继承与转化。     

莱布尼茨学术思想研讨会综述

由中华全国外国哲学史学会莱布尼茨专业委员会举办的首届国内“莱布尼茨学术思想研讨会”于 2 0 0 3年 3月 2 4日在北京举行。来自中国社会科学院、中国科学院自然科学史研究所和北京大学等单位的学者参加了会议。莱布尼茨作为近代的一位百科全书式的思想家 ,为后人留下了丰富的精神文化遗产。国际莱布尼茨思想研讨会已经在国外举办多次 ,因此 ,本次国内的莱布尼茨学术思想研讨会具有重要的意义。本次成立的“莱布尼茨专业委员会”开启了与国际莱布尼茨研究沟通的一个主渠道 ,并为今后国内的莱布尼茨研究奠定了良好的基础。中华全国外国哲学…     

机器、思维与信息的哲学考察与莱布尼茨的二进制级数和现代计算机科学的关系

本文的目的在于给出一个简单的论证,机器本身没有智能,但人有智能,所以机器有助于人类的思维,但是我们应该对"什么是信息"这个问题持非常谨慎的态度,因此不仅需要在科学上而且也需要在哲学上需要进一步进行论证,这就是哲学家不可或缺以及国际哲学界何以在新世纪伊始将信息哲学称为第一哲学的理据。与此同时,我们还介绍了莱布尼茨为什么被控制论事后追认先驱的典型并从真理再发现的角度将中国《易经》中的那段"筮法"按照数理逻辑的能行可计算理论而不是按先前数论中的同余式进行了重新解释。最后,从科学史的方面将莱布尼茨的二进算数或二进制级数作了一些比较详细的考察,认为它与现代的计算机科学根本没有任何关联。     

费希特哲学在当代的重要意义

R.劳特(ReinhardLauth)教授从1957年开始编辑的《费希特全集》掀起了国际哲学界的费希特复兴。费希特体系的核心是要求哲学家承担起自己的历史使命,以理性塑造新的自我和新的时代。仅仅从黑格尔追溯马克思主义哲学的来源,是教条主义的;只有从包括莱布尼茨和费希特在内的全部古典德国哲学出发,深究这一来源,才能克服这种弊端。     

20世纪西方学者对莱布尼茨哲学的研究

莱布尼茨哲学,以其精湛的思想一直吸引和影响着后人,对它的研究也一直持续不断。在西方,各国的哲学家和哲学史家对莱布尼茨哲学的研究,在本世纪取得了不少成就,本文将依据西方有影响的论著,对这一研究情况作一简要介绍。一、关于形而上学及其基础：充足理由律与真理...     

马克思的本体论思想及其当代意义

马克思的本体论思想日益引起学界的关注。本文认为,必须从马克思的哲学革命变革的宗旨和使命出发,把本体论问题放到“解释世界”和“改变世界”的框架内,才能给马克思的本体论思想以及正确的诠释和定位,马克思终点了传统的思辨形而上学本体论,但却继承和光大了人类的形而上情结和追求,并以人和人的实践活动底蕴,深刻地回答了世界本真存在的追问,关爱生命,提高人的素质,促进人的全面发展,这就是马克思本体论思想的当代价值所在。     

MODELING RELATIONS

In the ordinary way of representing relations, the order of the relata plays a structural role, but in the states themselves such an order often does not seem to be intrinsically present. An alternative way to represent relations makes use of positions for the arguments. This is no problem for the love relation, but for relations like the adjacency relation and cyclic relations, different assignments of objects to the positions can give exactly the same states. This is a puzzling situation. The question is what is the internal structure of relations? Is the use of positions still justified, and if so, what is their ontological status? In this paper mathematical models for relations are developed that provide more insight into the structure of relations “out there” in the real world.     

Paranormal beliefs: their dimensionality and correlates

Lack of conceptual clarity and multivariate empirical studies has troubled research on superstitious, magical and paranormal beliefs. We defined paranormal beliefs as beliefs in physical, biological or psychological phenomena that feature core ontological properties of another ontological category. The aim was to bring together a range of beliefs and their potential correlates, to analyse whether the beliefs form independent subsets, and to test a structural model of the beliefs and their potential correlates. The results (N = 3261) showed that the beliefs could be best described by one higher‐order factor. There were also four lower‐order factors of paranormal beliefs but their explanatory power was low. Magico‐religious beliefs were best explained by high intuitive thinking, a humanistic world view and low analytical thinking. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

REALISM AND OPENNESS IN SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY

Abstract. Intrinsic to rigorous knowledge of God is the recognition that positive theological concepts and statements about God arising under the compelling claims of God's reality upon the human mind must have an open revisable structure. A similar combination of critical realism and ontological openness is apparent in the profound change that has taken place in the rational structure of rigorous science from the radical dualism and closed causal system of classical mechanics to the unifying world view and open dynamic field-theories of modern physics. It is argued that the intersection of theological and natural science in their epis-temological foundations can enhance their ontological commitment and heuristic thrust.     

The Doubleness of Craft: Motifs of Technical Action in Life Praxis according to Aristotle and Zhuangzi

This article offers a philosophical reflection on ambivalences inherent in the notion of craft analogy in the thought of Zhuangzi and Aristotle. Does it make sense to establish the analogy between the structure of the good conduct of life and the structure of the successful performance of craft? In turn, what are the reasons for rejecting this analogy? This study shows that both philosophers had strong reasons both for their commitment to some aspects of the analogy and for its decisive denial in other respects. However, their particular reasons for this ambiguous view on the craft analogy are remarkably different and even opposite. This divergence owes to some central cosmological and ontological commitments that undergird their theories of action; while Aristotle’s conception of the human world calls for conscious interference and deliberate action, Zhuangzi’s view is that ideal action should spontaneously follow the order immanent in all things.     

Eine Welt ohne Individuelle EntitÄten?

A world without individual entities? An advice to not to extract immediate ontological consequences from quantum theory. Should we assume a world without individual entities? I pledge not to extract immediate ontological consequences from quantum theory. My intention is to focus on the complexity of ontological concepts commonly associated with quantum theory. Using as an example the compatibility of EPR correlations with the existence of individual entities, it is shown that an absolute rejection of an ontological category, based on some aspects of the formalism of quantum theory, does not seem reasonable. A consequence of this argument is that the common sense view – the world is composed of individual entities – can be maintained, despite of the particularities of quantum mechanics.     

Transient convergence and relational sensibility: Beyond the modern constitution of nature

The paper builds on the critique of what Latour (1993) terms the ‘modern constitution’ and its configuration of nature as an independent and external entity to human culture and politics. The paper suggests that, firstly, moving beyond the modern constitution to a world of amodern or postnature (Braun, 2004, Hayles, 1999) marks a shift from ontological stability to ontological instability, where ‘nature’ is now constituted by merging and emerging ontologies. In this unstable new world order, the paper argues that postnature should be understood as a transient convergence in a context of flow, union, and divergence. This perspective emphasises the role that emotions play in this relationship, arguing that they are both part and product of the transient convergence of postnature. ‘Humans’ are now constituted in and with the temporary coincidences that form ‘nature’, and the relational sensibility that is produced through this convergence is vital to fully understand the post-natural world. The paper concludes by suggesting that this postnature can provide new premises for protecting the world of which we are a part.     

Neuroscience and Whitehead II: Process-Based Ontology of Brain

While neuroscience has made enormous progress in understanding the brain, the implications of these empirical findings for ontological questions in philosophy including the mind–body problem remain yet unclear. In the first paper, I discussed the model of brain that as implied and supported by the empirical data. This leads me now to the question of an empirically plausible ontology of brain. Therefore, the aim in this second paper is the ontological characterization of the brain in terms of a process-based ontology that avoids what Whitehead described as “simple location” and “fallacy of misplaced concreteness”. The discussion of the model of the brain is complemented by developing a process-based ontological characterization of the brain. Specifically, as based on Whitehead, I argue that “simple location” of the brain as thing or object in time and space amounts to nothing but an abstraction rendering what Whitehead described as “fallacy of misplaced concreteness”. Instead of describing the brain as static, non-temporal and isolated thing or object, I characterize the brain ontologically by dynamic, temporal, and relational processes. This leads me to a process-based ontology of brain which may be specified in spatiotemporal terms. Since the world’s larger spatiotemporal range or scale contains, e.g., nests, the smaller one of the brain, I characterize their ontological relationship by “spatiotemporal nestedness” and “spatiotemporal directedness”. Such spatiotemporal relationship between world and brain precludes the confusion between the world as whole and the brain as part, e.g., “mereological confusion”. I conclude that process-based or better, more specifically, spatiotemporal ontology of the brain and its relationship to the world may offer novel views on the question for the ontological relationship between mind and brain, e.g., the mind–brain problem, by converting or reformulating it as “world-brain problem”.     

The End of the Supersensory World’s Mythology: Marx’s Ontological Revolution and Its Contemporary Significance

The whole of Western metaphysics, particularly Platonism, sets up a partition between the sensory world and the supersensory world, laying the foundation for the mythology of the supersensory world. After Descartes set contemporary metaphysics on its course, Feuerbach became the first to attack the essence of the supersensory world on an ontological level and to transfer the criticism of theology to that of metaphysics in general. While in the final analysis Feuerbach’s criticism fails, Marx’s revolution appeals to the ontological notion of “sensory activity” or “objective activity” (i.e., practice), the core of which rests in piercing and overturning the fundamental framework of contemporary metaphysics—“the immanence of consciousness.” It is this ontological revolution which reveals the camouflage of the supersensory world’s mythology (i.e., ideology) and which simultaneously establishes a solid foundation for the critical analysis of the latter. Marx’s “science of history” is based on this foundation and develops from it.