Philosophy and Chinese Philosophy

Philosophy can be divided into two systems, i.e. the vertical and the horizontal. Characterized with the creation of spirit and the logical evolution of concepts, the vertical system expresses historical reflections on the achievements of human culture. Meanwhile, the horizontal system focuses on the analysis of cognitive activities to explore the nature of subject and object, the elements of knowledge, and the basis of its certainty. Chinese philosophers, such as Hu Shih, Fung Yulan, Zhang Dainian, Mou Zongsan and Zhang Shiying, have previously explored the various definitions of philosophy. Their explorations manifest the internationalization of Chinese philosophy during different eras. This paper defines philosophy as human beings’ awareness of their environment and systematical reflections on their activities and ensuing consequences. As part of world philosophy, Chinese philosophy encapsulates the essence of Chinese culture, as the thinking method of Chinese people, and as a set of thought systems possessing a unique style.     

Attributions and politics

Four hundred electors took part in an experiment to test the proposition that political preferences have an effect on how people attribute the determinants of wealth. As predicted, respondents preferred environmental explanations to the causes provided relating to personal qualities. Again as anticipated preferences for environmental interpretations were less pronounced among Conservative party supporters. It was argued that more attention be paid to the attributions of different sections of society and that such findings have important implications both for attribution theory itself and in an improved understanding of the nature of political attitudes.     

Psychoanalysis and politics

Abstract

Following the trauma of Nazi persecution, mainstream psychoanalysis abandoned its concern for the unconscious elements in social and political processes. The self-restriction was given a theoretical justification by H. Hartmann in his psychology of the self. The present author here sketches the periphery movement of an alternative “political psychoanalysis” with reference to M. Langer, A. Mitscherlich, P. Parin and his own work. His thesis is that if psychoanalysts do not consider their own entanglement in the social structures and conflicts that characterize their own time, they are in danger of themselves becoming, within their institutes, unconscious victims of irrational social influences, and in addition miss the opportunity to enlighten society by critical involvement.     

Natural law and politics

The Journal of Value Inquiry -     

Community psychology and politics

If community psychology is to profit from its experience to develop an accurate and consistent theory of the effect on individuals of societal pressures, it will need to review reflexively its own position in relation to politics and empowerment. Despite an inspirational and at times positively grandiose rhetoric, psychologists are in fact in no particularly powerful position to influence the factors which cause personal distress, and should not, through a pretence of therapeutic potency, ‘psychologize’ the notion of ‘empowerment’ and reinforce therapeutic ideals which are in fact destructively normative. Without attempting to appropriate politics, community psychology can, however, offer an essentially scientific analysis of power and distress, which may have therapeutically ‘demystifying’ qualities as well as important political implications for the wider society.     

会通与融合--马克思主义哲学、中国传统哲学与西方哲学的互动

马克思主义哲学、中国传统哲学与西方哲学的会通与融合,正在成为当前中国哲学界关注的热点问题。对此,我谈谈三点看法,抛砖引玉,以就教于方家。一问题的背景从1840年“鸦片战争”以后,中国逐步融入世界,开始启动现代化的进程。在思想界,介绍传播西方思想与哲学成为时尚,首先是达尔文的进化论,进而是培根、笛卡尔以来的近代西方经验主义和理性主义,然后是追本溯源,从古希腊苏格拉底、柏拉图、亚里士多德到德国古典哲学家康德、黑格尔等人的整个西方哲学思想经典,在中国都得到介绍与研究。1917年俄国“十月革命”胜利以后,马克思主义哲学作为…     

坐在扶椅上能追求到什么?

这是<哲学的哲学>一书的导言部分,作者指出了该书的基本思想是:第一,认为哲学不同于自然科学研究的例外论假定是错误的,甚至先验与后验之间的区分最终遮蔽了内在的相似性.第二,哲学与其他科学之间在主题上的差异,也不如我们通常认为的那样深.第三,当前的哲学主流未能清楚地阐明一种适当的哲学方法论,部分地是由于它陷入了对数据的心理学化的传统认识论错误.本书对哲学方法论的再思考,包含了在一种恰当的抽象水平上理解如何做哲学.     

Philosophy for Children and the Reconstruction of Philosophy

In this paper I trace the dialogical and narrative dimensions of the philosophical tradition and explore how they are reconfigured in the notion of community of philosophical inquiry (CPI), the mainstay of the collection of novels and discussion plans known as Philosophy for Children. After considering the ontology and epistemology of dialogue, I argue that narrative has replaced exposition in our understanding of philosophical discourse and that CPI represents a narrative context in which truth comes to represent the best story, in a discursive location in which there are always multiple stories. Finally, I raise the issue of children's philosophical voice. Can children philosophize, and if they can, do they do so in a voice different from adults'? If so, what are the distinctive features of that voice? I assert that it is children's historical marginalization in the Western construction of rationality that now – as that rationality undergoes its crisis – makes of them, like women and other “natives,” privileged strangers to the tradition, who are, through CPI, enabled to enter it through dialogue and narrative.     

Gender sceptics and feminist politics

Some feminist gender sceptics hold that the conditions for satisfying the concept woman cannot be discerned. This has been taken to suggest that (i) the efforts to fix feminism’s scope are undermined because of confusion about the extension of the term ‘woman’, and (ii) this confusion suggests that feminism cannot be organised around women because it is unclear who satisfies woman. Further, this supposedly threatens the effectiveness of feminist politics: feminist goals are said to become unachievable, if feminist politics lacks a clear subject matter. In this paper, I argue that such serious consequences do not follow from the gender sceptic position. I presented an earlier version of this paper at the ‘Stirling Political Philosophy Group’ meeting and am grateful to those present for their constructive criticisms. I am also grateful to Alan Millar, the anonymous referees for this journal and Jenny Saul (who has read more than one version of this paper!) for their detailed and extremely helpful comments and suggestions.