Secular Spirituality and the Hermeneutics of Ontological Gratitude

In his 2010 article, ‘Secular Spirituality and the Logic of Giving Thanks’, John Bishop recalls a striking theme in a recent address by Richard Dawkins in which he appeared to enthusiastically endorse the appropriateness of a ‘naturalised spirituality’ that involved ‘existential gratitude’, and this led him to investigate the notion of a naturalised or secular spirituality with particular reference to Robert Solomon’s Spirituality for the Skeptic (2002). This essay looks to pick up on Bishop’s engagements with both Dawkins and Solomon, but to extend the conversation well beyond them in order to defend the credibility and integrity of secular spirituality in its movement of ontological gratitude. In this way it looks to offer a first sketch of what might be termed a ‘hermeneutics of ontological gratitude’. To this end – and via a distinction between gratitude for existence and life – the essay considers Dawkins’ argument and Solomon’s work in further detail, before turning to consider various other perspectives on the problem including Kenneth Schmitz’s existential Thomist notion of ontological contingency, Hannah Arendt’s concept of primary natality, and Emmanuel Levinas’ sketch of the self in its interiority and economy. My claim is that any serious naturalistic spirituality needs to take into account not only a gratitude for one’s existence per se, but for the whole context of individual and collective being.     

论成玄英《道德经义疏》中的圣人形象

圣人观念在汉民族思想中占有举足轻重的地位.成玄英是唐代著名的道教学者,其<道德经义疏>中的"体道圣人"的形象表明其理想的圣人人格应是圣人仅居圣界,在世之外是不够的,要通过降迹处世,以圣凡平等,自利利他的思想来化导凡俗,以此才可能使圣人功圆德满,实现其自足性.成玄英对圣人形象的刻画一方面是其思想理论的内在要求,另一方面也为道教学者对道教自身合理发展提供了一条有益的探索途径.     

本体论的相对性（节译）

一 1931年春季,当我读研究生的时候,我听了杜威论作为经验的艺术的讲演.那时,杜威是哈佛大学威廉·詹姆斯讲座的首任讲演人.现在,使我感到骄傲的是,我作为杜威讲座的首任讲演人出现在哥伦比亚大学.     

怀疑的解释学

本文从利科的"怀疑的解释学"引出一个对解释学的怀疑问题的更加宽泛的思考,强调任何解释学都是对怀疑意识的克服,从近代到现代的西方解释学的发展都表明了这一点。当代的现象学的出发点是直观的"被给予性",而不是某种先入为主的基础。现象学的被给予性是超越传统基础主义的,它同时也是对怀疑主义的超越,它的怀疑是笛卡尔似的。伽达默尔似乎不满于利科过于执着于怀疑的解释学与信心解释学的对峙和差别,而要将两者统一起来,即置怀疑的解释学于信心解释学之中,虽然他在本文中并没有明确使用"信心解释学"这个词。对于伽达默尔来说,从怀疑到信心,是通过辩证法来实现的,而他眼里的辩证法被解释学化了,并与现象学对接,它涵盖对话、解释学的应用、实践智慧和视域融合等因素,伽达默尔突出从中引发出来的"分享"概念,强调理解作为一种参与是"分享",而不是独占,它不是获取部分,而是获取整体,人类的文明、文化就是这样发展起来的,类似滚雪球,越滚越大。     

Theological Hermeneutics

Book reviewed:
Recovering Theological Hermeneutics: An Incarnational-Trinitarian Theory of Interpretation , Jen Zimmerman, Baker 2004 (0-8010-2727-6), pp. 345, Hb £17.99     

Ontological Aspects of Measurement

The concept of measurement is fundamental to a whole range of different disciplines, including not only the natural and engineering sciences, but also laboratory medicine and certain branches of the social sciences. This being the case, the concept of measurement has a particular relevance to the development of top-level ontologies in the area of knowledge engineering. For this reason, the present paper is concerned with ontological aspects of measurement. We are searching for a list of concepts that are apt to characterize measurement methods in a general manner. To establish such means of characterization, we will primarily deal with the semantics of measurement values.

甘肃省委书记和省长会见中国道协任法融会长

中华文化源远流长,从各个方面都可以来解释这句话。唐朝时讲儒释道"三教",那个时候儒家也算一种宗教。中国文化要从