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.     

Leonid V. Karasëv,Filosofija smecha [Philosophy of Laughter]

Studies in East European Thought -     

Marburg ca. 1900–1925: The Treffpunkt of Theology,Philosophy, and New Testament

ABSTRACT

Many of the intellectual giants in the areas of theology, philosophy, and New Testament were faculty members at the Philips University of Marburg during the early decades of the twentieth century. This article chronicles briefly the careers of faculty members of Marburg and their contributions in the fields of theology (Wilhelm Herrmann, Rudolf Otto, Paul Tillich), philosophy (the Neo-Kantians Hermann Cohen and Paul Natorp, and Martin Heidegger), and New Testament (Rudolf Bultmann) during that period of time.     

Towards a Philosophy of Chemistry. A short extract of this paper was first read at the 10th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, Florence, August 19–25, 1995.

The paper shows epistemological, methodological and ontological peculiarities of chemistry taken as a classificatory science of materials using experimental methods. Without succumbing to standard interpretations of physical science, chemical methods of experimental investigation, classification, reference, theorizing, prediction and production of new entities are developed one by one as first steps towards a philosophy of chemistry. Chemistry challenges traditional concepts of empirical object, empirical predicate, reference frame and theory, but also the distinction commonly drawn between natural science and technology. Due to its many peculiarities, I propose to treat chemistry philosophically as a special type of science, apart from other sciences.     

Introduction to the Special Theme on ＂Philosophy of Language,Chinese Language,and Chinese Philosophy＂

This special theme section concerns ＂Philosophy of language, Chinese language, and Chinese philosophy,＂ presenting （with its own distinct focus） the general theme of an ongoing international collective research project, ＂Philosophical Issues concerning Chinese Language and Development of Contemporary Philosophy of Language,＂ the initial results of which are presented in the four articles here.     

Whither Philosophy?

This article considers possible future directions of philosophy, based around the experience of the author as editor of the European Journal of Philosophy for about a decade. After some discussion of the original impetus for the journal, and of how the philosophy scene has changed since it was founded in 1993, the article focuses particularly on the themes of transcendentalism and naturalism as likely to shape the philosophical debates of the future, as they have done in the past.     

WANG Zisong et al. 2010. A History of Greek Philosophy. Vol. 4. Beijing： People＇s Publishing House, 1797 pp., ISBN： 9787010090878.

In Chinese Academia, the publication of this volume has gained a great deal of applause, about which little more needs to be said here. As its name indicates, this entry in the series aims to reveal the fourth and the last stage of the history of ancient Greek philosophy, which covers the Hellenistic and Roman periods （about 800 years in total）. Additionally, its appendix also serves as a brief summary of the foregoing volumes, which is quite helpful. This final volume is the end result of a marvelous academic project, which has lasted for 28 years. Prof. Wang Zisong is the Chief Editor of the whole project, and Prof. Chen Chun-fu is the executive editor of this volume. The new authors, who are mainly responsible for this volume, include Prof. Bao and Prof. Zhang.     

Philosophy 2000断想

人类正告别发展与动荡交替的20世纪,迎来了困难与希望并存的21世纪。这既是公元第二个千年的结束,也是新的第三个千年的开始。为了这世纪之交和千年转换的一瞬,最近一个时期,世界各地树起了许多倒计时装置,人们都像着了魔一样期盼着2000年的到来。世界为这一刻而躁动:“千年虫”似乎在全球各地蠕动,世界各民族都在为自己的千禧年庆典做彩排,为那千年等一刻的瞬间而欢呼跳跃,各种以2000为名称的电脑软件(如Ｗｉｎｄｏｗｓ2000,Ｏｆｆｉｃｅ2000,ＷＰＳ2000)伴随着Ｙ2Ｋ纷至沓来,许多回顾旧千年和展望新千年的书籍蜂拥而至,电脑黑客也为之兴奋…     

African American Dance - Philosophy,Aesthetics, and ‘Beauty’

This essay considers the recuperation of beauty as a productive critical strategy in discussions of African American dance. I argue that black performance in general, and African American concert dance in particular, seeks to create aesthetic sites that allow black Americans to participate in discourses of recognition and appreciation to include concepts of beauty. In this, I suggest that beauty may indeed produce social change for its attendant audiences. I also propose that interrogating the notion of beauty may allow for social change among audiences that include dance theorists and philosophers. Through a case-study consideration of work by three African American choreographers, Donald Byrd (b. 1949), Ulysses Dove (1947 – 1996), and Abdel Salaam (b. 1949), I ultimately hope to suggest critical possibilities aligning dance performance with particular aesthetic theory relevant to its documentation and interpretation.     

Why Study Philosophy?

A few years ago,Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert came to Yale to give a lecture.He described an experiment in which psychologists studied how one's mood could affect what one perceived.The scientists needed to get people in a good mood,or a bad mood,so as to test the differences.Gilbert explained that to get some of the Subjects in a good mood,they had them read a piece of paper on which were written expressions like this:"I see," or "I understand," or "now I get it." And to get a different group of subjects into a bad mood,they had them read a piece of paper on which were written expressions like this:"I don't understand," or "I'm lost," or "I just don't get it."     

Philosophy Upside Down?

Philip Kitcher recently argued for a reconstruction in philosophy. According to him, the contemporary mainstream of philosophy (in the English‐speaking world, at least) has deteriorated into something that is of relevance only to a few specialists who communicate with each other in a language nobody else understands. Kitcher proposes to reconstruct philosophy along two axes: a knowledge axis (with a focus on the sciences) and a value axis. The present article discusses Kitcher's diagnosis as well as his proposal of a therapy. It argues that there are problems with both, and it ends with an alternative view of what some core problems of the profession currently are.