Berkeley on the Activity of Spirits

This paper propounds a new reading of Berkeley's account of the activity of finite spirits. Against existing interpretations, the paper argues that Berkeley does not hold that we causally contribute to the movement of our bodies. In contrast, our volitions to move our bodies are but occasions for God to cause their movement. In answer to the question of wherein then consists our activity, the paper proposes that our activity consists in the dual powers to produce (1) our volitions – the acts of willing – and (2) our ideas of imagination.     

The Spirit of Truth

This article reflects on the theme of the “spirit of truth” in a post-truth era – a time in which objective truth seems to no longer exist, any given claim can be substantiated, and it is no longer possible to tell falsehood and truth apart. Focusing on the objectivity of science, the humanity of truth, and the spirit of truth revealed by divinity, the article argues for the adoption of a humane and ecological wisdom, seeing it as a way to deal with humanity’s immense knowledge in a way that is conducive to life, to avoid optimizing humans in a “trans-human” way and making the earth uninhabitable.     

On Debt and Redemption: Friedrich Nietzsche's Doctrine of Eternal Recurrence

In this essay, I argue that the notion of monetary debt does not displace but merely conceals our deeper, ontological debt to the sources of our being and way of life. I suggest that first Christianity and then modern science attempted to find a means of redemption that could free us from debt, but that both were unable to reconcile the ideas of freedom and indebtedness. I then examine the way in which Friedrich Nietzsche tried to resolve the apparent contradiction of our debt to the past and our freedom to shape the future by developing a new form of redemption rooted in his doctrine of the eternal recurrence.     

Emergent Monism and the Classical Doctrine of the Soul

Traditional Christian belief in the existence of human life after death within a transformed material universe should be capable of rational justification if one chooses carefully the philosophical scheme underlying those claims. One should not have to appeal simply to the power of a loving God to justify one's beliefs. A revision of Whitehead's metaphysical scheme is proposed that allows one to render these classical Christian beliefs at least plausible to a broad range of contemporary thinkers as a consequence of a cosmology based on the principle of universal intersubjectivity and the need for a common ground between opposing subjectivities.     

In the Spirit of William James

In this essay, I identify several ways in which James Dittes extended the spirit of William James in his writings on psychology of religion. Like James, Dittes gave minimal attention to psychological theory and God-talk. Both authors located their reflections on religion within a philosophical, as well as a psychological, perspective. Both employed a discourse that was personalist, pluralist, and pragmatist. In the last section, I briefly note some of the ways in which Dittes moved beyond William James in the spirit of William James.     

TRUE SPIRITUALITY IN THE LIGHT OF THE SCIENCES

Abstract. Spirituality emerges in the function of culture to reinforce and yet redirect our genetic heritage. Our genes urge us to be concerned only for our own welfare, which can turn us to evil behaviors. Our religious traditions urge us to engage in behaviors of transkin altruism. These religious traditions have been selected for in the processes of natural selection. The challenge to spirituality is to discern the fundamental dynamics of the evolutionary processes, both genetic and cultural, that have created us and to direct our behaviors in ways that can be beneficial to the entire natural system. Reason is not enough; we must also cultivate spiritual discernment in order to perceive the true nature of our situation and the best responses that are called for. The religious communities have the major responsibility for cultivating the spirituality that can achieve the most adequate discernment.     

必须重视大学生科学精神的培育

培养大学生的科学精神是高校办学思想的重要内容.但现实是在一部分高校中出现了逐渐迷失的倾向.通过调查,试图探究造成这一问题的原因,以引起高校的重视,改变现状,努力营造培养大学生科学精神的氛围,并把知识的传授和科学方法、科学思想、科学精神的培养有机地结合起来.     

《周易》刚健美思想对中国书法艺术的影响

<周易>集先秦儒道哲学为一体,建立了以阴阳学说为核心的哲学思想,在中国美学思想史中占有重要地位.围绕着阴阳辩证法,<周易>建构了以刚健美为核心的阴阳审美形态观,刚健所具有的中正、大、神、变化等内涵确立了中国古典美学阳刚之美的主要审美特征,其对天、地、人呼应关系的认识也成为艺术与主体辩证关系的源头.其刚健美的内涵经过后人的阐发渗透到中国书法艺术审美意识中,形成书法艺术中的刚健美风尚、中正美追求、变化美法则.     

上博楚简《凡物流形》的鬼神观探究

《凡物流形》中对鬼神的追问是比较独特的一处,其间的一些说法与通常讨论的先秦诸子的鬼神观有所不同,向我们展现了一个较新的鬼神世界.作者对鬼的态度是虽不否认但颇有疑问,他追问鬼的能力来源与范围,质问如何与鬼进行沟通,反思祭祀行为的意义所在,这种态度可谓是一种相对的“有鬼论”.