An exposition of Zhou Yi studies in modern Neo-Confucianism

The representatives of modern Neo-Confucianism all greatly value Yi Zhuan and regard it as one of their spiritual resources, and give their own creative interpretations and transformations. Xiong Shili’s ontological-cosmological theory takes “qian yuan” as its center; Ma Yifu has a theory of ontology-cultivation centered on “nature-principle”; Fang Dongmei has a metaphysics of production and reproduction; Mou Zongsan takes the view of “completely knowing the fathomless and understanding transformation” as a moral metaphysics; and in Tang Junyi there is a theory of the harmony of doctrines on Heaven and man in which “the knowledge of divine understanding” is its key concept. They employ modern philosophical concepts and thinking to illustrate the cosmology, ontology, theory of life, theory of human nature, theory of spiritual worlds, axiology and their connections in Zhou Yi. They affirm that the characteristics of Chinese philosophy that are different from Western philosophy consist in a naturalist view of vital life, a harmonious view of totality, an axiological view that values exist in natural universe and the world of fact, the pursuit of Good and Beauty, and intuitive experience of inner world. __________ Translated from Zhou Yi Yanjiu 周易研究 (Zhou Yi Studies), 2004 (4) by Hao Changchi     

A Critical Appraisal of Amish Studies’ De Facto Paradigm, “Negotiating with Modernity”

The predominant paradigm for Amish research over the past three decades has been “negotiating with modernity” (NWM). NWM explains how the Amish as a distinctive American culture and religion have overcome the threats modernity poses to their existence. This article argues that NWM has been accepted and replicated uncritically and without empirical testing due to properties making it inherently untestable. We first synthesize the central NWM literature, as the paradigm has never been fully constructed in one place. We then call attention to two sets of impairments that prevent empirical tests. First, the perspective contains several logical fallacies and terminology problems. NWM reifies “the Amish” as its unit of analysis; creates circular variable relationships (the Amish are Amish because they are not something else); employs terms problematically, notably “modernity” and “modernization”; dichotomizes phenomena; and is grounded in no particular theoretical tradition. Second, we argue that the production of knowledge within core NWM literature has not been sufficiently substantiated. Data collection procedures and methodological strategies are unclear or undefined and scientific peer review is relatively low. We conclude by suggesting more promising theoretical directions for Amish studies.     

IS THEOLOGY RESPECTABLE AS METAPHYSICS?

Theology involves inquiry into God's nature, God's purposes, and whether certain experiences or pronouncements come From God. These inquiries are metaphysical, part of theology's concern with the veridicality of signs and realities that are independent from humans. Several research programs concerned with the relation between theology and science aim to secure theology's intellectual standing as a metaphysical discipline by showing that it satisfies criteria that make modern science reputable, on the grounds that modern science embodies contemporary canons of respectability for metaphysical disciplines. But, no matter the ways in which theology qua metaphysics is shown to resemble modern science, these research programs seem destined for failure. For, given the currently dominant approaches to understanding modern scientific epistemology, theological reasoning is crucially dissimilar to modern scientific reasoning in that it treats the existence of God as a certainty immune to refutation. Barring the development of an epistemology of modern science that is amenable to theology, theology as metaphysics is intellectually disreputable.     

Intimate Distance: Rethinking the Unthought God in Christianity

The work of the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy shares with the thinkers of the ‘theological turn in phenomenology’ the programmatic desire to place the ‘theological’, in the broad sense of rethinking the religious traditions in our secular time, back on the agenda of critical thought. Like those advocating a theological turn in phenomenology, Nancy’s deconstructive approach to philosophical analysis aims to develop a new sensibility for the other, for transcendence, conceptualized as the non-apparent in the realm of appearing phenomena. This is why Nancy launches a project looking for the ‘unthought’ and unexpected within the Christian traditions, called deconstruction of Christianity. However, the deconstructive approach to the non-apparent differs fundamentally from that of the thinkers of the turn (1) in its being non-apologetic and non-restorative with regard to religion, because it starts from a problematization of the—typically modern, that is romantic—desire to defend and protect what would be ‘lost’ and possibly to restore this, (2) in its focus on the complex difference-at-work (différance) between religion and secularism, a difference that can be termed entanglement and complicity between these two, (3) in its hypothesis that this entanglement is essentially one between (the meaning and experience of, the rituality around) presence and absence in modern culture, (4) in its conviction that the philosophy and history of culture must join, support, complete and maybe even turn around phenomenology when dealing with the difficult task of determining what exactly would be ‘left’ of the ‘theological’ in our time. In this article, both positions are compared and confronted further, leading to an account of Nancy’s re-readings of the Christian legacy (its theology, doctrine, art, rituals etc.), and ending in a more detailed, exemplary inquiry into the tension between distance and proximity, characteristic of the Christian God.

腰椎间盘突出症患者MED术前心理状态调查与分析

为了研究腰椎间盘突出症患者行MED微创治疗前的心理状况,对442例行MED手术治疗的患者应用焦虑自评量表（SAS）、抑郁自评量表（SDS）进行术前心理评估。结果显示MED微创治疗前患者SAS、SDS测量分明显高于常模组。患者性别、年龄、婚姻状况、文化程度、病程长短等都与心理状况的改变相关。有34.9%的患者SAS得分和36.7%的患者SDS得分显示阳性。因此,临床骨科医师应重视心理因素的作用,在MED术前应对患者进行心理状况评估,并对心理状况较差的患者进行术前干预,才能取得更好的临床疗效。     

略论“协和模式”的形成及其社会影响

北京协和医学院在中国现代医学史上占有重要的历史地位,对于我国医学教育和医疗卫生事业发展起到了不可忽视的推动作用。它在办学实践过程中形成了一套颇具特色的医学教育模式,培养出大批杰出的科研专家、学者和医疗工作者,为中国现代医学发展和医疗卫生制度建设做出了杰出贡献,积累了宝贵经验。     

早期现代哲学中的语言问题

The view of language is greatly changed from early modern philosophy to later modern philosophy and to postmodern philosophy. The linguistic question in early modern philosophy, which is characterized by rationalism and empiricism, is discussed in this paper. Linguistic phenomena are not at the center of philosophical reflections in early modern philosophy. The subject of consciousness is at the center of the philosophy, which makes language serve purely as an instrument for representing thoughts. Locke, Leibniz and Descartes consider language from a representationalist point of view. To them, language itself is idealized and represents thought as if it were thought representing itself. Like the structural linguist Saussure, the founders of phenomenology and analytical philosophy give much attention to the logical or static structure of language, and stick up for the representationalism of early modern philosophy. However, their successors refuse to accept this attitude, meaning the final collapse of representationalism. Translated by Cui Zengbao and Yang Dachun from Zhexue Yanjiu 哲学研究 (Philosophical Research), 2007, (8): 62–67     

Evangelicalism

Abstract : The evangelical ethos gives priority to grace over works and is shaped by its irrepressible missionary impulse; faith is existential rather than merely conceptual. The early roots of evangelicalism through the modern period are discussed, and put in context with other movements that grew out of the Reformation. The goal of Christian evangelizing is the creation of a person whose life bears witness to the authenticity of faith.     

中国近代心理学史上的丁韪良及其《性学举隅》

传教士丁韪良出于借心理学来传播宗教的目的在1898年出版了《性学举隅》, 这是融入了许多西方科学心理学知识的中文心理学著作。中国最早开设心理学课程的登州文会馆的两名毕业生在丁韪良撰写《性学举隅》过程中进行了笔述工作。丁韪良曾为益智书会撰写心理学教材但未完成, 益智书会转而出版了颜永京的《心灵学》(上本)。以丁韪良及其《性学举隅》为纽带, 19世纪后半叶中国近代心理学发展进程中的几个重要事件构成了一副较完整的历史图景, 反映出中国近代心理学的发展与宗教传播有着密切联系。《性学举隅》吸收了当时西方心理学前沿性的生理心理学知识, 向中国引介了催眠术和颅相学知识, 并对中国的“五官说”、“七情说”进行了修正与补充, 同时也借用了汉字的造字法来阐述其部分心理学观点。由于丁韪良向中国传播心理学是其宣传宗教思想的手段之一, 而颜永京译述海文原著的《心灵学》更倾向于向中国传播心理学这一学科, 强调了心理学与众多学科的联系和应用价值, 因此丁韪良在心理学术语创制上的历史功绩要逊于颜永京。颜永京于1882年将psychology翻译为“心才学”, 这是目前发现心理学学科的最早汉语翻译名称。     

经济全球化下中国传统家庭消费伦理观的嬗变

中国传统家庭消费伦理观良莠并存;现代社会消费伦理观优劣同在。面对经济全球化下中国传统家庭消费伦理观的嬗变,我们应该坚持马克思主义批判继承的原则,通过扬善弃恶,去伪存真,融汇整合,构建出既有历史传统又有时代气息,既有民族性特点,又面向世界当代中国家庭消费伦理观,从而实现传统家庭消费伦理观的现代转型。