Abstracts and Key Words

Abstract: Yang Guorong began his research on Wang Yangming’s Xinxue (philosophy of mind-heart) in the 1980s. Since then, his research has combined philosophy and history: not only his field of study has been extended, but also his methodology of dualistic analytic mechanism has matured. In recent years, Yang has formed his concrete metaphysics in his works such as the Human and the World: A Perspective from Event (Yishi guanzhi), thus has made xinxue studied by him in his early years turning to the practical actions of human beings, fully demonstrating and developing the relationship between heart-mind and things in traditional Chinese philosophy. Yang Guorong’s philosophical exploration has dedicated to the integration of Chinese and Western philosophies of ancient and modern periods, representing a cutting-edged theoretical self-consciousness, but his problematic awareness and ideological genealogy are slightly obscure.

Key words: Yang Guorong; concrete metaphysics; problematic consciousness; genealogy of ideas

Abstract: Inspired by Yang Guorong’s recently published book, Human and the World: A Perspective from Event（Yishi guanzhi）, this article, as a response to Yang’s view, tries to focus on two ontological questions: between heart-mind and event, which one is more fundamental to define what human is; which one is more logically prior. Compared with Yang’s standpoint indicated in his book, which is more “event-based”, my reflection on the two ontological question can be understood as a “heart-mind based.” This article not only advocates the “heart-mind based” ontology but also argues why this ontology is more reasonable and tenable.

Key words: heart-mind; event; heart-mind based ontology; event-based ontology

Abstract: Human Beings and the World: from the Perspective of “Human Affairs” (Yishi guanzhi) is the latest example and practice of horizon philosophy advocated by Yang Guorong for a long time, and also the newest theoretical crystallization of the Concrete Metaphysics. First, from the “horizon” of tracing the philosophical tradition from Feng Qi back to Jin Yuelin, we can sort out the change of horizon from “constructing affairs through the observation” to “thinking from the perspective of human affairs” . Second, the advancement of “thinking from the perspective of human affairs” in the realm of metaphysics and its philosophical efficacy can also get reflections and observations from the three ontological horizons of facts, things and events in the twentieth century analytical philosophy. In particular, there are some resonance points between “thinking from the perspective of human affairs” and the descriptive metaphysics of Strawson, which regards objects and people as basic particulars. Finally, from the horizon of “pragmatic turn” , “thinking from the perspective of human affairs” regarding “doing” as its origin echoes the orientation of thinking in the last development of Chinese and Western philosophy which aims to replace the classical ternary, and raises questions to be further studied for revisiting the relationship between knowledge and wisdom.

Key words: concrete metaphysics; horizon; “human affairs” ; descriptive metaphysics; pragmatic turn

Abstract: From the perspective of the general approach, a reasonable way of philosophical research is to be compatible with sensibility, understanding and reason, and grasp the existence of the world and people themselves in the form of interaction between the three. Philosophical research needs systematization, and its core concepts should also be carried out systematically. Although there is no need to pursue systematic philosophy in the current era, systematic research is indispensable for serious philosophical research. In terms of the relationship between philosophy and the history of philosophy, on the one hand, to truly understand the history of philosophy, we need to take philosophical theory as the background; on the other hand, the establishing of philosophical theory is also inseparable from the history of philosophy. In the field of philosophy, creative research can take multiple forms, which is not limited to the mode of academic succession. From the perspective of the relationship between “mind” and “affair” , the “affair” has a comprehensive form, which includes “mind” and its activities，and takes “human” as the main subject. In the interrelationship of human, minds and affairs, affairs exist because of human and human become itself based on affairs. When we examine the world from the perspective of philosophy, we must pay attention to the distinction between the original existence and the real world. At the same time, philosophy understands the world in a way that crosses boundaries, which reflects its different grasp of specific fields and objects from knowledge. However, crossing boundaries itself is achieved through various forms.

Key words: affair; thinking; concrete metaphysics

Abstract: In the thinking of pre-Qin Confucians, Yao was usually regarded as a sage king of supreme authority and virtue. But this figure appears in Zhuangzi differently. It is so especially in the inner chapters of Zhuangzi, where Yao is described as a disturbed figure. Through the five political fables relating to Yao, Zhuangzi transforms three motifs visible in the traditional accounts of the time of Yao and Shun, which are “the abdication of Yao” , “ridding four offenders” , “ensuring justice with punishments and laws” . Through its transformation, Zhuangzi on the one hand reveals the limits of worldly morality, brings to light an ontology of Tao on a larger scale, on the other hand by no means abandons Yao’s path, rather, setting it side by side with the otherworldly path of “Divine Man” in a framework of Tao conceived as something circular. Such conception of Tao is embodied in the ideal of “True Man” , who wonders both in the worldly and in the other-worldly spheres.

Key words: Yao; the sage king; Zhuangzi; the traditional accounts of Yao and Shun; true man

Abstract: The theoretical debate between E.P. Thompson who is on behalf of the first generation of the British new left, and Perry Anderson who is on behalf of the second generation of the New Left, has been gaining attention in the overall picture of contemporary Marxism abroad. The emphasis on “the Peculiarities of the English” by Thompson represents the tradition of British empiricism in his creation of theory of Marxism, while the reliance on Althusser’s thought by Anderson reflects the tradition of Marxist philosophy in continental Europe. The debate between the two is not only a generational clash of the British New Left, but also a reflection of the creative thinking and exploration of Marxists in developed capitalist countries on how to deal with the relationship between basic theoretical principles and specific national cultures in the process of Marxist theory’s universalization.

Key words: the British new left; E. P. Thompson; Perry Anderson; Althusser

Abstract: For the Ireland’s revolutionary road, Marx once believed that the Irish regime must be overthrown by the English working-class ascendancy. During the years between 1867 and 1870, however, Marx gradually changed his position, proposing that Ireland must achieve her independence through a social revolution, which could be the lever of the English and even the world proletarian revolution. This change shows that the lever of the world proletarian revolution, for Marx, is not applied in the advanced industrialized capitalist societies, which directly refers to the significance of the change to the Marx’s historical sketch.

Key words: Marx; Ireland; historical sketch

Abstract: Common Prosperity is an important part of the Marxist ideological and theoretical system, in which “the man in reality” , “l(fā)iberated people” , “l(fā)ife is the first premise of all history” and “people with allround and free development” , as the foundation are the backbone of Marxist historical logic. The insights of Marxism linking “free time” with people who develop comprehensively and freely provides us with the nature of stipulations and a dialectical materialist way of thinking for our discussion of “common prosperity” . China’s “common prosperity” is an integral part of the overall goal of mankind, which is not only a theoretical presupposition, but also a guide to social practice. In the meanwhile carefully sorting out the ideological context of “common prosperity” of Marxism will help us steadily advance the realization of this ambitious goal.

Key words: Marxism; common prosperity; historical logic; method of thinking; revelations

Abstract: Enactive intersubjectivity underlines the embodied nature of social interaction, and claims that we achieve the understanding of others through the second-person interaction in specific context. There are some important challenges that the theory of intersubjectivity needs to face. For instance, what on the earth makes the sophisticated interaction possible? What’s the cognitive mechanism underneath it? And how does the meaningless sensory input constitute the meaningful understanding of others? From the perspective of neural science, the predictive process mechanism of brain provides the biological base. From the broader perspective of pragmatic, the two dimension of “engagement” and “human affair” entail the intersubjectivity. This understanding of intersubjectivity in the practice of “Shi” brings us from the lower neural biological level to the higher human cooperative level.

Key words: intersubjectivity; enactive; Shi; self and other

Abstract: In contemporary political philosophy, the question of whether members of a nation are responsible for the past and present actions of their own nation has been heatedly debated by philosophers. David Miller, a representative of communitarianism, has constructed a theory of national responsibility to demonstrate that members of a nation are responsible for the actions of the nation. He points out that collectives conforming to the like-minded group model and the cooperative practice model should bear collective responsibility, and because the characteristics of national groups are consistent with the two models, national groups should have collective responsibility. His theory opens up new horizons in our understanding of national responsibility, but it still faces two pressing theoretical dilemmas: the question of whether the two models of collective responsibility are valid in their own right, and the question of whether national groups fit the characteristics of the two models.

Key words: national responsibility; collective responsibility; like-minded group model; cooperative practice model

Abstract: In this paper, we mainly discuss the logical and philosophical problems faced by the study of causality. We try to reveal the “The Trouble with Deduction” in causal inference. That is, we try to solve the problem between truth-preservation and meaning-preservation, and the difficulty between validity and information in causal inference. Then，we discuss how to keep balance between extension and intention appropriateness, expansion and non-expansion, and, monotonicity and non-monotonicity. After that, we reveal the limitations of modal approaches and counterfactual to causality. Finally, we show the advantages of causal structural model, and look forward to the further development of causal logic.

Key words: causal logic; causal inference; counterfactual approaches; causal structural model

Abstract: The philosophical problems hidden in scientific theories may not be resolved in speculative debates, and many disputes manifest their significance and effects diachronically in the subsequent development process. The debate between Frege and Hilbert on the foundation of geometry is an example of such debates. Although Hilbert’s axiomatic program and formalist theory of truth are not accepted by Frege, axiomatic geometry has its unique contribution compared with traditional geometric concepts. One of its typical manifestations is to reveal the essence of duality in geometry. The axiomatic thought finally leads to the model theory solution to this dispute, which has both the appearance of mathematics and the essence of philosophy.

Key words: axiomatization; duality; geometry; phenomenology

Abstract: Digital skills, as basic practice of human in the digital age, are interactive, adaptable, transferable and innovative. Under the perspective of epistemology of embodiment, digital skills tend to have an explanation of cognitive enactivism. And an account of objectivity by degree from the eyes of skillful knowledge can also be given. However, the actual digital skill gap has a negative impact on social practice. In this regard, it is helpful to overcome the gap problem to construct a normative framework of digital skills from the five provisions of available carriers, operable procedures, understandable symbols, flexible interaction and shared application criteria.

Key words: digital skills; epistemology of embodiment; digital gap