中国哲学是如何可能的?——再谈中国哲学的合法性危机

最近20多年来围绕中国哲学合法性的争论,背后反映的是当代中国学统重建的范式困境,以及当代中国学人的精神贫困。中国传统学问中被当成哲学的一些成分(如儒学),从形态上更接近于宗教而非哲学,因此,从“是哲学”的角度为中国传统哲学合法性辩护是成问题的,但这并不妨碍我们从“有哲学”的角度谈论“中国古代哲学”或“儒家哲学”,就像我们谈论基督教哲学、佛教哲学那样,指现代人从哲学立场研究古人、从中建构出哲学。中国哲学作为一个现代学科的诞生,是在传统学问体系衰退后,国人在社会现实和人生观方面急需寻找新的“指导原理”的产物,其终极指向其实是意识形态和精神信仰建设,后者未必能称为哲学。因此,中国哲学合法性危机的根源,不在于中国古代“某学”可否称为哲学,而在于:在将古人的功夫传统、德性实践转化为概念辨析和理论总结的过程中,我们没有找到新的意义之源,尚未建立令人满意的学科范式。

Immanent Transcendence in Chinese and Western Process Thinking＊

The main classical schools of Chinese philosophy can be characterized as process thinking and their concepts are related to those of Whitehead＇s philosophy of organism. （Neo-）Confucianism, Daoism, and Chinese Buddhism all find their roots in the Yi ding with a strong emphasis on human experience of the flux of time. These Eastern and Western world views allow attempts to consciously experience experiential reality in terms of immanent transcendence. These attempts are discussed also by considering the functioning of the human brain, emphasizing the importance of brain asymmetry.

Optical Sensing： the Last Frontier for Enabling Intelligence in Our Wired up World and Beyond

Consigned to the shadows of telecommunications, optical sensing has often taken a back seat in a young person＇s mind when considering the importance of photonics, or optics, to the advancement of the society and of knowledge. Here, I touch on briefly how broad optical sensing and sensing generally has become and how and why it is becoming the catalyst for the convergence of many technologies and in the process raising significant philosophical questions about the transformation of our society and indeed ourselves. In doing so I touch on many of the complexities in real life that influence the breakthroughs we see today, including a healthy speculation and critique on our society and an awareness of the motivations to improve it that drive many of them.