Homeric Resonances

Abstract

This “Homeric” appreciation of Catherine Zuckert's Plato's Philosophers focuses on the significance of the revised chronology for reading the Platonic dialogues and how this changes the conventional understanding of the relation between Plato and Socrates: Plato become Socrates' biographer, not his replacement.     

Two Theories of Toleration: Locke versus Mill

Abstract

In her book, Zuckert presents a new interpretation of the Platonic corpus based on the internal dramatic chronology of all the dialogues. According to Zuckert, once the dialogues are ordered in this way, then it is possible to understand Plato's story of the development of Socratic philosophy, especially in relation to the other non-Socratic philosophers: Parmenides, Timaeus, the Eleatic Stranger, and the Athenian Stranger. For Plato, Socratic philosophy is superior to these other types of philosophy because of its acute understanding of both the limitations and the erotic character of human knowledge. It is only with his account of erôs in the Symposium that Socrates was able to account for the ways in which the eternal and intelligible ideas of the noble, the just, and the good could come to be exemplified in the life of mortal human beings, via the cooperative practice of philosophic virtue.     

Plato's Socrates: One Among Many,but Preeminent

Abstract

Catherine H. Zuckert has written a monumental work on Plato's corpus that offers a new framework for understanding his dialogues. Not only does she trace Plato's presentation of Socrates' development over time, but she also shows how Plato uses other philosophic interlocutors to contribute to his philosophic project. Central themes include Socrates' discovery of erôs, the unity of virtue, and the place of teaching in philosophy, and the relation between intelligible ideas and sensible experience.     

Teaching Political Science in China: Observations and Suggestions from a Foreign Visitor

Abstract

In responding to the other participants in the Symposium on Plato's Philosophers I attempt to clarify the reasons for, and the results of, my attempt to bring out the interrelations among the dialogues in order to determine what Plato thought. Recognizing that the indications of the dramatic dates of some the dialogues are controversial, I argue that the dates point to an over-arching narrative–the story of the rise, development, and limitations of Socratic philosophy. Plato uses his other philosophers—the Athenian Stranger, Parmenides, Timaeus, and the Eleatic Stranger—to bring out the problems that gave rise to Socratic philosophy and the limitations of his responses. Plato makes Socrates his “hero,” because Socrates provides the best account of the human beings who engage in the search for wisdom. By contrasting him with the other philosophers, Plato dramatizes the insoluble problems that make philosophy always a search for wisdom.     

Friendship as a Political Challenge

Abstract

Blitz argues for the necessity and possibility of political philosophy by uncovering its origins in the thought of Plato. By tracing its emergence from the political and moral, Blitz explains the nature of philosophy.     

A Realist Response to the Appeal for Pacifism

Abstract

Political philosophy is a discipline related to all other disciplines in a manner that prevents it from becoming autonomous but at the same time not absorbed into other disciplines. When political philosophy ceases to be itself, other disciplines rush in to take its place and thereby themselves undermine their own being.     

On the Degeneration of Public Philosophy in America: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

Mark Blitz’s Plato’s Political Philosophy is reviewed in this article with special attention to two recurring themes. The first is the relation of parts to wholes and, especially, how the knowledge of parts and wholes in general and of political parts and wholes in particular relate to the philosophic attempt to know the whole itself. The second theme is that of philosophy’s relation to piety and, in particular, how the attempt to know the whole, as understood by Blitz, relates to the fundamental opposition between piety and philosophy. Attention to these themes, the author argues, helps to explain peculiarities of Blitz’s approach, especially his greater emphasis on articulating the entire “realm of political philosophy” than on explicating individual dialogues and his tendency to connect and divide Platonic thoughts, themes, and problems rather than to bore into individual Socratic problems.     

MYTH IN HISTORY,PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AS MYTH: ON THE AMBIVALENCE OF HANS BLUMENBERG'S INTERPRETATION OF ERNST CASSIRER'S THEORY OF MYTH

This essay explores the different interpretations proposed by Ernst Cassirer and Hans Blumenberg of the relation between Platonic philosophy and myth as a means of bringing to light a fundamental divergence in their respective conceptions of what precisely myth is. It attempts to show that their conceptions of myth are closely related to their respective assumptions concerning the historical significance of myth and regarding the sense of history more generally. Their divergent conceptions of myth and of history, I argue, are at the same time not simply matters of abstract speculation, but spring from fundamental presuppositions concerning myth's political significance. The present elucidation aims not only to set in relief one or another of the ways in which Cassirer or Blumenberg understood myth, nor even to present Blumenberg's critical reception of Cassirer's theories, but above all to contribute to the interpretation of the political implications of myth and of its historical potency in our contemporary epoch.     

PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AFTER 1945: A BIBLIOMETRIC STUDY

Much has been said about what philosophy of history should be. This bibliometric assessment of research in the philosophy of history examines what scholars in this field have actually produced. The study covers a dataset—a subsection of the bibliography of the International Network for Theory of History—of 13,953 books, articles, book chapters, dissertations, and other scholarly publications, encompassing materials written in seven different languages published between 1945 and 2014. This material was classified according to a multilayered system of taxonomy consisting of keywords representative of themes discussed in the field. Separate quantitative analyses were made to elucidate characteristics about the publication outputs in the field in the different language groups. Changes in paradigm, often referred to as “turns” or “trends,” have been mapped in this study, according to a quantitative analysis of the most recurrent keywords within a five‐year interval, which give an indication of the most debated themes in each period. ?Religion/theology/secularization? is the most frequent keyword during the period 1945 to 1969, followed by ?Marxism/historical‐materialism?¹ from 1970 to 1984, in what can be considered a second period of the field. Although many of the key publications of the linguistic turn were written within this second period, our dataset shows that it is not until the third period (1985–2014) that their writing goes on to influence other authors in the field.     

革命与生意——以辛亥革命时期的上海为例

From 1911 to 1913, in big streets and small lanes, in famous parks and thriving stores, and in tea houses and grand restaurants located in such cities as Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing and Wuchang, numerous business opportunities were born out of the Revolution of 1911. By using the political giants and military leaders around Shanghai, business firms skillfully dealt with the difficulties of the continually changing political situation and managed to keep their businesses afloat, succeeding in their response to the consumption demands of the public. It can be argued that the Revolution of 1911 played a distinct role in the development of businesses in Shanghai during that time. __________ Translated by Zhong Chen from Shilin 史林 (Historical Review), 2008, (3): 137–150     

贵州辛亥革命的再认识

从贵州辛亥革命前贵州省情：“新政”之于贵州社会的影响,乡绅、绅商、立充派的作用的重新认识等方面切入,说明贵州辛亥革命的发生是社会共识的形成,几种主要社会势力合力作用的结果。     

宋代经学著作雕版印刷述论

经学是整个封建社会神圣不可侵犯的统治学说。时至宋世,作为儒家经典合称的“十三经”完全确立。并与进入黄金时代的雕版印刷事业紧紧相连。宋代统治阶级的意愿、士人的经学研究状况以及普遍的社会风气作为三大社会因素。共同给予当时经学著作的雕版印刷以直接而重大的影响。而官刻本、家刻本和坊刻本则作为雕版印刷版本鼎足而立的三大系统,在经学著作的长期刊印过程中,不仅形成了自己的一些特点,而且大大推进着雕版印刷事业的发展。在整个宋代文化史上,经学著作的雕版印刷对于传播经学知识、普及经学思想所作出的贡献是不可磨灭的。     

多维视野中的"革命"--西方"革命学"研究历程评介

20世纪的西方学术在融合和分化的大背景下,特别是在西方现实需要的强大推动下,兴起了众多交叉学科和研究领域。如“现代化”理论一样,“革命”也是西方学者多角度、多层面地加以探讨的活跃领域之一。西方学者真正以比较客观、公正的态度研究“革命”是自俄国十月革命之后,迄今为止大致经历自然史阶段、一般理论、结构—功能理论和行为主义革命理论等四个阶段。其研究方法和取向各不相同,反映了西方“革命”研究的多维视野。     

救援、革命、外交——华工联合会研究

华工联合会原名中华旅俄联合会,1917年由在俄学习的中国留学生发起成立。成立以后,华工联合会对第一次世界大战时期进入俄国的华工提供了大量帮助。1918年底,华工联合会转变为“无产主义者组织”,它积极对在俄华工进行革命宣传,建立起与中国境内革命组织之间的联系,促进了中国革命事业的发展。此外,华工联合会还促成中国政府与苏维埃俄国之间进行对话,在俄中两国的外交活动中发挥了重要的作用。本文依据大量史料,追溯了旅俄华工联合会在救援、革命和外交等方面做出的卓越贡献,对华工联合会这一以往较少引人注意的华侨组织进行了深入的探讨与研究。     

重评共产国际指导中国大革命的路线

中国大革命是在联共政治局和共产国际直接指导下进行的。在此期间 ,联共政治局会议专门讨论中国革命问题 1 2 2次 ,做出了 73 8个决定。指导中国大革命的基本路线和方针、政策 ,几乎全部来自莫斯科 ,并且由莫斯科派驻中国的代表、顾问亲自执行 ;只有一小部分是在他们的代表严密监督下由陈独秀为首的中共中央执行。 1 92 3— 1 92 5年 ,莫斯科提出的路线基本上是正确的 ;1 92 5年秋开始发生右倾化的转变 ,最后导致了大革命的失败。     

两汉用玉思想研究之一——辟邪厌胜思想

笔者在对汉代玉器进行综合考察时,发现在丧葬、佩饰、日用及陈设用玉中,有许多玉器无论造型或纹饰都有一定的辟邪厌胜之意。本文通过对这类玉器的研究,试图从玉器角度分析看待当时社会流行的辟邪厌胜思想,辟邪厌胜意义也是汉代用玉思想中的一个重要方面。     

"文革史学"初探--以中国近代史研究为例

“文革史学”是指1966-1976年“文化大革命”期间中国“史学”的发展和演变的历史,它既是中国史学史、也是“文革”研究的重要组成部分。“文革史学”是动乱年代政治运动的特殊产物,是中国史学史上极为黑暗的一页,给中国史学蒙上了极大耻辱。它截断了中国史学的优良传统,并离群索居,与不断前进的世界史学背道而驰;中国史学成了政治史学、影射史学的代名词,失去了作为一门科学的独立性与尊严。     

俄国革命中的立宪会议问题

立宪会议问题对于1917年俄国革命进程具有重大影响。立宪会议被赋予解决所有迫切问题的重负,承载了人民群众的主要期待和希望,但临时政府受继续进行战争的政策牵制,没有把它作为紧迫的任务来解决,因而延缓了和平、土地、民族等迫切问题的解决。十月前后布尔什维克对立宪会议的态度从积极主张到彻底否定,这一变化除了现实政治原因之外,也有思想理论上的根源。而俄国社会、经济、文化的相对落后,是影响立宪会议命运的深层因素。     

论军队在率亥革命中的作用及影响

辛亥革命在中国近代史上具有光彩夺目的一页,军队在其中所扮演的精彩角色,是清代以来所未曾有的。对于军队在辛亥革命中的地位和作用问题,长期以来史学界并没有充分的认识,评价也明显过低。本文认为,军队在辛亥革命中发挥了主力军的作用,革命的主力军不是别的什么群体,而是军人,包括新军、民军、巡防队、警察和学生等,这些问题直接影响到学术界对于辛亥革命性质的探讨;而革命发生后军权势力的扩张又严重影响着近代中国社会的发展,对于这些问题的讨论有利于探清辛亥革命的一些重大问题。     

刀客与陕西辛亥革命

刀客是一种带有地域色彩的绿林,主要存在于关中地区。陕西辛亥革命期间,革命党人与刀客等势力联合反清。西安起义前,井勿幕、胡景翼等同盟会会员积极与刀客相结纳．发展革命势力。在陕西各县市的光复过程中,刀客发挥了重要作用。陕西的光复,是革命派与刀客等势力联合运动的结果。但由于其在政治上的不稳定性,有些刀客站到了革命的对立面,有些在参加革命后沦为军阀或其爪牙,成为革命者镇压的对象。