《新语》校注补义

陆贾《新语》是西汉初年的重要作,但历来研究甚少。近年王利器先生汇旧注古本,撰为《新语校注》一书,甚为精当。本从校勘、注释两个方面对王进行了补正。     

千泉、白水城和恭御城考辨

根据汉籍史料和阿拉伯地理文献,区分了中外史料记述的不同,考辨了千泉、白水城和恭御城的方位。玄奘所言"千泉",当在今哈萨克斯坦的梅尔克;玄奘所言千泉与阿拉伯地理学家所记之千泉,并非指称同一地方。玄奘所记白水城与阿拉伯地理学家所记之白水城(Isfijab)不能相等同;玄奘所记"白水",似应"泉"字之讹,即为阿拉伯地理学家所记之千泉(Abarjaj);而玄奘所记"恭御城"是阿拉伯地理学家所记之白水城。     

Bentham on asceticism and tyranny

In the late 1810s, Jeremy Bentham wrote a set of texts entitled Not Paul, But Jesus, arguing against the religious authority of St. Paul, and the principle of asceticism he propagated. This paper argues that Bentham’s critique of the principle of asceticism was not only or primarily a religious one, but a political one. Bentham objected to the principle of asceticism because it could be used to provide practical and ideological support for tyranny. The principle of asceticism, as a principle which repudiated common pleasures, provided a ‘cloak’ for tyranny, in giving rulers a reason to establish laws which penetrated further into the everyday activities of men and women (than would have been justified under the principle of utility), and so enabled them to increase their power over their subjects. The principle of asceticism also enabled rulers to create the conditions of fear and social isolation, which encouraged obedience to their laws. The Not Paul texts and related writings can be read as an extended argument against the principle of asceticism as a political principle, and as a defence of common pleasures.     

Aretaeus on Migraine and Headache

Aretaeus of Cappadocia's classification of headache has been referred to for many centuries. Several Latin translations and an English translation (1856) of his books have been published in the past. We translated the pertinent texts on headache from the Greek text as published by Hude in 1958. In this paper, we present an annotated translation preceded by an outline of contemporary knowledge of headache from Celsus’ De Medicina. Although symptomatic headache was most probably involved in the types of headache identified by Aretaeus and the making of retrospective diagnoses is hazardous, the terms heterocrania and cephalea may be compared with what today we would call migraine and tension type headache respectively.     

Priestley and Kant on materialism

ABSTRACT

Kant maintains in the Critique of Pure Reason that both materialism and spiritualism cannot explain our existence. This paper argues that Kant’s relation to (psychological) materialism is more complex than this rejection suggests and is usually thought, and it evaluates this relation in a new and more positive light. The paper shows that Priestley anticipates some of Kant’s arguments against rationalist psychology, and that Kant’s rejection of materialism does not commit him to an immaterialist metaphysics of the soul. These arguments involve a discussion of the problem of the unity of consciousness and of notions such as simplicity and identity.     

关于摄影体裁的探讨

究竟摄影体裁如何划分,又有多少种呢?从体裁的定义上看,普遍说法是,"体裁指一切艺术作品的种类和样式,其艺术结构在历史上具有某种稳定的形式。"前苏联奥夫相尼柯夫在撰写的《简明美学辞典》中说,体裁"表示一门艺术内部分类的概念,每一种体裁都有一整套相对稳定的艺术手段,这些艺术手段就是体裁的独特辨认标志。     

《神仙传》校读札记

《神仙传》是一部道家的著作,其中的语言多有特色。本文以《四库全书》本为底本,参校他书,选择一些有代表性的讹误汇录成文。     

Reflections on War and Peace

Suganami, Hidemi, On the Causes of War
Kagan, Donald, On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace     

Diderot on Nature and Pantomime

The article examines Diderot’s view of the inconstancy of nature and its corollaries, the most obvious of which is the recognition of the impossibility of philosophy and natural history. For, if everything in nature is in a state of flux, no theory can keep up with its changes, reflect on them and capture anything more than an isolated moment. Diderot’s conception of nature has important consequences for his aesthetic theory. If the goal of the fine arts is to imitate nature, and if everything in nature undergoes constant change, does it not mean that art—no less than philosophy and natural history—is also impossible? By focusing on Diderot’s novel Rameau’s Nephew (1805), I argue that the lesson of the numerous mimes its eponymous hero performs in the novel is that the dynamics of nature can perhaps only be captured by mime rather than on canvas or in stone, both of which, as Diderot puts it, can represent only a fleeting moment.