Indifference towards national identity: what young adults think about being English and British*

ABSTRACT. National identity should be sharply distinguished from nationalism. People speak by reference to a general and assumed membership of a country, and routine markers of behaviour and style may exhibit this sense of membership. This matter‐of‐fact acceptance of ‘national’ membership does not guarantee enthusiasm for the ‘nation’ and it cannot be taken as a signal of nationalism, banal or otherwise. While theoretical statements and assumptions often suggest that national identity is fundamental to individuals in contemporary societies, empirical investigation of people talking about national identity uncovers some broad strands of indifference and hostility towards national identity in general, and towards British and English identities in particular. This may reflect young adults' wish not to appear ‘nationalist’ just as many would wish not to appear racist. But the level of apathy and antagonism towards national identity among young adults suggests that we ought to reconsider any assumption that national identity is ‘normally’ a powerful and important marker, embraced with enthusiasm.     

The May Fourth Movement as interpreted by the Chinese intelligentsia of the 1930s

Because of its intricate nature, the May Fourth Movement is bound to have been interpreted from a variety of angles with the passage of time. During the 1930s, the circle of Chinese intellectuals developed a diversity of interpretations that viewed the May Fourth Movement as, for example, a movement for personal liberty, an anti-feudal movement, a bourgeois cultural movement, or a movement of a quite complex character. In the meantime there also appeared the analogy of the May Fourth Movement to the Renaissance and Enlightenment. These interpretations – and analogies as well – actually imply the interpreters' own mentality and signify their own thinking. The concept of the May Fourth Movement conceived by one school of interpreters often changed with the actual needs of that school and hence turned out to be inconsistent. Nonetheless, the notions of the May Fourth Movement as fleshed out by different schools might also be seen to have something in common. Interpretations of this nature informed the essence of the May Fourth Movement and, to a further extent, displayed the trajectory and trend of history.     

Anatomy of a Social Virtue

Abstract

Humanity is radically and pervasively interdependent. Catholic social teaching uses solidarity as the lens through which to critically examine our interdependence. Solidarity is multifaceted, at once a feeling, an attitude, and a duty, with each of these building to culminate in the virtue. How is solidarity a virtue? What are the habits and practices by which it is cultivated? To whom does it apply? And what, if any, are corresponding vices? This article proposes that solidarity is both an individual virtue and a social virtue. By offering an examination of the anatomy of this social virtue, this article will propose the scope and boundaries of solidarity, corresponding sets of vices for this virtue, and the cultivation of this virtue by communities through practicing respect for human rights.     

Modern China's cultural transformation – problems and prospects

Modern China's cultural transformation has been a long, torturous, and complex process that even now has yet to come to a conclusion. Previous publications on China's intellectual and cultural history have touched on this issue to some extent, but there have been few wide‐ranging, focused, and systematic studies. This article is based on the author's systematic research into this question and argues that the Chinese people, burdened with the weight of a long history and with deeply ingrained cultural traditions, must negotiate the complexities and uncertainties of the present as they adapt to a new era and build a new culture. Questions of culture manifest themselves in many different ways: in distinctions between Eastern and Western culture and between “Chinese” and “barbarian”, in the different resources and possibilities inherent in ancient and modern culture, in the fate of China's ethnic minorities, and in the relationship between material and spiritual “civilization”. In addition, social conditions can pose almost insurmountable problems in the process of cultural transformation. These problems can only be solved when the whole nation is engaged in the practice of study and struggle, and the cultures of the world become more intimately linked through communication and the flow of ideas. Even then, solutions will not be quick in coming and the process of cultural change is necessarily gradual in nature. The transformation of China's culture in recent times and the modernization of the country as a whole are fundamentally concurrent processes that show a marked tendency towards globalization and individualism. Thus, externally, China must adhere to the idea of greater cultural openness while, internally, we must support the liberation of the people, and foster a positive creative spirit to the fullest potential.     

清季民初杨朱思想的活化

杨朱思想,是先秦道家思想的重要代表,其核心观点是"存我为贵,侵物为贱"、"损一毫,利天下,不与也。悉天下,奉一身,不取也"、"人人不损一毫,人人不利天下"、"全性保真,不以物累形"。杨朱之学在战国时代风靡一时,此后堙没,长期以来被指责为"自私自利"、"纵欲放荡"、"廉耻不立"、"无君无父"。清季民初,杨朱思想再度活化,风行一时,这是中西学会通的产物,是西方现代性挑战的一种本土回应,是近代中国先进之士民权、权利、自由主义、个人主义追求的本土文化表达,由此,两个"大变局"时代的思想得到共鸣。     

A Review of “Never Enough”

Abstract

Three of Alasdair MacIntyre's published essays help to illuminate his critique of modern liberal individualism Liberalism, in the name of freedom, inculcates indifference to the developmental social needs of human agents, denies the ties that bind members of society to the common good, and prevents political communities from pursuing common goods effectively. Rather than freeing individuals for self-government, liberalism leaves the government of the community's goods to unacknowledged elites. Liberation demands self-government and self-government requires the virtues, which are formed, in part, through the community's shared pursuit of common goods.