Pocock,Machiavelli and Political Contingency in Foreign Affairs: Republican Existentialism Outside (and Within) the City

SUMMARY

In this essay, inspired by J.G.A. Pocock's appropriation of Machiavelli's theory of political contingency, and building upon my previous engagements with Pocock's ‘republican existentialism’, I focus on the role played by ‘accidents’ in Machiavelli's analysis of war and foreign affairs within The Prince and the Discourses. In so doing, I consider the following issues: the ways through which a potential imperial hegemon might consolidate control over nearby lesser powers—and, conversely, how such less powerful polities might resist imperial encroachments on their autonomy; the contrasting military modes and orders characteristic of ancient and modern republics; and the extent to which Machiavelli actually thought that accidents in foreign affairs were ever truly ‘accidental’ in light of his determinations concerning well- versus badly ordered domestic institutions.     

WHAT IS A SCHOLARLY PERSONA? TEN THESES ON VIRTUES,SKILLS, AND DESIRES

What is the problem that “epistemic virtues” seek to solve? This article argues that virtues, epistemic and otherwise, are the key characteristics of “scholarly personae,” that is, of ideal‐typical models of what it takes to be a scholar. Different scholarly personae are characterized by different constellations of virtues and skills or, more precisely, by different constellations of commitments to goods (epistemic, moral, political, and so forth), the pursuit of which requires the exercise of certain virtues and skills. Expanding Hayden White's notion of “historiographical styles” so as to encompass not only historians' writings, but also their nontextual “doings,” the article argues that different styles of “being a historian”—a meticulous archival researcher, an inspired feminist scholar, or an outstanding undergraduate teacher—can be analyzed productively in terms of virtues and skills. Finally, the article claims that virtues and skills, in turn, are rooted in desires, which are shaped by the examples of others as well as by promises of reward. This makes the scholarly persona not merely a useful concept for distinguishing among different types of historians, but also a critical tool for analyzing why certain models of “being a historian” gain in popularity, whereas others become “old‐fashioned.”     

希腊神话语境中的"正义"

希腊神话内容异常丰富 ,在神话语境中蕴育了自然主义的忒弥斯正义和人为约定的狄刻正义两种话语体系 ,产生了最早的希腊“正义”思想。这种正义成为古代希腊文化的重要组成部分 ,开启了西方自然正义和契约正义的先河 ,成为德性伦理学的滥觞     

论贾谊的帝王之术

先秦诸子的道德之论,也就是帝王之术,同归于执本秉要,清虚自守。贾谊进一步阐明了这个观点,认为“道”是人君取得成功的最高政治法则,并且认为“道”的内容就是“善”。而贾谊道德论的实质是以“有为”为“无为”。为适应汉王朝大一统的政治需要,贾谊提出以“有为”的方法治理国家,实现老子提出的天下有道时无为而无不为的理想政治状态。     

唐代士大夫群体诚信之德的历史考察

具备文学素养,有知识,有能力,并具有强烈社会责任感的唐代士大夫群体,是唐代社会的精英阶层,他们很好地继承了中国传统的诚信观念。官僚士大夫秉承信为国本的政治理念,思想家们阐释食可去而信不可失的人生信条,史学家们将诚信化为善恶必书的治史原则,文人学士则将诚信融入激情飞扬的诗文之中。唐代士大夫的诚信思想,具有重要的研究价值。     

The re-examination of Chiang Kai-shek's returning virtue for malice policy towards Japan after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War

After victory in the Anti-Japanese War, Chiang Kai-shek issued the famous radio speech “Letter to Soldiers and Civilians of the Whole Nation as well as the Peoples of the World after the Victory of the Anti-Japanese War.” The main idea of this speech was long interpreted as “returning virtue for malice” (or “good for evil”), a basic principle of the Kuomintang's policy towards Japan. Many scholars who have considered the returning virtue for malice policy in the postwar period include the following major issues: first, China repatriated Japanese prisoners of war and the Japanese diaspora with mercy; second, China allowed the Tenno, or imperial, system to be preserved in Japan; third, China did not participate in the occupation of Japan; and fourth, China gave up the right to ask for war reparations from Japan. This article examines the above four issues to reevaluate the returning virtue for malice policy. The first issue seems to reflect the Chinese national character of being lenient with others. However, it was in fact due to Chiang's anti-Communist strategy and the declared policy of the United States of eradicating Japan's influence in China. With regard to the second issue, Chiang's attitude was merely to let the Japanese people make their own choice, while the fate of the Japanese Tenno system was entirely determined by the US occupation authority, on which Chiang had little influence. The third issue was mainly the outcome of Chiang's focus on domestic political struggle in the postwar era in China. As for war reparations, China actually made efforts to obtain them in the beginning, but had to give up its right eventually. The decision-making process in the Kuomintang government was restrained by American policy and subordinated to Japanese pressure. Thus, it is not persuasive to summarize the basic principle of Kuomintang postwar policy towards Japan as returning virtue for malice.     

‘Hold the Heathen Hammer High’: representation,re-enactment and the construction of ‘Pagan’ heritage

Viking Metal, Pagan Metal and their relatives represent subgenres of Black and Folk Metal characterised by their historical and mythological references, their incorporation of folk melodies alongside traditional music and instruments, and the use of contemporary material culture and dress. Like earlier folk-rock traditions, these subgenres have often steered an interesting course between the hedonistic tendencies which can accompany rock music (the ‘rock “n” roll lifestyle’) and an educational role: metal as heritage and specifically as heritage interpretation. In this paper, the authors explore these various connections through conversations with members of two prominent bands (Týr and Heidevolk) who gave research seminars at the University of York in 2012 and 2013. The connections between music making, landscape, performativity and narration are prominent in both cases, and form the basis of this study.     

生命理念的投射：嵇康与《圣贤高士传赞》

在三国时期的人物传记作品中,嵇康的《圣贤高士传赞》是第一部以“高士”命名的类传,嵇康采摭寓言、假说,收罗其所谓的“圣贤高士”,借他们的行事,寄寓与投射自我的生命理念。这部作品对后世有很大影响,后世模仿其体例,沿袭其题材的传记不断出现,代有其作,可以说,嵇康之作是有开路之功的。     

Democratic Civility and the Dangers of Niceness

Contemporary debates about the virtue of civility oscillate between anxious calls for more of it in contemporary politics, as a panacea for all manner of religious-political conflict, and wholesale debunkings of civility talk, as an ideological fog intended to induce conformity to the terms of unjust social arrangements. I argue that this oscillation should come as no surprise, given the term's fraught theological and political associations in the history of modern ethical thought. This history left civility with an ambivalent legacy, one associated with democratic respect on the one hand, and hypocrisy and deception, on the other. Through a reading of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” I try to rescue civility from this oscillation, by explicating it as an ancillary virtue: the part of justice that disposes citizens to confront unjust relationships in ways that leave open the possibility of relational repair. When explicated with due care and set in an interactive context of other virtues – including courage, prudence and toleration – civility can be distinguished from its semblance, niceness. This distinction helps us understand civility, properly understood, as neither a cure-all for democratic conflict nor an ideological device of conflict suppression, but rather as an ancillary, but important, excellence of character helping to sustain democratic relationships of mutual recognition.     

THE VIRTUE OF A HISTORIAN: A DIALOGUE BETWEEN HERMAN PAUL AND CHINESE THEORISTS OF HISTORY

This article reflects on the role of scholarly virtues in the Chinese theory of history and compares it with the recent approach proposed by Herman Paul. The first three parts reconstruct what might be called a “Chinese virtue epistemology of history,” starting from Confucian views on sincerity in writing history and then turns to concepts of an “unbiased mind” and the “responsibility of a historian.” The latter ideas were developed by Zhang Xuecheng (1738–1801), who introduced the concept of “the virtue of a historian (shide),” treating it as a sympathetic understanding toward the narrated characters. Interpretations of shide changed along with modern Chinese theorists of history, some of whom elaborated on it in the positivist manner. Thereafter, the article outlines Paul's view on the function of epistemic virtues in the formation of “historical persona.” In the summary, I will draw upon the main similarities and differences between Paul's position and the traditional Chinese view in order to point out the main directions for further research on this topic.