EXTENDED MEANING AND UNDERSTANDING IN THE HISTORY OF IDEAS

Many historians focus primarily on authors' “intended meanings.” Yet all textual interpreters, including historians, need a second kind of meaning. I call this idea “extended meaning,” a new name for an old idea: “P means Q” is the same as “P logically implies Q.” Extended and intended meaning involve different kinds of understanding: even if we grasp exactly what authors meant, we miss something important if we overlook their errors, for example. Crucially, extended and intended meaning are not alternatives: just as some parts of texts cannot be understood without historical analysis, so too some parts of texts cannot be understood without philosophical analysis. Indeed, some historians are adept at using extended meanings to recover intended meanings. But the failure to make this explicit has led many historians to undervalue philosophical analysis. This article thus applies the idea of extended meaning to three practical questions: whether we can deviate from authors' intended meanings, whether we can use anachronisms, and how we can use extended meanings to recover intended meanings. The idea of extended meaning thus strengthens our theoretical foundations and offers valuable practical tools.     

恩格斯对马克思主义的科学理解探析

恩格斯作为马克思主义的创立者之一,对马克思主义的科学理解主要体现在三个方面,即马克思主义是"完整的科学的世界观"、马克思主义"不是教义,而是方法"、马克思主义是"发展着的理论"。     

日本近现代文学研究的几个问题

本文结合我国日本文学研究实际,认为应该克服一些"自明"之见,与时俱进,提高这一领域研究水平,这对促进中日文化交流,加深两国人民的互相理解很有现实意义.构建和谐世界,中日关系是至关重要的.     

陕西千阳尚家岭秦汉建筑遗址初识

The architectural site dating to the Qin-Han Dynasty in the Shangiialing site of Qianyang County, is one of the best preserved building remains in the Qian River Valley during this time period. This architecture might have been used for near 200 years from the Late Warring States Period to the Middle Western Han Dynasty. Recent archaeological works provide significant information to further understanding of the style and characteristic of this building and to how it was renovated and reconstructed under the historical background of ＇ban cheng qinzhi ＇ （The Han Dynasty inherited systems from the Qin Dynasty）. Since the site is situated on an east-west major communication route, this architecture might have served as a ＇ligong bieguan ＇ （resort palace）, or functioned as a courier state and storage house simultaneously.     

徐一夔名号与被斩偏解辨正

天台徐一夔是元末明初的知名学者,一生以教书育人为业,是杭州府学声望卓著的教授。徐一夔传世的名字,是其官名,非其谱名,谱名已经轶失;近年研究徐一夔者或以始丰为其号,其实只是表示其乡里籍贯。稗史载徐一夔上表触怒朱元璋被斩,实系未成事实而被偏解作事实所致,系文人猎奇与发泄心理使然。     

幕末与明治时期日本人的上海认识——从高杉晋作的《游清五录》到远山景直的《上海》

对于幕末与明治时期的日本人而言,上海首先是中国的上海;同时上海也是世界、尤其是西洋的上海,租界区域出现了与此前的中国本土迥然相异的新的样态;再次是与日本紧密相关的上海,19世纪末期以后,在虹口一带形成了以日本居留民为主体的日本人社会。这样一个多元组合、多重叠加、既相对分离又互相交融、同时其经济政治文化的影响力日益凸显的都市,对于正在走向东亚乃至世界舞台的近代日本而言,无疑是一个巨大的存在,因此,这一时期日本人对于上海的认识,首先是对于以上海为媒介的中国的认识,其次是对于与上海相关的世界的认识,同时也是对于通过上海所体现出来的中日关系的认识因此,近代上海对于这一时期的日本人,实际上具有三层意义：观察中国的现场;透视世界的窗口;反观日本本身的泰照系,     

HISTORICAL UNDERSTANDING AND HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION AS CONTEXTUALIZATION

This article discusses the theoretical problems pertaining to the relationship between historical contextualization and historical understanding and interpretation. On the one hand, there is the view that documents need to be understood in relation to their historical context; on the other, it is not clear how a historian can get out of his or her own historical context in order to be able to engage with the conceptual frameworks, beliefs, or ways of reasoning that are radically different from his or her own. The paper proposes a resolution to this dilemma; its upshot is that historical understanding is constituted by contextualization.     

THE ANTHROPOCENE AND THE PLANET

Dipesh Chakrabarty's The Climate of History in a Planetary Age is, in three respects, far more than a synthesis of over a decade of pioneering conceptual work aimed at making sense of the Anthropocene/planetary predicament and its implications for historical understanding. First, the book makes visible an intellectual trajectory in which Chakrabarty's conceptual struggles with the Anthropocene gradually move from the centrality of the notion of the Anthropocene toward the centrality of the notion of the planet. Second, it highlights the relational complexities with which one needs to grapple when trying to make sense of the current predicament. Third, and finally, the book showcases a series of often overlapping conceptual distinctions that Chakrabarty has developed while navigating these complexities. Through a discussion of the above key aspects, this review essay highlights the achievements of The Climate of History in a Planetary Age and critically engages with its central themes. In dialogue with the book, it pays special attention to exploring the respective benefits and drawbacks of the notions of the Anthropocene and the planet, and to the character and role of human agency in the Anthropocene/planetary predicament. Finally, the essay concludes with a few thoughts concerning the question of what kind of a reinvention of historical understanding might be triggered, respectively, by the notions of the Anthropocene and the planet.     

Introduction: Some Significances of the Two Cultures Debate

The notion of the existence of two opposed cultures, one literary and one scientific, has a long pedigree going back to nineteenth century. However, it was C.P. Snow's formulation of the idea in 1959 and F.R. Leavis's 1962 critique, which brought it to the fore in cultural discourse, where it has more or less remained ever since. The papers in this special double issue of Interdisciplinary Science Reviews examine the debate and its legacies from a variety of perspectives, while this introduction seeks to contextualise the issues raised and draw some contemporary lessons.     

Exposing students to repeat photography: increasing cultural understanding on a short-term study abroad

Traditionally, repeat photography has been used to analyze land cover change. This paper describes how repeat photography may be used as a tool to enhance the short-term study abroad experience by facilitating cultural interaction and understanding. We present evidence from two cases and suggest a five-step repeat photography method for educators to use to increase participation and cultural interaction of students involved in fieldwork, long-haul fieldwork, and study abroad programs. We suggest that through the five steps developed in this paper that students' potential to understand and interact within the host culture is increased.