This paper expands Prasenjit Duara’s proposal that Asian religions and philosophies offer hope for a sustainable future.After outlining Duara’s sociology of history that describes the crisis of global modernity in t...This paper expands Prasenjit Duara’s proposal that Asian religions and philosophies offer hope for a sustainable future.After outlining Duara’s sociology of history that describes the crisis of global modernity in terms of three global changes,namely the rise of non-western nations,the crisis of climate change,and the decline of religious or transcendent sources of authority,Duara proposes that grassroots organizations coupled with Asian religious and philosophical beliefs and practices offer different ways of understanding the relationship between the person and the environment,and between our universal-planetary interests and our national interests.Drawing from Asian and Pacific indigenous teachings,I propose a type of depth ecology called“existential parity”that all things and creatures have value,generating a moral corollary called the“existential commitment”that humans take responsibility for the environment and each other.The existential commitment offers an environmental ethics that promotes sustainable agriculture to feed the world’s population.Pacific agroforestry practices can be implemented in urban settings to help mitigate climate change and food shortages.展开更多
The rapid developments of science and technology in China over recent decades, particularly in biomedical research, have brought forward serious challenges regarding ethical governance. Recently, Jian-kui HE, a Chines...The rapid developments of science and technology in China over recent decades, particularly in biomedical research, have brought forward serious challenges regarding ethical governance. Recently, Jian-kui HE, a Chinese scientist, claimed to have "created" the first gene-edited babies, designed to be naturally immune to the human immunodeficiency virus(HIV). The news immediately triggered widespread criticism, denouncement, and debate over the scientific and ethical legitimacy of HE’s genetic experiments. China’s guidelines and regulations have banned germline genome editing on human embryos for clinical use because of scientific and ethical concerns, in accordance with the international consensus. HE’s human experimentation has not only violated these Chinese regulations, but also breached other ethical and regulatory norms. These include questionable scientific value, unreasonable risk-benefit ratio, illegitimate ethics review, invalid informed consent, and regulatory misconduct. This series of ethical failings of HE and his team reveal the institutional failure of the current ethics governance system which largely depends on scientist’s self-regulation. The incident highlights the need for urgent improvement of ethics governance at all levels, the enforcement of technical and ethical guidelines, and the establishment of laws relating to such bioethical issues.展开更多
《成为罪人：一个巴布亚新几内亚社会中的基督教与道德困扰》（Becoming Sinners：Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society）（Robbins,Joel,2004）是西方社会科学界新近出现的“基督教民族志”中较为突出的一本...《成为罪人：一个巴布亚新几内亚社会中的基督教与道德困扰》（Becoming Sinners：Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society）（Robbins,Joel,2004）是西方社会科学界新近出现的“基督教民族志”中较为突出的一本.巴布亚新几内亚,本是人类学田野研究的“圣地”,从巴特（FredrikBarth）开始,先后有数位学者围绕着仪式、生态.展开更多
The paper submits surprising results of systematical investigating a formal-ethical aspect of conjoining Wittgenstein＇s, Moore＇s, Parmenides＇, GSdel＇s, and Lukasiewicz＇s ideas. A critique of Wittgenstein＇s criti...The paper submits surprising results of systematical investigating a formal-ethical aspect of conjoining Wittgenstein＇s, Moore＇s, Parmenides＇, GSdel＇s, and Lukasiewicz＇s ideas. A critique of Wittgenstein＇s critique of the natural language of ethics and of metaphysics results in submitting and elaborating a new paradigm of metaphysics as formal axiology （in particular, formal ethics）. In result, the classical metaphysics and ethics of moral rigor are represented as two-valued algebraic systems of metaphysics and formal ethics respectively. By means of this algebraic model, all the well-known scandal-making metaphysical tenets of Parmenides are produced as translations of corresponding algebraic equations from the symbolic language to the natural one. At the level of submitted discrete mathematical model of formal axiology, Parmenides＇ metaphysical （formal-axiological） concepts ＂consistency＂ and ＂inconsistency,＂ ＂completeness＂ and ＂incompleteness＂ are compared with G^del＇s logic ones. Formal-axiological meanings of the words ＂consistency,＂ ＂incompleteness,＂ ＂being,＂ ＂nonbeing,＂ ＂movement,＂ ＂knowledge,＂ ＂belief,＂ etc., are considered as moral-evaluation-functions determined by one moral-evaluation-variable. Binary moral-evaluation-functions are studied as well. The functions are precisely defined by tables. Precise definitions of ＂formal-axiological-equivalence,＂ ＂formal-axiological-law,＂ and ＂formal-axiological contradiction＂ are submitted. Thus, one can either generate or examine formal-axiological equations of algebra of metaphysics by ＂computing＂ relevant compositions of moral-value-functions. Using this ＂moral-value-table-computation-technique,＂ one can arrive to a surprising conclusion that both the notorious sentence of Moore （called ＂epistemic paradox＂） and the incompleteness sentence of Godel are formally-axiologically inconsistent ones： Hence, they are formally-axiologically equivalent. For overcoming the negative psychological effect of such a surprising result, the author has used graphic models explicating the famous Lukasiewicz＇s statement ＂Logic is morality of thought and speech.＂展开更多
Proverbs which are short witty traditional oral expressions handed down from generation to generation as a common heritage is also believed to be true expressions of the Hausa people＇s philosophy. This philosophy is ...Proverbs which are short witty traditional oral expressions handed down from generation to generation as a common heritage is also believed to be true expressions of the Hausa people＇s philosophy. This philosophy is clad in different ways by the people as they are continuously at work to give meanings to their creative activities. Proverbs are one of the most relevant expressions of human wisdom and knowledge of nature, psychology, and reality for the Hausa people of Northern Nigeria; however, the images that are presented in the proverbs are culturally defined and they may differ from place to place, as well as from generation to generation. Proverbs are capable of a variety of meanings, according to how and when they are used. These findings have revealed that many popular and interesting Hausa proverbs tell a condensed story; these stories give vivid illustrations which help the hearer understand the proverbs. In this paper, the author attempts a deep intellectual analysis into the story-lines behind the emergence of some selected Hausa proverbs, with a view to comprehending and propagating embedded ideas and cultural principles or philosophies that may be relevant for contemporary social usage.展开更多
文摘This paper expands Prasenjit Duara’s proposal that Asian religions and philosophies offer hope for a sustainable future.After outlining Duara’s sociology of history that describes the crisis of global modernity in terms of three global changes,namely the rise of non-western nations,the crisis of climate change,and the decline of religious or transcendent sources of authority,Duara proposes that grassroots organizations coupled with Asian religious and philosophical beliefs and practices offer different ways of understanding the relationship between the person and the environment,and between our universal-planetary interests and our national interests.Drawing from Asian and Pacific indigenous teachings,I propose a type of depth ecology called“existential parity”that all things and creatures have value,generating a moral corollary called the“existential commitment”that humans take responsibility for the environment and each other.The existential commitment offers an environmental ethics that promotes sustainable agriculture to feed the world’s population.Pacific agroforestry practices can be implemented in urban settings to help mitigate climate change and food shortages.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.L1824000)
文摘The rapid developments of science and technology in China over recent decades, particularly in biomedical research, have brought forward serious challenges regarding ethical governance. Recently, Jian-kui HE, a Chinese scientist, claimed to have "created" the first gene-edited babies, designed to be naturally immune to the human immunodeficiency virus(HIV). The news immediately triggered widespread criticism, denouncement, and debate over the scientific and ethical legitimacy of HE’s genetic experiments. China’s guidelines and regulations have banned germline genome editing on human embryos for clinical use because of scientific and ethical concerns, in accordance with the international consensus. HE’s human experimentation has not only violated these Chinese regulations, but also breached other ethical and regulatory norms. These include questionable scientific value, unreasonable risk-benefit ratio, illegitimate ethics review, invalid informed consent, and regulatory misconduct. This series of ethical failings of HE and his team reveal the institutional failure of the current ethics governance system which largely depends on scientist’s self-regulation. The incident highlights the need for urgent improvement of ethics governance at all levels, the enforcement of technical and ethical guidelines, and the establishment of laws relating to such bioethical issues.
文摘《成为罪人：一个巴布亚新几内亚社会中的基督教与道德困扰》（Becoming Sinners：Christianity and Moral Torment in a Papua New Guinea Society）（Robbins,Joel,2004）是西方社会科学界新近出现的“基督教民族志”中较为突出的一本.巴布亚新几内亚,本是人类学田野研究的“圣地”,从巴特（FredrikBarth）开始,先后有数位学者围绕着仪式、生态.
文摘The paper submits surprising results of systematical investigating a formal-ethical aspect of conjoining Wittgenstein＇s, Moore＇s, Parmenides＇, GSdel＇s, and Lukasiewicz＇s ideas. A critique of Wittgenstein＇s critique of the natural language of ethics and of metaphysics results in submitting and elaborating a new paradigm of metaphysics as formal axiology （in particular, formal ethics）. In result, the classical metaphysics and ethics of moral rigor are represented as two-valued algebraic systems of metaphysics and formal ethics respectively. By means of this algebraic model, all the well-known scandal-making metaphysical tenets of Parmenides are produced as translations of corresponding algebraic equations from the symbolic language to the natural one. At the level of submitted discrete mathematical model of formal axiology, Parmenides＇ metaphysical （formal-axiological） concepts ＂consistency＂ and ＂inconsistency,＂ ＂completeness＂ and ＂incompleteness＂ are compared with G^del＇s logic ones. Formal-axiological meanings of the words ＂consistency,＂ ＂incompleteness,＂ ＂being,＂ ＂nonbeing,＂ ＂movement,＂ ＂knowledge,＂ ＂belief,＂ etc., are considered as moral-evaluation-functions determined by one moral-evaluation-variable. Binary moral-evaluation-functions are studied as well. The functions are precisely defined by tables. Precise definitions of ＂formal-axiological-equivalence,＂ ＂formal-axiological-law,＂ and ＂formal-axiological contradiction＂ are submitted. Thus, one can either generate or examine formal-axiological equations of algebra of metaphysics by ＂computing＂ relevant compositions of moral-value-functions. Using this ＂moral-value-table-computation-technique,＂ one can arrive to a surprising conclusion that both the notorious sentence of Moore （called ＂epistemic paradox＂） and the incompleteness sentence of Godel are formally-axiologically inconsistent ones： Hence, they are formally-axiologically equivalent. For overcoming the negative psychological effect of such a surprising result, the author has used graphic models explicating the famous Lukasiewicz＇s statement ＂Logic is morality of thought and speech.＂
文摘Proverbs which are short witty traditional oral expressions handed down from generation to generation as a common heritage is also believed to be true expressions of the Hausa people＇s philosophy. This philosophy is clad in different ways by the people as they are continuously at work to give meanings to their creative activities. Proverbs are one of the most relevant expressions of human wisdom and knowledge of nature, psychology, and reality for the Hausa people of Northern Nigeria; however, the images that are presented in the proverbs are culturally defined and they may differ from place to place, as well as from generation to generation. Proverbs are capable of a variety of meanings, according to how and when they are used. These findings have revealed that many popular and interesting Hausa proverbs tell a condensed story; these stories give vivid illustrations which help the hearer understand the proverbs. In this paper, the author attempts a deep intellectual analysis into the story-lines behind the emergence of some selected Hausa proverbs, with a view to comprehending and propagating embedded ideas and cultural principles or philosophies that may be relevant for contemporary social usage.
