Socrates in Sichuan

Socrates in Sichuan PDF Author: Peter J. Vernezze
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1597976725
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
When Peter J. Vernezze took a leave of absence from his position as a philosophy professor to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in China, he supplemented his main task—teaching English—with leading a weekly philosophical discussion group with Chinese undergraduate and graduate students at Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu. In each session the students debated topics as diverse as the status of truth, the meaning of life, the reality of fate, the definition of sanity, the necessity of religion, and the value of romantic love. Each of the twenty-five chapters focuses on the topic of one evening's discussion, which was always in the form of a question: How are ancient conceptions of virtue holding up in a society overrun by capitalism? Are traditionally conservative sexual values going the way of the rickshaw? Can an atheistic country even have a sense of morality? This unprecedented portrait of the Chinese mind allows the up-and-coming generation—known as the ba ling hou, or “post-1980s generation”—to express its unique perspective on China—and America. In addition, the book provides the reader with a crash course in Chinese culture, both ancient and modern, as students discuss everything from Confucius to the Edison Chen scandal (a Chinese pop star whose sexually explicit pictures found their way onto the Internet), from classical Chinese poetry to the Super Boy and Super Girl competitions (Chinese versions of American Idol).Throughout, the author provides the intellectual and historical context necessary to appreciate and understand today's China.

Socrates in Sichuan

Socrates in Sichuan PDF Author: Peter J. Vernezze
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1597976725
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 213

Get Book Here

Book Description
When Peter J. Vernezze took a leave of absence from his position as a philosophy professor to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in China, he supplemented his main task—teaching English—with leading a weekly philosophical discussion group with Chinese undergraduate and graduate students at Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu. In each session the students debated topics as diverse as the status of truth, the meaning of life, the reality of fate, the definition of sanity, the necessity of religion, and the value of romantic love. Each of the twenty-five chapters focuses on the topic of one evening's discussion, which was always in the form of a question: How are ancient conceptions of virtue holding up in a society overrun by capitalism? Are traditionally conservative sexual values going the way of the rickshaw? Can an atheistic country even have a sense of morality? This unprecedented portrait of the Chinese mind allows the up-and-coming generation—known as the ba ling hou, or “post-1980s generation”—to express its unique perspective on China—and America. In addition, the book provides the reader with a crash course in Chinese culture, both ancient and modern, as students discuss everything from Confucius to the Edison Chen scandal (a Chinese pop star whose sexually explicit pictures found their way onto the Internet), from classical Chinese poetry to the Super Boy and Super Girl competitions (Chinese versions of American Idol).Throughout, the author provides the intellectual and historical context necessary to appreciate and understand today's China.

Reason and Analysis in Ancient Greek Philosophy

Reason and Analysis in Ancient Greek Philosophy PDF Author: Georgios Anagnostopoulos
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400760043
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 338

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Book Description
This distinctive collection of original articles features contributions from many of the leading scholars of ancient Greek philosophy. They explore the concept of reason and the method of analysis and the central role they play in the philosophies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. They engage with salient themes in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political theory, as well as tracing links between each thinker’s ideas on selected topics. The volume contains analyses of Plato’s Socrates, focusing on his views of moral psychology, the obligation to obey the law, the foundations of politics, justice and retribution, and Socratic virtue. On Plato’s Republic, the discussions cover the relationship between politics and philosophy, the primacy of reason over the soul’s non-rational capacities, the analogy of the city and the soul, and our responsibility for choosing how we live our own lives. The anthology also probes Plato’s analysis of logos (reason or language) which underlies his philosophy including the theory of forms. A quartet of reflections explores Aristotelian themes including the connections between knowledge and belief, the nature of essence and function, and his theories of virtue and grace. The volume concludes with an insightful intellectual memoir by David Keyt which charts the rise of analytic classical scholarship in the past century and along the way provides entertaining anecdotes involving major figures in modern academic philosophy. Blending academic authority with creative flair and demonstrating the continuing interest of ancient Greek philosophy, this book will be a valuable addition to the libraries of all those studying and researching the origins of Western philosophy.

The Dragon Extends its Reach

The Dragon Extends its Reach PDF Author: Larry M. Wortzel
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1612344062
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
China has evolved from a nation with local and regional security interests to a major economic and political power with global interests, investments, and political commitments. It now requires a military that can project itself around the globe, albeit on a limited scale, to secure its interests. Therefore, as Larry M. Wortzel explains, the Chinese Communist Party leadership has charged the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with new and challenging missions that require global capabilities. Advances in technology and the development of indigenous weapons platforms in China, combined with reactions to modern conflicts, have produced a military force very different from that which China has fielded in the past. Wortzel presents a clear and sobering picture of the PLA’s modernization effort as it expands into space and cyberspace, and as it integrates operations in the traditional domains of war. This book will appeal to the specialist in security and foreign policy issues in Asia as well as to the person interested in arms control, future warfare, and global military strategies. The book puts China’s military growth into historical context for readers of recent military and diplomatic history.

Learning and Innovation of Chinese Firms

Learning and Innovation of Chinese Firms PDF Author: Jacky Hong
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110715007
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This edited volume explores the learning and innovation of Chinese firms. In particular, it examines the difficulties and obstacles affecting the technological collaboration between Chinese firms and foreign partners as well as some of the key organizational and institutional challenges of innovation facing Chinese firms. Despite enjoying rapid economic growth in previous decades, learning and innovation of Chinese firms has received relatively limited attention among management and international business scholars in the past. However, some significant changes in the Chinese institutional environment have occurred in recent years. On one hand, the Chinese central government has devised a number of policy initiatives to promote and support innovative activities in China, ranging from the ‘Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation by All’ to the latest ‘Made in China 2025’. On the other hand, we have witnessed an increasing number of indigenous Chinese firms (e.g. Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, Huawei and DJI) adopting business model innovation with global inputs and impacts in different business sectors, namely electronic commerce, telecommunication network equipment, social media, mobile payment and drones. In view of these recent developments, we aim to further our understanding about the learning and innovation processes of Chinese firms in this edited volume.

The Journey of Liu Xiaobo

The Journey of Liu Xiaobo PDF Author: Democratic China
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1640122249
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 540

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Book Description
As a fearless poet and prolific essayist and critic, Liu Xiaobo became one of the most important dissident thinkers in the People’s Republic of China. His nonviolent activism steered the nation’s prodemocracy currents from Tiananmen Square to support for Tibet and beyond. Liu undertook perhaps his bravest act when he helped draft and gather support for Charter 08, a democratic vision for China that included free elections and the end of the Communist Party’s monopoly on power. While imprisoned for “inciting subversion of state power,” Liu won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. He was granted medical parole just weeks before dying of cancer in 2017. The Journey of Liu Xiaobo draws together essays and reflections on the “Nelson Mandela of China.” The Dalai Lama, artist and activist Ai Weiwei, and a distinguished list of leading Chinese writers and intellectuals, including Zhang Zuhua, the main drafter of Charter 08, and Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo, and noted China scholars, journalists, and political leaders from around the globe, including Yu Ying-shih, Perry Link, Andrew J. Nathan, Marco Rubio, and Chris Smith illuminate Liu’s journey from his youth and student years, through his indispensable activism, and to his defiant last days. Many of the pieces were written immediately after Liu’s death, adding to the emotions stirred by his loss. Original and powerful, The Journey of Liu Xiaobo combines memory with insightful analysis to evaluate Liu’s impact on his era, nation, and the cause of human freedom.

Bob Dylan and Philosophy

Bob Dylan and Philosophy PDF Author: Carl J. Porter
Publisher: Open Court
ISBN: 081269760X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
The legions of Bob Dylan fans know that Dylan is not just a great composer, writer, and performer, but a great thinker as well. In Bob Dylan and Philosophy, eighteen philosophers analyze Dylan’s ethical positions, political commitments, views on gender and sexuality, and his complicated and controversial attitudes toward religion. All phases of Dylan’s output are covered, from his early acoustic folk ballads and anthem-like protest songs to his controversial switch to electric guitar to his sometimes puzzling, often profound music of the 1970s and beyond. The book examines different aspects of Dylan’s creative thought through a philosophical lens, including personal identity, negative and positive freedom, enlightenment and postmodernism in his social criticism, and the morality of bootlegging. An engaging introduction to deep philosophical truths, the book provides Dylan fans with an opportunity to learn about philosophy while impressing fans of philosophy with the deeper implications of his intellectual achievements.

Taoism

Taoism PDF Author: Zhongjian Mou
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004174532
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
Religious Studies in Contemporary China Collection, Taoism gathers together English translations of seventeen articles originally published in the People’s Republic of China between 1947 and 2006, and republished together in 2008 as part of an edited volume of representative works in PRC Taoist studies.

Don't Worry, be Stoic

Don't Worry, be Stoic PDF Author: Peter J. Vernezze
Publisher: University Press of America
ISBN: 9780761830146
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
This book introduces the reader to Stoicism- a philosophy whose origin lies in ancient Greece but whose relevance, as the reader will discover, has only grown with time. Through a series of short, inspiring essays, Dr. Vernezze furnishes readers with a foundation in Stoic thought as well as a system for applying it to their lives. For readers of all levels, this practical book is 'chicken soup for the philosopher's soul.'

Kosher Chinese

Kosher Chinese PDF Author: Michael Levy
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 1429972831
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
An irreverent tale of an American Jew serving in the Peace Corps in rural China, which reveals the absurdities, joys, and pathos of a traditional society in flux In September of 2005, the Peace Corps sent Michael Levy to teach English in the heart of China's heartland. His hosts in the city of Guiyang found additional uses for him: resident expert on Judaism, romantic adviser, and provincial basketball star, to name a few. His account of overcoming vast cultural differences to befriend his students and fellow teachers is by turns poignant and laugh-out-loud funny. While reveling in the peculiarities of life in China's interior, the author also discovered that the "other billion" (people living far from the coastal cities covered by the American media) have a complex relationship with both their own traditions and the rapid changes of modernization. Lagging behind in China's economic boom, they experience the darker side of "capitalism with Chinese characteristics," daily facing the schizophrenia of conflicting ideologies. Kosher Chinese is an illuminating account of the lives of the residents of Guiyang, particularly the young people who will soon control the fate of the world.

The Division of Heaven and Earth

The Division of Heaven and Earth PDF Author: Shokdung
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 1849049246
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
This is a translation of one of the most influential and important books from Tibet in the modern era, a passionate indictment of Chinese policies and an eloquent analysis of protests that swept Tibet from March, 2008 - the 'Earth Rat' year according to the Tibetan calendar - as a re-awakening of Tibetan national consciousness and solidarity. The Division of Heaven and Earth was banned by the Chinese government on publication, and led to Shokdung being "disappeared" and imprisoned for nearly six months. This English translation is being made available for the first time since copies began to circulate underground in Tibet. The author, Tagyal -- who uses the pen name Shokdung, meaning "morning conch"-- one of Tibet's leading intellectuals, wrote his book in response to an unprecedented wave of bold demonstrations and expressions of Tibetan solidarity and national identity. In his foreword Matthew Akester, a Tibet specialist who translated this book into English, offers an account of the significance of these developments, which transformed the political landscape across the plateau and led to a sustained and violent crackdown by the Chinese authorities that continues to this day. Shokdung's book is regarded as the most daring and wide-ranging critique of China's policies in Tibet since the 10th Panchen