Living elsewhere

——A brief discussion of my understanding and experience of philosophy

Let me introduce one person’s experience here: in his second year of junior high school In a geography class, the teacher recited the poem "Farewell Cambridge" by Xu Zhimo; another teacher actually explained that "existence is reasonable" for half of the class. From then on, he had an eternal connection with philosophy and poetry. In junior high school, he began to read popular readings on philosophy, and in high school, he began to read philosophical monographs and papers. He was called by his high school politics teacher: Among all the people he has ever met, he was the youngest person when he came into contact with philosophy! Unfortunately, after passing the college entrance examination, he did not enter the philosophy department to receive formal education. Now in the Chinese Department of Guangzhou University, although he is not so focused on chewing books, it is because philosophy as a way of life has been integrated into his life...

What a person has experienced The complexity and richness of life are indescribable.

In fact, as a social ideology, philosophy itself is difficult to define. What is philosophy and what should philosophy be? Philosophy is not just as simple as a worldview, ontology, methodology, and universal laws. Russell said that philosophy is a discipline between religion and science (because philosophy has some of the same questions as religion, such as what is a person and what is the meaning of life; philosophy also has the same rational thinking style as science). Mr. Feng Youlan believes that philosophy is "reflection of reflection" and a study of realm. Similarly, some people call philosophy "the science of science" (although this sees philosophy's exploration of universal laws, it is too exaggerated). And more metaphilosophers (a branch of philosophy that studies philosophy itself) believe that philosophy is both a history of philosophy and a humanities discipline centered on the study of philosophical issues. The development of philosophy is no longer the ancient Greek "love of wisdom" (phylosophy, translated as "philosophy" by Mr. Western Zhou Dynasty in modern Japan. The earliest introduction and use of the word philosophy in our country was the poet Huang Zunxian in the late Qing Dynasty). Perhaps it is due to Thales and Barbarian Menides, Socrates and the others didn’t expect it!

Today, scholars generally give an "inconclusive conclusion" to the philosophy that "uselessness" is "great use" (there is too much emphasis on the one-China theory, which itself is a conclusion) . As Chen Xiuzhai, the late professor of philosophy at Wuhan University, said: Due to the essential attribute of "inconclusiveness" of philosophy itself, the definition of philosophy, that is, the object of philosophy's research, is also inconclusive. Because once a conclusion is reached, it becomes a scientific question, not a philosophical question.

Personally I still like to use Yahus Bells’ words to explain: Philosophy is on the road. Philosophy has its own history of development and will face more problems, and it will be more difficult to answer the question of what philosophy itself is. Modern and contemporary philosophy has been distinguished from politics, religion, logic, sociology, ( Now, disciplines such as ethics, aesthetics and Marxist philosophy, ancient Western philosophy, modern Western philosophy, ancient Chinese philosophy, and modern and contemporary Chinese philosophy are all branches of philosophy. I believe there will be better development in the future. On the road of philosophy, our thinking advances from the "kingdom of necessity" to the "kingdom of freedom."

In fact, philosophy is not far away from us. Anyone who has studied philosophy knows that the discussion of issues in philosophy must be examined through life practice. Although we only think about philosophical issues in our thinking, my existence as a subject (everyone is an independent individual) must participate in specific social activities. Our way of thinking, world view, outlook on life, and understanding of the nature of things Depth of knowledge, etc. will affect any of our actions. As Fichte said: What kind of person you are depends on what kind of philosophy you choose. To some extent, the guiding significance of philosophy to our real life is very important. The function and purpose of philosophy is to establish an ideal life (Feng Youlan's words). Philosophy enhances our spiritual realm and brings us closer to the understanding of the universe and life that is "the greatest without outside and the smallest without interior". I believe that philosophy, as one who “comes out of the world and enters it again” (Feng Youlan’s words), must also play a role in helping society. We cannot “live alone when we are poor”. Especially in today's society with increasingly prosperous economy and ideological transformation, as intellectuals, college students and the majority of elite professors should enlighten people to improve their ideological quality, instead of hiding in the study room or even showing off everywhere under the banner of academicism.

At the beginning, I briefly introduced my personal experience, and then also talked about my views on "what philosophy is" and "the function of philosophy". So how to “practice” philosophy? I experience this so deeply that sometimes I simply don’t know how to express it. I personally do it through reading. When I first came into contact with philosophy, I usually read popular books with less terminology and books on the principles of Marx's philosophy. After mastering a certain amount of common sense, it’s time to read monographs and papers. When reading, the most important thing is "thinking" (or "reflection").

I remember one time in high school I skipped class and went to the library to borrow a book by Schopenhauer. I was held accountable by my class teacher (who was also the class monitor at the time). In the end, it was the politics teacher who saved me. "Representative of the working people." That time I borrowed "The World as Will and Representation", and I couldn't stand it after reading it because I couldn't understand it at the time.

Finally, I threw it into the river (it was the Tuojiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, not the Pearl River), and said: How could the world be my will? (The classic saying by Schopenhauer is: The world is my will). Of course, in high school, I was still a little naive, maybe because of my lack of personal experience. At that time, I even established a huge ultimate system that encompassed all knowledge of philosophy. Now I realize that I am just a "drop in the ocean" and how vast the palace of philosophy is! !

After so many years of "philosophical baptism", I feel even more ignorant. As Socrates said: I know that I do not know (or I know that I am ignorant). I guess I'm better than those who don't know what they don't know (or are ignorant).

When I was in middle school, almost no one around me read books on philosophy, and I felt a little lonely. At that time, people around me had the following opinions about me: 1. "Inscrutable", which may be because of their views on the sanctity of philosophy; 2. "Crazy, simply crazy" (including one of our head teachers) ), this may be because they think philosophy is useless and asking for trouble, and they believe that those who study philosophy are good at "sophistry"; 3. "Those who like to meditate", this may be because they respect philosophy and are considerate of people who study philosophy reason. So what do those of us who study philosophy think of ourselves? I think this is a bit difficult, because "know thyself" (Socrates) is a philosophical problem! ! ! I only know that philosophy is nothing without me; and without the cultivation of philosophy, I cannot move forward confidently.

I personally think that I will encounter two problems in the process of reading: 1. The accumulation of basic knowledge of philosophy, such as not knowing the philosophers and philosophical views or terminology mentioned in the article. 2. Logical thinking problems, for example, the way of speaking in the article is unclear or the narrative center of the entire article is unclear, or even some sentences cannot be read smoothly. Many people don't like reading philosophy books because the above two problems cause confusion in their thinking. But when you take the first step, you will find that the sharp thoughts of philosophers are tightly wrapped around your own pursuit of knowledge and love of wisdom.

To understand philosophy, you don’t necessarily have to read all the time. “You will eventually feel shallow after reading the book”, and you don’t even have to read. Philosophy is almost everywhere in life, it depends on whether we have the eyes to discover it and think seriously. I personally think that poetry is the literary expression closest to philosophy (I personally have always been more fond of poetry). To write a poem in the true sense, poets must be tempered by life experience and cultivated with rich emotions, and they must be a thoughtful person. After internalizing and processing the subject matter, they must also go through hard spiritual exploration to make the poet My own profound thoughts on life and existence are revealed through concrete forms of language and writing. So I think those who write vulgar poetry and the so-called "philosophical poetry" are poets who have never been exposed to philosophy (or are very shallow); it is difficult for a poet in the true sense to get a poem of his own. Poets who reflect deeply on life and existence are poets who have gone through the pain of struggling in their souls (such as Holderlin, Haizi, etc.), rather than inspirational poets who only experience emotional outbursts. To some extent, I personally believe that poets must be philosophers, and philosophers are best also poets.

In addition, I will give another example to illustrate that philosophy is embedded in many aspects of our lives, such as comics. Jimmy, a Taiwanese painter, must be known to many people, and he is also liked by many people. I personally also prefer Jimmy’s works. In "The Moon Forgot", there is this sentence: If it cannot be seen, does it mean that it does not exist? This is really a bit like Plato's division of the two worlds. So apart from the real world, does the other super-sensory world exist? Through comics, we once again enter into silent thinking and into the classic propositions of the masters. "In life, people are constantly leaving or entering. Therefore, what is invisible is seen; what is remembered is forgotten." "In life, there are constant gains and losses. Therefore, what is seen is invisible; what is forgotten , remember." In the vivid pictures in "The Moon Forgot", we think of our own "moon", our beautiful memories and ideals, and the relatives, lovers, and relatives we have seen or left. My friends, I think of love, poetry, the lost beautiful childhood and the vast road ahead... Here we have already thought about life, longed for it, and thought philosophically.

In modern society, as the material world becomes richer, people's spiritual world becomes increasingly empty. I think, therefore I am (Descartes), we need to think too much, we need poetic dwelling (Heidegger). As Hegel said more than a hundred years ago: too much attention is paid to the ordinary and trivial interests of daily life, so that people have no free mood to pay attention to the richer inner life and purer spiritual activities. ("Lectures on the History of Philosophy")

We are human beings, we need to pay attention to our own development, we need to care about our own spiritual world, and we must move towards "possibility". (Cassir said that the fundamental characteristic of human life is that he always lives in an "ideal" world and always moves toward "possibility").

In the busy real life, I rarely engage in "reflective reflection", so that life itself is no longer around us (Czech author Milan Kundera has a novel called "Living Elsewhere"), then it Where did it go again? Are we looking for………………

(Full text is about 3500 words)

Bibliography of this article:

Russell : "History of Western Philosophy", The Commercial Press, 2003.

Feng Youlan: "New Edition of the History of Chinese Philosophy", People's Publishing House, 1992.

Zhang Shiying: "Introduction to Philosophy", Peking University Press, 2002.

Chen Xiuzhai: "Thoughts on the Nature of Philosophy", Journal of Wuhan University, 1998.

Jimmy: "The Moon Forgot", Shanghai Joint Publishing House, 2202.

Ernst Cassirer: "On Man", Shanghai Translation Publishing House, 1985.

Hegel: "Lectures on the History of Philosophy", The Commercial Press, 1997.

Hegel: "Little Logic", The Commercial Press, 1997.