»Yu Jiyuan 余紀元 in obnova ‚metafizike‘ za konfucijansko filozofijo: človeško ‚bitje‘ ali nastajanje ‚človeškosti‘?

In past work on Chinese “cosmology”, I have resisted using the term “metaphysics” because of the history of this term in classical Greek philosophy. Angus Graham has warned us of the equivocations that arise in eliding the distinction between Greek ontology and classical Chinese cosmology. In this essay, I have been inspired by my dear friend the late Yu Jiyuan’s distinction between classical Greek “metaphysics” and “contemporary metaphysics with ambiguous edges” to adapt the term “metaphysics” for use within the classical Confucian corpus. In the language of Confucian “metaphysics”, the ultimate goal of our philosophical inquiry is quite literally “to know one’s way around things’” (zhidao 知道) in the broadest possible sense of the term “things”. In the application of Confucian metaphysics, “knowing” certainly begins from the cognitive understanding of a situation, but then goes on to include the creative and practical activity of “realizing a world” through ars contextualis—the art of contextualizing things. I apply the insight that “metaphysics” so understood in the Confucian context provides a warrant for establishing a useful contrast between a Greek conception of the “human being” and a Confucian conception of “human becomings”.  V svojih preteklih delih, ki so obravnavala kitajsko »kozmologijo«, se je avtor izogibal rabi termina »metafizika«, kajti ta pojem ima v klasični grški filozofiji specifično zgodovino. Že Angus Graham je opozarjal na zmedo, ki lahko nastane, če ne upoštevamo razlik med grško ontologijo in klasično kitajsko kozmologijo. Za pisanje pričujočega članka je avtorja navdihnil njegov dober prijatelj, pokojni kitajski filozof Yu Jiyuan, ki je vzpostavil razliko med klasično grško »metafiziko« in »sodobno metafiziko z nejasnimi robovi«, da bi s tem omogočil rabo termina »metafizika« znotraj klasičnega kitajskega korpusa. V jeziku konfucijanske »metafizike« je najvišji cilj filozofskega raziskovanja v »spoznavanju poti, ki vodi k stvarem« (zhidao 知道), pri čemer se izraz »stvar« razumeva v najširšem možnem pomenu. V okviru konfucijanske metafizike »spoznanje« izvira predvsem iz kognitivnega razumevanja, a v naslednjih korakih vendarle vključuje tudi ustvarjalno in praktično aktivnost »uresničenja oziroma dojetja sveta« preko ars contextualis, tj. umetnosti kontekstualizacije stvari. Avtor izhaja iz predpostavke, da nam tovrstno razumevanje »metafizike« v kontekstu konfucijanstva omogoča vzpostavitev koristnega kontrasta med grško konceptualizacijo človeka kot »človeškega bitja« in konfucijansko konceptualizacijo človeka v smislu »nenehnega nastajanja človeškosti«

Confucianisms for a Changing World Cultural Order

In a single generation, the rise of Asia has precipitated a dramatic sea change in the world’s economic and political orders. This reconfiguration is taking place amidst a host of deepening global predicaments, including climate change, migration, increasing inequalities of wealth and opportunity, that cannot be resolved by purely technical means or by seeking recourse in a liberalism that has of late proven to be less than effective. The present work critically explores how the pan-Asian phenomenon of Confucianism offers alternative values and depths of ethical commitment that cross national and cultural boundaries to provide a new response to these challenges. When searching for resources to respond to the world’s problems, we tend to look to those that are most familiar: Single actors pursuing their own self-interests in competition or collaboration with other players. As is now widely appreciated, Confucian culture celebrates the relational values of deference and interdependence—that is, relationally constituted persons are understood as embedded in and nurtured by unique, transactional patterns of relations. This is a concept of person that contrasts starkly with the discrete, self-determining individual, an artifact of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Western European approaches to modernization that has become closely associated with liberal democracy. Examining the meaning and value of Confucianism in the twenty-first century, the contributors—leading scholars from universities around the world—wrestle with several key questions: What are Confucian values within the context of the disparate cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam? What is their current significance? What are the limits and historical failings of Confucianism and how are these to be critically addressed? How must Confucian culture be reformed if it is to become relevant as an international resource for positive change? Their answers vary, but all agree that only a vital and critical Confucianism will have relevance for an emerging world cultural order. An electronic version of this book is freely available thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched, a collaborative initiative designed to make high-quality books open access for the public good. The open-access version of this book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which means that the work may be freely downloaded and shared for non-commercial purposes, provided credit is given to the author. Derivative works and commercial uses require permission from the publisher.Knowledge Unlatche

The "Chu Shu" chapter of the Huai-Nan-Tzu : The sources and orientation of its political thought.

The "Chu Shu" chapter of the Huai Nan Tzu, because of its frequent use of Fa-chia terminology and allusions, has often been characterized as a Fa-chia document. While first impressions do suggest a Fa-chia oriented political philosophy, a more careful study of the sources and perspective of its basic precepts demonstrates that this is not the case. By isolating the main concepts and themes dealt with in this chapter and comparing them with their pre-Ch'in antecedents, we are able to ascertain both the debt owed to the earlier traditions and the orientation of the "Chu Shu" political theory relative to these earlier schools of thought. In the preparation of this thesis, the first step is to identify and isolate the most important concepts in the "Chu Shu" chapter. Secondly, we trace the origins and evolution of each of these concepts through pre-Han sources to determine their development- and significance. With a reasonably confident understanding of the historical significance of these concepts at hand, we then analyze the "Chu Shu" interpretation, and undertake a detailed comparison between the historical concept and its "Chu Shu" counterpart. In so doing, we have been able to locate the sources and to determine the orientation of the "Chu Shu" chapter's political thought. Appendix I contains an annotated translation of the "Chu Shu" chapter. In Appendix II we examine the usage of fa in texts prior to the emergence of the Fa-chia school, and conclude that only well into the Warring States period when the Fa-chia theorists had taken over this character and injected it. with their own meaning did it come to connote "penal law". Finally, in Appendix III we attempt to demonstrate that the final portion of this "Chu Shu" chapter is a later accretion

Genome-wide average DNA methylation is determined in utero

Background: Investigating the genetic and environmental causes of variation in genome-wide average DNA methylation (GWAM), a global methylation measure from the HumanMethylation450 array, might give a better understanding of genetic and environmental influences on methylation. Methods: We measured GWAM for 2299 individuals aged 0 to 90 years from seven twin and/or family studies. We estimated familial correlations, modelled correlations with cohabitation history and fitted variance components models for GWAM. Results: The correlation in GWAM for twin pairs was ∼0.8 at birth, decreased with age during adolescence and was constant at ∼0.4 throughout adulthood, with no evidence that twin pair correlations differed by zygosity. Non-twin first-degree relatives were correlated, from 0.17 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.05-0.30] to 0.28 (95% CI: 0.08-0.48), except for middle-aged siblings (0.01, 95% CI: -0.10-0.12), and the correlation increased with time living together and decreased with time living apart. Spouse pairs were correlated in all studies, from 0.23 (95% CI: 0.3-0.43) to 0.31 (95% CI: 0.05-0.52), and the correlation increased with time living together. The variance explained by environmental factors shared by twins alone was 90% (95% CI: 74-95%) at birth, decreased in early life and plateaued at 28% (95% CI: 17-39%) in middle age and beyond. There was a cohabitation-related environmental component of variance. Conclusions: GWAM is determined in utero by prenatal environmental factors, the effects of which persist throughout life. The variation of GWAM is also influenced by environmental factors shared by family members, as well as by individual-specific environmental factors

Thanksgiving Mass

Thanksgiving Mass (Ames, Roger)