In the current era of globalization, to engage in the dialogue and comparative study of Chinese and Western philosophy is not only a general trend but also an academic responsibility that contempor...

This paper has two main objectives. The first is to revitalize the notion of postmodern Confucianism after an interval of two decades by reviewing the early encounters between postmodern philosophy...

What is the future of Philosophy of education? Or as many of scholars and thinkers in this final ‘future-focused’ collective piece from the philosophy of education in a new key Series put it, what are the futures—plural and multiple—of the intersections of ‘philosophy’ and ‘education?’ What is ‘Philosophy’; and what is ‘Education’, and what role may ‘enquiry’ play? Is the future of education and philosophy embracing—or at least taking seriously—and thinking with Indigenous ethicoontoepistemologies? And, perhaps most importantly, what is that (...) ‘Future’? These debates have been located in the work of diverse scholars: from the West, from Global South, from indigenous thinkers. In this collective piece, we purposefully juxtapose diverse takes on the future of these intersections. We have given up the urge to organise, place together, separate with subheadings or connect the paragraphs that follow. Instead, we let these philosophers of education and thinkers who use philosophical texts and ideas to sit together in one long read as potentially ‘strange and unusual bedfellows’. This text urges us to understand how these scholars and thinkers perceive our educational philosophical futures, and how the work and thinking they have done on thinking about what the future of that new key in philosophy of education may look like is embedded in a much deeper and richer literature, and personal experience. (shrink)

Michael A. Petersa and Fazal Rizvib aBeijing Normal University, Beijing, PR China; bMelbourne University, Melbourne, Australia Our minds are still racing back and forth, longing for a return to ‘no...

At almost every election, Americans are inclined to say that this is the most consequential election in American history. 2020 is no exception. However, what is particularly remarkable about the No...

At almost every election, Americans are inclined to say that this is the most consequential election in American history. 2020 is no exception. However, what is particularly remarkable about the No...

In terms of its academic status, Marxism is the most important and unique research field in contemporary Chinese humanities and social sciences. And with respect to its role, Marxism has an incompa...

Contemporary Chinese Marxist Social Outlook and Philosophy of Education is the second of two special issues organized by the Journal of Educational Philosophy and Theory (EPAT).The first special is...

After more than ten months of joint efforts by contributors, editors, translators, and manuscript polishers, the nine papers in this special issue finally become available. Before these papers ente...

After more than ten months of joint efforts by contributors, editors, translators, and manuscript polishers, the nine papers in this special issue finally become available. Before these papers ente...

The study of dialectical logic has a history of nearly one hundred years in China. It is significant for understanding both the growth of Chinese logic and the Sinicization of Marxism to review dialectical logic in the context of introducing the study of Marxism in China. Debates about dialectical logic in Chinese academic circles involve not only the problems of logic itself, but more importantly the understanding of Marxist philosophy. In the 1920s and 1930s, some Marxist researchers in China were (...) influenced by the philosophers and logicians of the former Soviet Union, and they came very close to equating dialectical logic with Marxist dialectics. They also identified the formal logic originating from ancient Greece as metaphysics, praising the former and criticizing the latter. In the upsurge of Marxist philosophy in the 1950s and 1960s, Chinese logicians carried out normal and formal academic research on dialectical logic. During the period from the end of 1970s to the end of 1990s, the research and teaching of dialectical logic in China reached its heyday, and logicians performed comprehensive and detailed research on some critical issues, including the basic laws of dialectical logic, which they tried to formalize. Since the beginning of the 21st century, dialectical logic has ceased to prosper and has faded from the core field of the discipline of logic, although some honorable scholars still persist in studying it. (shrink)

What I relate is the history of the next two centuries. I describe what is coming, what can no longer come differently: the advent of nihilism. This history can be related even now; for necessity i...

Moral education is a core component of ideological and political courses in primary and secondary schools and universities in China, and also an important part of contemporary Chinese Marxist educational theory and practice. In Chinese senior high schools, the main curriculum and platform for moral education is ideological and political courses. The Ideological and Political Curriculum Standards for General Senior High Schools (2017 Edition, 2020 Revised) issued by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China explicitly includes a (...) course on logical thinking in the ideological and political curriculum in general senior high schools, strengthening the importance of logic in moral education there. In this paper, the authors explain the necessity of intensifying logic training for contemporary Chinese teenagers, introduce and interpret the relevant contents in the Ideological and Political Curriculum Standards for General Senior High Schools (2017 Edition, 2020 Revised), and put forward some theoretical suggestions on how to conduct teaching on the subject of logic. (shrink)

Michael A PetersBeijing Normal UniversityChatGPT is an AI chatbot released by OpenAI on November 30, 2022 and a ‘stable release’ on February 13, 2023. It belongs to OpenAI’s GPT-3 family (generativ...

Michael A. PetersBeijing Normal UniversityThe ancient concept of ‘self-cultivation’ with its roots in Confucianism and Hellenistic philosophy can also be utilised as tool for understanding the prac...

Chengbing WangShanxi University, Taiyuan, ChinaMichael A. PetersBeijing Normal University, Beijing, ChinaContemporary Chinese Marxism is not only an important theory in the humanities and social sc...

The Myelin Regulator Factor (MYRF) is a master regulator governing myelin formation and maintenance in the central nervous system. The conservation of MYRF across metazoans and its broad tissue expression suggest it has functions extending beyond the well‐established role in myelination. Loss of MYRF results in developmental lethality in both invertebrates and vertebrates, and MYRF haploinsufficiency in humans causes MYRF‐related Cardiac Urogenital Syndrome, underscoring its importance in animal development; however, these mechanisms are largely unexplored. MYRF, an unconventional transcription factor, begins (...) embedded in the membrane and undergoes intramolecular chaperone mediated trimerization, which triggers self‐cleavage, allowing its N‐terminal segment with an Ig‐fold DNA‐binding domain to enter the nucleus for transcriptional regulation. Recent research suggests developmental regulation of cleavage, yet the mechanisms remain enigmatic. While some parts of MYRF's structure have been elucidated, others remain obscure, leaving questions about how these motifs are linked to its intricate processing and function. (shrink)

Capitalizing on a unique setting in China where auditors disclose their prosocial activities, we examine the role that auditor social responsibility plays in shaping their performance. In one direction, behavior consistency theory implies that individual auditors exhibiting more social commitment in their off-the-job activities behave similarly during engagements, enhancing the quality of their audits. In the other direction, accounting firms’ internal structures along with external disciplinary forces mute the impact of heterogeneous auditor characteristics on their performance. In a staggered difference-in-differences (...) design, we report a significant fall in the magnitude of companies’ discretionary accruals and the incidence of financial reporting irregularities after their auditors begin contributing to social welfare, relative to companies whose auditors refrain from contributing during the same timeframe. Additional evidence implies that the higher audit quality stems from auditors better protecting their independence and improving their competence in the post-contribution period. Collectively, our results provide insights into the importance of auditors’ prosocial attitudes to their external monitoring. (shrink)

A survey is made of work since 1879 on foundational problems viewed as an analysis, by reduction and formalization, of the concepts proof, feasible, number, set, and constructivity. It is suggested that there are five domains of concepts and methods, viz., anthropologism, finitism, intuitionism, predicativism, and platonism. It is also suggested that the central problem is to characterize these domains by formalization and to determine their interrelations by different forms of reduction. Finally, the range of logic in the narrower sense (...) is discussed, and applications of mathematical logic are briefly outlined.ZusammenfassungDie Entwicklung der Grundlagenforschung seit dem Jahre 1879 wird hier im Überblick dargestellt und zwar vom Standpunkt einer Analyse durch Reduktion and Formalisierung der Begriffe Beweis, Zahl, Menge und Konstruktivität aus gesehen. Fünf Bereiche von Begriffsbildungen und Methoden werden zu Grunde gelegt, nämlich: Anthropologismus, Finitismus, Intuitionismus, Prädikativismus und Platonismus. Als zentrale Aufgabenstellung wird hier die Charakterisierung dieser Bereiche durch Formalisierung betrachtet und weiterhin die Bestimmung ihrer gegenseitigen Zusammenhänge durch verschiedene Arten von Reduktionen. Schliesslich wird das Gebiet der Logik im engeren Sinne diskutiert und Anwendungen der mathematischen Logik skizziert.RésuméL'article réexamine les travaux faits depuis 1879 sur les problèmes du fondement des mathématiques, que P'on considère comme des analyses par réduction et formalisation des concepts de démonstration, de nombre, d'ensemble, et de constructivité. On suggère qu'il existe cinq domaines de concepts et de méthodes, à savoir: anthropologisme, finitisme, intuitionisme, « predicativism » et platonisme. On suggère aussi que le problème essentiel consiste à caractériser ces domaines par formalisation et à déterminer leurs relations réciproques par différentes formes de réduction. Finalement, on étudie la portée de la logique prise dans son sens le plus étroit et on esquisse rapidement les applications de la logique mathématique. (shrink)

Résumé: O design cultural integra o conteúdo cultural no processo de design. É um meio importante para perceber a inovação da cultura tradicional na herança. O comportamento do design cultural é sutilmente influenciado pela filosofia cultural. Especificamente, a análise do ambiente cultural, a associação semântica cultural e a extração de imagens culturais, na perspectiva da filosofia cultural, ajudam a perceber a explicitação do conhecimento implícito no processo de codificação e decodificação de genes culturais. Selecionamos Ningbo como uma amostra, aprofundamos os (...) genes culturais regionais, exploramos o modelo de geração de design cultural e ainda propusemos a estrutura para a construção de um sistema de serviços de conhecimento de design cultural para fornecer orientação metodológica, para a prática de design cultural regional, a fim de construir capacidades de design cultural sustentável. (shrink)

Ethics is central to science and engineering. Young engineers need to be grounded in how corporate social responsibility principles can be applied to engineering organizations to better serve the broader community. This is crucial in times of climate change and ecological challenges where the vulnerable can be impacted by engineering activities. Taking a global perspective in ethics education will help ensure that scientists and engineers can make a more substantial contribution to development throughout the world. This paper presents the importance (...) of incorporating the global and cross culture components in the ethic education. The authors bring up a question to educators on ethics education in science and engineering in the globalized world, and its importance, necessity, and impendency. The paper presents several methods for discussion that can be used to identify the differences in ethics standards and practices in different countries; enhance the student’s knowledge of ethics in a global arena. (shrink)

This article has a hermeneutical interpretation of 'heng', one key word in the Laozi. The term 'heng' was not known until 1973 when the two silk manuscripts of the Laozi were unearthed in China. On the base of a reintroduction of heng into the text and of my philosophical reading of the Laozi's concept of 'heng', I argue for an alternative interpretation of dao as heng dao. I suggest that heng dao is neither a metaphysical substance nor mystical nothingness. It (...) is rather the differentiated appropriation of nature and life itself as experienced in the everyday. (shrink)

Precise DNA replication is fundamental for genetic inheritance. In eukaryotes, replication initiates at multiple origins that are first “licensed” and subsequently “fired” to activate DNA synthesis. Despite the success in identifying origins with specific DNA motifs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, no consensus sequence or sequences with a predictive value of replication origins have been recognized in metazoan genomes. Rather, epigenetic rules and chromatin structures are believed to play important roles in governing the selection and activation of replication origins. We propose that (...) replication initiation is facilitated by a group of sequence‐specific “replication pioneer factors,” which function to increase chromatin accessibility and foster a chromatin environment that is conducive to the loading of the prereplication complex. Dysregulation of the function of these factors may lead to gene duplication, genomic instability, and ultimately the occurrence of pathological conditions such as cancer. (shrink)

Jean-Paul Sartre argues that human beings are fundamentally incomplete. Self-consciousness brings with it a presence-to-self. Human beings consequently seek two things at the same time: to possess a secure and stable identity, and to preserve the freedom and distance that come with self-consciousness. This is an impossible ideal, since we are always beyond what we are and we never quite reach what we could be. The possibility of completion haunts us and we continue to search for it even when we (...) are convinced it can never be achieved. Sartre suggests that we have to continue seeking this ideal in the practical sphere, even when our philosophical reflection shows it to be an impossibility. Sartre puts this existential dilemma in explicitly theological terms. 'God' represents an ideal synthesis of being and consciousness which remains a self-contradictory goal. This dilemma remains unresolved in his thinking. (shrink)

Prior studies have shown that people imagine their personal future to be more positive than their country’s collective future. The present research extends the nascent literature by examining the valence and perceived control of personal and national future events in a new experimental paradigm, the cultural generalizability of the findings, and the relation of future thinking to psychological well-being. US college students (Study 1) and US and Turkish community participants (Study 2) imagined what might happen to them and their country (...) in three time points (i.e., next week, next year, and in 10–15 years). They then rated the emotional valence and perceived control of the events and completed a psychological well-being measure. Both US and Turkish participants imagined their personal future to be more positive than their country’s future, whereas they attributed higher perceived control to their countries for national future events than to themselves for personal future events. The positivity of national (Study 1) and personal future events (Study 2) predicted better psychological well-being, whereas perceived control did not. These original findings enrich our theoretical understanding of future thinking. (shrink)

This paper is an attempt to clarify the notion of semantic presupposition and to refute Böer and Lycan's critique of that notion. The author presents a feasible and coherent formal definition of semantic presupposition after examining several popular definitions of the notion. In terms of this definition, two central arguments against semantic presupposition presented by Böer and Lycan are analyzed and responded to with care. It is concluded that the notion of semantic presupposition is not empty but rather is philosophically (...) interesting and fruitful. (shrink)

Physical contact between organelles are widespread, in part to facilitate the shuttling of protein and lipid cargoes for cellular homeostasis. How do protein‐protein and protein‐lipid interactions shape organelle subdomains that constitute contact sites? The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) forms extensive contacts with multiple organelles, including lipid droplets (LDs) that are central to cellular fat storage and mobilization. Here, we focus on ER‐LD contacts that are highlighted by the conserved protein seipin, which promotes LD biogenesis and expansion. Seipin is enriched in ER (...) tubules that form cage‐like structures around a subset of LDs. Such enrichment is strongly dependent on polyunsaturated and cyclopropane fatty acids. Based on these findings, we speculate on molecular events that lead to the formation of seipin‐positive peri‐LD cages in which protein movement is restricted. We hypothesize that asymmetric distribution of specific phospholipids distinguishes cage membrane tubules from the bulk ER. (shrink)

Searching is one of the most fundamental operations in many complex systems. However, the complexity of the search process would increase dramatically in high-dimensional space. K-dimensional tree, as a classical data structure, has been widely used in high-dimensional vital data search. However, at present, common methods proposed for KD tree construction are either unstable or time-consuming. This paper proposed a new algorithm to construct a balanced KD tree based on presorted results. Compared with previous similar method, the new algorithm could (...) reduce the complexity of the construction process from O level to O level, where K is the number of dimensions and N is the number of data. In addition, with the help of presorted results, the performance of the new method is no longer subject to the initial conditions, which expands the application scope of KD tree. (shrink)