Li Zehou

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Li Zehou ( Chinese : 李泽厚; born June 13, 1930 in Changsha , People's Republic of China ) is a Chinese scholar of philosophy and intellectual history . He currently lives in the United States . He is considered an important modern scientist of Chinese history and culture , whose work was of central importance for the era of Chinese recognizability in the 1980s.

Role in Chinese culture

Professor Yu Ying-shih of Princeton University wrote of Li's role in Chinese culture : "Through (his) books he has emancipated a whole generation of young Chinese intellectuals from communist ideology ." longs to contribute to the fields of philosophy and that it seeks [for new ways] to explore the general goal of modernizing the nation and the challenge of which direction the world is going. "

Criticism of the Chinese government's response to Tiananmen Square

Li Zehou criticized the reaction of the Chinese government to the protests on Tiananmen Square and the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989 . As a result, he was labeled a "thought criminal" because of his criticism and was placed under house arrest for three years . In 1991, due to significant official and academic pressure from the United States , the Chinese government granted Professor Li permission to visit the United States . The US government then granted him permanent resident status through a United States Permanent Resident Card . Since 1992 , Professor Li has held numerous academic positions, including appointments at Colorado College , the University of Michigan , the University of Wisconsin-Madison , Swarthmore College, and the University of Colorado Boulder .

Philosophy of man

An overriding goal of Li Zehou's work was to promote a philosophy of man that was not only based on the materialistic and historical realities analyzed and set by Karl Marx , but also the view of Immanuel Kant on the intellectual, moral and aesthetic abilities of the individual supported. As a core element of his analysis , he also includes the thinking of the greats of Chinese philosophy . This mixed and fundamentally optimistic view of humanity counterbalanced the views of people during and after the cultural revolutions .

Li Zehou's analysis of Marxist philosophy and political theory developed the philosophical concepts below .

Practical philosophy of subjectivity

The "practical philosophy of subjectivity " is the study of man on two levels, each level with its own internal additional two sub-levels of content: 1) that of humanity, with a technosocial structure and a "cultural-psychological" formation; and 2) that of the individual, at the same time a member of a society, a social class , an ethnic group and so on, and at the same time a separate body and mind . These four dimensions interact and are intertwined with one another.

With this construct of “subjectivity” the most fundamental dimension is the technosocial. "Humans must first secure their physical existence before they can deal with other things." But the cultural-psychological, ritual , communal and linguistic aspect distinguishes people from animals.

Motor thinking

Motor thinking is the conscious coordination of the use of a tool . The use of tools is not an instinctive biological activity, but an "acquired and consolidated experience through a long period of post-learning". The motor thought process creates a self-confidence that results from paying attention to toolmaking . The transfer of tool-based activities to others, using primitive language, leads to semantic thinking: "The forms of motor thinking gradually gave way to the forms of speech-controlled thinking." In conjunction with primitive language, motor thinking ultimately leads to the creation of a "vague , common awareness of being a community ”, which develops into the“ symbolic tools of shamanic rites and ceremonies that lead to the establishment of a primitive human society ... fundamentally different from that of animals ”.

Chinese aesthetics and the relationship to freedom

Li identifies four features that summarize his views on the Chinese aesthetic . The concept of music / joy (乐: Yue / Le ) has a central place in Chinese culture, "music is joy". Music has a civilizing effect and “prevents human emotions from developing like animals”. Music has the effect that “people get on well with one another and promote harmony in society”. Music is linear, flows in time and expresses emotions. The second characteristic of Chinese aesthetics is derived from this linearity - the meaning of the line in Chinese art . Li recalls that Immanuel Kant also felt the superior aesthetic image format. (Chinese art also emphasizes the expression of emotions and pays special attention to rhythm, rhyme and taste.) Then he describes the third element, the mixing of feeling and reason : "Imaginative reality is more important than sensitive reality." Finally, he leads the “union of heaven and mankind” and describes it as “the basic spirit of Chinese philosophy ... the relationship between man and man and between mankind and nature”. He then proclaims that “Walking in the arts is essential to attaining freedom . Freedom is neither sent from heaven nor brought with it at birth, as Rousseau suggested. Freedom is created by humanity ... “For Li, aesthetics are important!

Effects on Conventional Chinese Thinking

In the second half of the 1980s, Li Zehou also wrote reviews of contemporary Chinese thought. Li Zehous essay of 1987 , "The West is the substance , and the Chinese is for use" provided the conventional contemporary Chinese thoughts on the head. Li explained that Western learning encompasses technology as well as conceptual systems and philosophies, including Marxism , and is the pluralistic and diverse techno-social foundation of modern Chinese reality. Li concluded that the Chinese application should adapt Western learning to Chinese traditions by influencing, not dictating, the results. To put it another way: The aim of this test synthesis should in ethics preserve the strength and splendor to give priority to others over oneself; preserve the value of intuition in the process of reasoning and the rich Chinese culture in terms of dealing with human relationships.

In “Dual Variation of Enlightenment and Nationalism ” Li Zehou argues that all modern concepts such as freedom, independence and human rights that were rejected after 1919 , as well as all Chinese traditions, should be analyzed and examined. He wrote that after a relatively long period of peace , prosperity and modernization , China would benefit from an examination of "the West's centuries of experience in political and legal theory and practice such as the separation of the three powers". Li foresaw that the concept of legally limited freedom would protect the weak and prevent party officials from standing above the law .

bibliography

  • Li Zehou: The Path of Beauty: A Study of Chinese Aesthetics. Oxford University Press, 1988
  • Li Zehou and Jane Cauvel: Four Essays on Aesthetics: Toward a Global Perspective. Lexington Books, 2006
  • Li Zehou and Maija Bell Samei: The Chinese Aesthetic Tradition. University of Hawaii Press, 2010

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anthony Blencowe, Li Zehou, Confucius and Continuity with the Past in Contemporary China ( Memento of 22 February 2011 at the Internet Archive ), Center for Asian Studies, University of Adelaide, 1993, accessed on 22 October 2018
  2. ↑ a b Li Zehou, Modernization and the Confucian World, Colorado College's 125th Anniversary Symposium, Cultures in the 21st Century: Conflicts and Convergences ( Memento of 30 May 2010 at the Internet Archive ), Colorado College, 5th February 1999 called on 22 October 2018
  3. ↑ Jane Cauvel, The Transformative Power of Art: Li Zehou's Aesthetic Theory , Department of Philosophy, Colorado College, Philosophy East & West, Vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 150-173, April 1999, accessed October 22, 2018
  4. ^ Contemporary Chinese Thought , ME Sharp, Inc., book publishers, Volume 31, Number 2 / Winter 1999–2000, pp. 3–19, accessed October 22, 2018
  5. ^ A biographical introduction from a Source Cultures in the 21st Century: Conflicts & Convergences , A Symposium Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of The Colorado College, February 4-6, 1999, ISBN 0935052356 , accessed October 22, 2018
  6. ↑ Li Zehou, A Supplementary Explanation of Subjectivity (originally published in 1987), ME Sharp, Inc., From summaries of essays published in Contemporary Chinese Thought, Volume 31, Number 2 / Winter 1999-2000, pp 26-31 retrieved on October 2, 2018
  7. ↑ Li Zehou, An Outline of the Origin of Humankind (Originally published in 1985), ME Sharp, Inc., Summaries of Essays published in Contemporary Chinese Thought, Volume 31, Number 2 / Winter 1999–2000, pp. 20–26, December 10, 2014, accessed October 2, 2018
  8. ↑ Li Zehou, A Few Questions Concerning the History of Chinese Aesthetics (originally published in 1985), ME Sharp, Inc., Summaries of Essays published in Contemporary Chinese Thought, Volume 31, Number 2 / Winter 1999–2000, pp. 66– 78, translated by Peter Wong Yih Jiun, accessed October 2, 2018
  9. ^ The Western is the Substance and the Chinese is for Application (Originally published in 1987), ME Sharp, Inc., Summaries of Essays published in Contemporary Chinese Thought, Volume 31, Number 2 / Winter 1999-2000, pp. 32-39 , accessed October 2, 2018
  10. ↑ Dual Variation of Enlightenment and Nationalism (Originally published in 1987), ME Sharp, Inc., Summaries of Essays published in Contemporary Chinese Thought, Volume 31, Number 2 / Winter 1999–2000, pp. 40–43, December 10, 2014 , accessed October 2, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Li, Zehou
ALTERNATIVE NAMES ZH Li
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Chinese scientist
DATE OF BIRTH June 13, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Changsha , People's Republic of China