Longevity Ancient and Modern

The article examines illustrations from ancient and modern societies to consider the connections between power, social elites and knowledge of techniques to promote longevity. In pre-modern societies, knowledge of practices and substances to promote longevity were cultivated by elites such as the Chinese imperial court. In modern societies, new technologies—cryonics, cloning, stem-cell applications and nanotechnology—will offer exclusive and expensive methods for prolonging life for the rich. However one important difference between the ancient and modern world is that with secularization longevity is no longer connected with a moral life; longevity is not a reward for sanctity. We have democratized the ambition for long life but not necessarily its realization. The modern quest for longevity appears to be connected with the desire of Baby Boomer generations to hold on to their assets, but while modern medicine may help us to survive forever, it cannot tell us how to live forever.

Celebrity Ancient and Modern

Popular belief to the contrary, celebrity has a very long history. Many of the indications of a celebrity culture were already in place in classical antiquity. By drawing on examples from the rich literary tradition of Greece and Rome we can better understand and analyze what is very likely to have been a perennial aspect of the human psyche in all developed societies the world over.     

现代犬儒主义浅析

犬儒主义思想起源于古希腊时期,其最初思想内涵是摆脱世俗偏见,追求真理和个人自由。但如今犬儒主义却发展为精致利己主义的代名词,衍变成现代犬儒主义思潮,导致了个人价值观的畸形和社会道德文明的沦丧。对于现代犬儒主义弥散的现象,我们追本溯源,探析出犬儒主义生存状态的产生源自资本主义发展过程中构建物化世界对个体价值的挤压。而今,现代犬儒主义影响着个人道德价值和社会的发展,范导着伦理道德文明和人们的生存状态,由此,对现代犬儒主义的辩证性批判具有极其重要的作用。     

国学精神与当代社会

国学的核心是儒学,国学精神主要是儒学。儒学的仁义之道、和而不同、经济调均、仁民爱物、为政以德等思想精华,对于促进世界和平、构建和谐社会、维护生态平衡,对于提高个人素质,都是有重大意义的。现在有些人受到20世纪批孔的影响,在不太了解孔子儒学的情况下,就全盘否定儒学,是不恰当的。     

Death and the Modern Imagination

This essay is an exercise in what might be called metaphysical sociology. Metaphysical sociology focusses on the meaning questions that confront all humans, questions about origins, about what to do with one's life, and about death. In particular, the essay examines the place of death in the modern secular psyche, given that interpretations of mortality have become clouded in uncertainty.     

"现代儒商"论——以"晋商"为中心

"现代儒商"是现代企业家所企盼的理想人格.认真思考传统儒家的君子人格思想,学习将儒家的君子人格思想与商业精神完美结合的商人典范--晋商的人格精神,吸收其合理成分,对于塑造"现代儒商"具有重要的意义.一定程度上,传统儒家君子人格理论还存在狭隘性和不适应性,需要完善"智"、"仁"、"勇"诸概念的社会文化内涵."现代儒商"应该是集"德商"、"智商"、"胆商"和"情商"四位于一体的企业家.     

国学传统与现代学术

“国学”是近代以来相对于“西学”而兴起的关于中国固有学术的一个新称谓,国学的内涵虽然不断变化,但国学的基本传统却必须追溯到孔子,孔子通过整理六经,建立了国学强调社会责任的传统、追求天下大同的传统、追求善美和谐统一的传统。这些传统,是拯救现代学术的良药。