catalogue
Confessions of my attitude towards life
Preface of Wu Zhihui
Gu Jie's preface
Symbolic life--speaking in the same classroom of shanghai fine arts school.
Comment on Liang Shuming's Eastern and Western Cultures and His Philosophy —— A Speech at China College
Similarities among Science, Philosophy and Religion —— Speech at Zhejiang Fourth Normal University in Ningbo
Differences between Bergson's Philosophy and Pragmatism —— Speech at the Summer Lecture of Hangzhou No.1 Normal School, Zhejiang Province
A Critical Introduction of Dewey and Russell —— One of the speeches at Hunan Education Conference
Essentials of Life Philosophy —— Speech at the 10th Anniversary Commemoration Meeting of Nanjing Southeast University Philosophy Research Association and Suzhou No.2 Women's Normal School
The Third schools of psychology in Recent Years —— Speech at Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts
The True Interpretation of Personality —— A Speech at Suzhou No.2 Agricultural School
Doubt and Belief —— Speech at Shanghai Jiaotong University
Education and Life —— Speech at Shanghai Hujiang University Education Research Association
Buddhism and Life —— Speech at the Buddhist Research Society of Shanghai Business School
Philosophy and Life —— Speech at Shanghai Shenzhou Girls' School
Science and Life —— Speech at Yucai Middle School in Hunan Province
Nietzsche's Thought and Our Life —— Speech at Hunan Education Society (Ⅱ)
Youth and Me —— Speech at Zhenjiang No.6 Middle School and Liling County Education Association
postscript
Philosophical life keeps pace with the times —— A record of China modern philosopher Li Shicen
People are versatile in temperament.
It was Jinan University in Shanghai in the 1930s. He is not big, his face is red and white, and he looks like a map. Some students secretly called him "earth card", and he was happy to be called so. The course "Philosophy of Life" he teaches is the most popular among students. Every time he gives a lecture, a big classroom is always packed. His lectures are fast and clear, and he often deviates from the handout Kan Kan, which makes the students listen with relish. After class, boys and girls surrounded him and asked him questions. He is a man with temperament, charm and rich feelings, and sometimes he will inevitably get tired of love. Some students know that he has caused a lot of trouble because of some things. He is gentle and kind to students, very casual, and even talks about women with students. He said: "For women, as long as they know how to be considerate and gentle, it is ok. Look at my' earth card' face. It stands to reason that women probably don't like it when they see me. Actually, I'm not. To tell the truth, I am quite popular with women! I am nothing more than good at' considerate and gentle'. " This is the famous professor Li Shicen.
19 16 years, when he was studying in Tokyo, Japan, he edited and published Minduo magazine, which was banned by the Japanese government for criticizing the autocratic power of domestic warlords, political chaos and Japanese militaristic aggression. 19 18 after returning to China, he served as the editor-in-chief of Shanghai Commercial Press and continued to edit People's Duo in Shanghai, focusing on introducing and expounding the "latest ideological trends" of western bourgeois philosophy, sociology, education and psychology, and became an influential publication in academic circles at that time. He is also the editor-in-chief of Shanghai Education Magazine and the editor-in-chief of the current news supplement "Light of Learning". This is Li Shicen as an editor.
He has a deep study of religion and Buddhism and is in close contact with Master Hongyi. He visited religions in Europe and paid attention to the relationship between religion and science. He said: "I think the advocacy of Buddhism is not only that there is no contradiction in science, but also that it can add a layer of depth to the scientific method, add a layer of correctness to the classification of science, and add a layer of guarantee to the effectiveness of science." His statement was often quoted by many Buddhist and scientific works later. -This is Li Shicen, a religious scholar.
In the 1920s, when he worked as an editor and professor, he traveled in the southeast to give lectures. He has a wonderful exposition on all the major issues of philosophy and life, such as doubt and belief, philosophy and life, Buddhism and life, education and life. Especially in his speech, Liang Shuming's comments on eastern and western cultures and their philosophies, the difference between Bergson's philosophy and pragmatism, Dewey's and Russell's criticism, Nietzsche's thoughts and our lives can all give us a glimpse of his ability to connect eastern and western philosophies and inspire people. His speech was compiled into "Li Shicen's Lectures", which was very popular at that time, and scholars rushed to read it, and then it was reprinted many times. Some scholars believe that his speech is "an indispensable and valuable resource in the process of modernization of Chinese-speaking nations". This is Li Shicen as a speaker.
He is really a man of many talents. According to the "Liling County Records" published in the Republic of China, He "writes books, and those who are young and good at books are faster, and five people are together. I am close to Shimen Fu, which is sparse and dense, and sometimes close to Kang Nanhai (promising). " -This is Li Shicen as a calligrapher.
He also has a good knowledge of swimming. He is the author of "New Swimming Techniques". 19 18, he just came back from Japan and came to Changsha. Mao Zedong, one year younger than him, specially invited him to teach swimming skills in Xiangjiang River. At that time, Mao Zedong wrote a poem with great interest, "I will be a water hammer with a distance of 3,000 Li, and I am confident to live for 200 years". This is Li Shicen as a swimmer.
Philosophy, life, philosophy of life
However, Li Shicen was a famous philosopher in modern China, because Li Zhuo was one of the best philosophers in China in the 1920s and 1930s.
Li Shicen was smart and studious when he was young. He entered a private school at the age of five and grew up. He went to the physics and chemistry department of Hunan Excellent Normal School in Changsha. 19 12 went to study in Japan and entered Tokyo Normal University. 19 15 initiated an "academic seminar" with friends in Tokyo, and later joined the student groups "Chen Bingshe" and "Huaying News Agency". 1918 In May, students studying in Japan in Tokyo demonstrated against the Sino-Japanese Joint Defense Agreement and were suppressed by the police. Students studying in Japan went on strike and returned to China, so did Li Shicen. Since then, he has been an editor in Shanghai Commercial Press for 10 years, and also served as a professor of philosophy and psychology in Shanghai Daxia University and Guanghua University. 1In the summer of 928, Li Shicen visited France and Germany at his own expense. 1930 returned to Shanghai, and taught and wrote in Zhonghua College, Fudan University, Daxia University and Jinan University successively. 1932 "1 1 28th of the month incident" occurred, and universities in Shanghai were closed. Jinan University set up a temporary office in Guangzhou Sun Yat-sen University to accommodate some students, and Li Shicen was invited to teach at Sun Yat-sen University. 1In the autumn of 933, Li Shicen returned to Jinan University in Shanghai. 1934101On October 29th, Li Shicen died of poverty due to illness at the age of 42.
As a teenager, Li Shicen was a disciple of Confucianism. He respected Confucius and admired Zeng Guofan. His words and deeds are modeled after Zeng Guofan. During my stay in Japan, I became more and more suspicious of Confucianism because I was exposed to new western ideas. I studied western philosophy hard and gradually became a believer in western bourgeois philosophy.
On the eve of the May 4th Movement, Li Shicen returned to China from Japan. He witnessed the great changes brought about by the May 4th Movement and the New Culture Movement. On the one hand, he appreciates the impact of the New Culture Movement on the feudal traditional ideas that have long bound people's minds. On the other hand, he believes that this movement has many shortcomings, the most serious of which is "shallow thinking". The reason is that students everywhere are enthusiastic about saving the country and have no time to study. He advocated taking the road of "learning to save the country". So Li Shicen devoted himself to writing in Shanghai, introducing the pragmatism of James and Dewey, Bergson's philosophy of life and anti-rationalism, Wokeng's spiritualism, Nietzsche's theory of power will, Superman and Russell's logical positivism. He successively published a special issue of Min Duo to publicize Bergson and Nietzsche. He especially conforms to Nietzsche and respects the Dionysian spirit shown by Nietzsche's thought, so much so that his words must be called Nietzsche. He said: "Our first step now is to break the inherent concept of China people, that is, to change the tradition of China people and replace it with creativity." "This is the world of Dionysian thought and will. Only by exercising in this world can we awaken China people who are not progressing, help China people with mucus juice, and fundamentally change the negative and cheap life of China people. " He believes that Nietzsche's will to power is a kind of "power of life", which embodies the vitality and spirit of "endless self-improvement", which is exactly what China people need. This not only shows his deep concern for the poverty and backwardness of the country, but also reflects his lack of effective exploration to change this situation. 1920 10, Li Shicen accompanied Russell, Dewey, Zhang Taiyan, Cai Yuanpei, Zhang, Wu Zhihui and others to give lectures in Hunan. He gave five lectures in Changsha and Liling, introducing the ideas of Nietzsche, Bergson, James, Russell and Dewey.
Li Shicen was an advocate of Bergson's philosophy of life about the relationship between matter and spirit in his early years. He said: "No matter animals, plants or mines, there is no place in the universe that is not full of vitality. Life can be abundant, so it is called only life. " Epistemologically, he is a voluntarist, starting from people's subjective will, taking the continuous realization of subjective will as the end result, and promoting the development of truth by constantly satisfying people's requirements. But he admits that knowledge is endless, spiraling and has dialectical factors.
From 65438 to 0923, there was a debate on "science and outlook on life" in China's ideological and cultural circles, and Li Shicen devoted himself to this debate with his "philosophy of life" theory. His philosophy of life inherits Bergson's philosophy of life, and its core is still to emphasize the impulse of life, human value and the full expression of "desire for life" in life. Li Shicen not only wrote a book to publicize his philosophy of life, but also moved it to the university classroom.
Li Shicen's "philosophy of life" theory had a great influence and was very popular in academic circles and university campuses at that time. Huang Yushun has a poem "Cen Song of the Rites":
Li Shicen, a philosophy of life, believes in Bergson. Why is there all life? Just because of my own life.
Scholars are tolerant.
On New Year's Day (1924), Li Shicen expounded his views on learning and life attitude in a letter to Wu Zhihui. He believes that one is lifelong learning, and this kind of person pursues personal life; One is to study for utility, and this kind of person pursues social life; He advocated learning for learning's sake and pursuing universal life. He said:
In our extremely poor and dry China, there is no profound knowledge as the foundation of agriculture, industry, commerce, medicine and even all walks of life. No matter what doctrine we talk about and what sports we play, it is a very fragile foundation; No matter what problems are solved, there is little academic value. ..... Even if one or two people know that learning is very important, they will not make great wishes and regard learning as a lifelong career; Even if there are one or two talented geniuses, they are unwilling to abandon material comforts, and finally their careers will be successful and completely destroyed. Confucius said, "It is better to know than to be happy." Although they know it, it is always bad. How can they enjoy it? Therefore, I think this positive attitude of learning for the sake of learning is worthy of vigorous promotion and special promotion.
He also advocates that being a man and learning hate mediocrity and pay attention to "bias", which he says is "personality". But it is precisely because we have prejudice that we respect the prejudice of others, which is tolerance.
Li Shicen paid special attention to the theoretical basis, and always emphasized the objective treatment and understanding of different philosophical schools. He could not arbitrarily deny it by his own likes and dislikes without fully understanding the other philosophical system. Therefore, scholars at that time all appreciated his "tolerant" character and spirit. He asks students in the same way in teaching. When he was in philosophy class, his first handout was a bibliography, which listed more than 100 Chinese and foreign philosophical masterpieces. He said that only by browsing these famous philosophical works can you be considered a master of philosophy and be qualified to engage in research.
He also pays attention to the connection between science. He said in the preface of his prose collection "On Confessions of Thinking Methods": "When I was young, I studied geometry for the first time, so I didn't judge what I meant; Later, when I studied ethics, I could explain it a little, but I still couldn't get its content, so I studied geometry again. If this person is a few years old, he can get a glimpse of it and cover his way of thinking to people who have no clue. The application of rational knowledge is always based on geometry, which is the induction and deduction of the basic function of rational knowledge. Then the way of thinking that geometry creates in us can be known. " He believes that "in terms of thinking methods, mathematics is actually the source of all thinking methods." He also talked about the similarities between science and art many times.
Diligent and realistic, keep pace with the times
Li Shicen's philosophy keeps pace with the times. In the era when Li Shicen lived, it was impossible to "study for the sake of learning" calmly. All intellectuals with a sense of morality and patriotism are trying to explore the way to save the country. He began to doubt his previous thoughts and beliefs, and felt that western idealism theory could not provide weapons for saving the country and the people, and Bergson and Nietzsche's thoughts were not omnipotent. With this confusion, he decided to go to the west to inspect contemporary philosophical thoughts on the spot. 1928, he left his wife and children and went to France and Germany via Egypt.
At this time, an unprecedented economic crisis broke out in Europe, with sharp class contradictions and social unrest, and Marxism spread widely and deeply. This situation greatly shocked Li Shicen, who saw the tragic situation and great strength of the working class. He studied the works from Heraclitus to Feuerbach to Marx, Engels and Lenin, and paid great attention to the development of European philosophy. The trip to Europe broadened his horizons and broadened his mind. Through the analysis and comparison of various schools of philosophy, he had to re-evaluate idealism and materialism, and his philosophical thought had undergone profound and fundamental changes, and his foothold turned to materialism. On the basic issue of philosophy, that is, the relationship between existence and consciousness, he refuted the past views and realized that things do not exist objectively because of human recognition or not. He began to pay attention to the materialist school in western philosophy. During this period, he introduced the thoughts of Heraclitus, democritus, Feuerbach and Darwin to China in detail through translation and literary theory, and appreciated Marxism. He said:
Aristotle discovered ten categories and Kant discovered twelve categories, but one category was not as powerful as Marx and Engels. Productivity is the basis of all impulses in history, and it is the impulse of all impulses.
Of course, at this time, Li Shicen has not completely divorced from Bergson and Nietzsche's philosophical thoughts. After 1930 returned to China, it coincided with the great debate on the essence of ontology, epistemology and materialist dialectics in the domestic philosophical circles. Li Shicen, who was in the midst of great ideological changes, took part in this debate regardless of the criticism and slander made by the reactionary government and idealist scholars using the emotional entanglements in his private life. On the basic issues of philosophy, Li Shicen raised the banner of materialism. In his Introduction to Philosophy and New Materialism, he pointed out that "the integrity of nature is its materiality", that matter "exists without our subjectivity, consciousness and spirit" and that "the world comes from the objective world". It also introduces three laws of materialist dialectics: the law of unity of contradictions, the law of quantitative change and qualitative change, and the law of negation of negation. He said: "The object of dialectics is process, which is a permanent movement and change, and existence is transformed into non-existence." "Where there is contradiction, there is opposition, where there is opposition, there is unity. But the unity of opposites is relative, and the struggle of opposites is absolute. The whole nature is just a process of unity and struggle. " In epistemology, he put forward that the development of knowledge, like the development of nature, is from the low-level perceptual knowledge to the high-level thinking. The former recognizes that things are "various phenomena", while the latter recognizes the "internal relations" of things and "the two develop their contents interactively". He said: "knowledge develops and expands with practice, but practice also develops and expands with knowledge, which is mutually causal." He further pointed out that social practice is the basis for understanding and grasping the whole realistic development process. At this time, Li Shicen has completed the transformation and sublimation of his thoughts and turned to the camp of dialectical materialism. He believes that "future philosophy will inevitably focus on new materialism", and new materialism philosophy, as a methodological science, "will have brilliant development now and in the future".
1933 In March, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Marx's death, the Shanghai Youth Congress invited famous progressive scholars to hold academic lectures. Despite the threat of white terror, Li Shicen delivered a speech entitled "Philosophy of Scientific Socialism", publicly publicized Marxist philosophy, and predicted that "after several years of warlord melee and several riots, China will inevitably embark on the road of scientific socialism".
As a famous scholar, Li Shicen is familiar with Chinese and western cultures, integrates ancient and modern cultures, learns from each other's strong points, keeps up with the times, and does not stick to his own opinions. This spirit of keeping pace with the times and pursuing and exploring the truth can be demonstrated by future generations. He left more than 20 works for later generations-Philosophy of Life, Philosophy of Education, Introduction to Philosophy, Introduction to Philosophy, Philosophical Outline, Philosophical Dictionary, Introduction to Modern Philosophy, Introduction to Empirical Philosophy, Introduction to Superman Philosophy, Three Greek Philosophers, Langer's Historical Materialism, etc. Philosophical discussions, Li Shicen's lectures and Li Shicen's papers are his valuable contributions to the history of modern philosophy in China, and also a permanent ideological wealth in the history of philosophy in China.
The philosopher is dead, but the knowledge is still there!