Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Kommer, Florian

2017 Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences

doi: 10.1007/s40647-017-0193-8

The term solidarity is used extensively in the current political debate in Europe. Many times, the European Union is accused of a “lack of solidarity”. But is this really the case? From the perspective of political theory, Jürgen Habermas convincingly argues that solidarity beyond the nation state is indeed possible - even without a European demos. Since solidarity was artificially constructed within the nation state, it could very well expand into a form of transnational solidarity. However, the European Union is a complex sui generis institution, characterized by its multi-level governance. This paper therefore complements Habermas’ conception by Andrea Sangiovanni’s reciprocity-based internationalism which differentiates more detailed between national, member state and transnational solidarity. Moreover, the paper argues that the democratic deficiencies and the economic liberalization in the European Union led to a fourth form of solidarity: a revived solidarity with the nation state. The current situation within the European Union is thus not the result of a lack of solidarity. On the contrary, there is plenty of solidarity around. However, the parallel existence of these different forms of solidarity could not persist without conflicts under the given discourse where solidarity is framed as a zero-sum game. Hence, the European Union does not suffer from a lack of solidarity but rather from a clash of multiple solidarities.

Bernstein, Moshe

2017 Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences

doi: 10.1007/s40647-017-0207-6

Zhao Yingcheng (1619–1657), known as “The Great Advisor”, is the only Kaifeng Jew who is mentioned both in the synagogal stele of 1663 and in Chinese gazetteers during his lifetime. Zhao, given the Hebrew name of Moshe ben Avram, was fluent in Hebrew but also achieved success as a Confucian scholar familiar with the Chinese classics. He would have witnessed the destruction of his hometown by a catastrophic flood during the 1642 Siege of Kaifeng. In 1645, at the age of 26, he attained the jinshi rank in the Imperial Exams, in which only one in 10,000 candidates was successful. A year later, he was appointed Minister of Justice for the newly installed Qing Dynasty and supervised the controversial decree forcing the Manchu tonsure onto the Han population as a mark of submission. In 1647, he was sent as an envoy to quell the unrest in Fujian province. After defeating bands of violent warlords funded by the notorious pirate Koxinga, Zhao set up a system of public schools to provide greater economic opportunity for the poor. After the death of his father, Zhao returned to Kaifeng for the three-year mourning period; during that time, he funded the restoration of the synagogue, which had been destroyed in the deluge, and the rectification of the Torah scrolls damaged in that catastrophe. Though the biographical facts are sparse, when these are juxtaposed with the dramatic events that unfolded during his short lifetime, the potential for a fascinating historical fictionalization emerges. Moreover, many of those historical events in seventeenth-century China—climate change, elite corruption, populist revolt, xenophobia, terrorism, law and order, etc.—resonate with contemporary tropes. The story of “The Great Advisor” shows how a Jew in seventeenth-century China rose to national prominence at a time when Jews in Europe faced severe discrimination and persecution.

Xu, Yingjin

2017 Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences

doi: 10.1007/s40647-017-0182-y

Although the literature devoted to the naturalization of mainstream phenomenology has been blooming recently, not so many efforts have been made to make the intellectual legacy from Wittgenstein, who could also be viewed as a “linguistic phenomenologist,” accessible to cognitive science. The reluctance of making Wittgenstein naturalized is sometimes backed by the worry that Wittgenstein’s criticism of the notion of “thinking” as some “internal process” is also potentially threatening the computational theory of cognition. But this worry itself is based on some serious misunderstandings of the internal/external dichotomies, the clarifications of which would greatly relieve the tension between Wittgenstein and cognitive science. Moreover, cognitive linguistics could also be viewed as the intermediate theory between Wittgenstein and cognitive science due to the affinities it bears with both Wittgenstein’s later philosophy and cognitive science.

Shen, Haiyan; Nasoraia, Brikha

2017 Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences

doi: 10.1007/s40647-017-0183-x

This paper attempts to explore Master Zhiyi (538–597) of Chinese Tiantai Buddhism’s theory of the Subtlety of the three categories of Dharma. By means of interpreting the title “the Subtle Dharma of the Lotus Sutra,” he is able to adhere to the One Buddha-vehicle as the unifying force to incorporate different viewpoints and to classify the teaching of the Buddha. Zhiyi’s interpretation of the title of the Lotus Sutra begins with the word “Dharma.” This indicates that the Buddha teaches dharma, for dharma is the doctrine of truth or reality. He divides dharma into three categories: (1) Dharma of Sentient Beings, (2) Dharma of Buddha, and (3) Dharma of Mind. These three categories of dharma are regarded as constituting the doctrines in the teaching of the Buddha. Through this interpretation, the dharma the Buddha expounds in his teaching is confirmed to be subtle and inconceivable. The meaning of the subtlety is defined by Zhiyi as being vast in substance, superior in placeness, and eternal in function. These three aspects of the subtlety are spoken of in terms of the Ten Dharma-realms being the representation of the Ultimate Truth. As this Ultimate Truth is constituted by the Relativity of the nine realms and the Ultimate of the Buddha-realm, the Buddha’s teaching that functions to lead beings to enter the realm of Buddha is made evident. Owing to the fact that both of the nine realms and the Buddha-realm belong to the Dharma-realm, and the dharmadhātu is the Ultimate Truth, Zhiyi maintains that the nine realms as the Relative contains the Ultimate, and the Buddha-realm as the Ultimate contains the Relative. The integrated reality of the Relative and the Ultimate of the Ten Dharma-realms renders the dharma of the Ultimate Truth inconceivable and subtle. Coinciding with the subtlety that is defined by these three aspects in terms of vast substance, superior placeness, and eternal function, these three categories of dharma are linked with those three aspects of the subtlety. The Dharma of Sentient Beings that concerns the Ten Dharma-realms (that are characterized by the Ten Suchnesses) indicates the vastness of substance the Buddha’s teaching is based upon, in terms of the Ultimate Truth. The Dharma of Buddha that concerns the Buddha’s knowledge of the Relative and the Ultimate indicates the superiority of placeness the Buddha’s teaching can lead to in terms of attainment of Buddhahood. The Dharma of Mind that concerns the way of realizing the Ultimate Truth indicates the length of function the Buddha’s teaching can benefit, in terms of the three periods of time. Hence, by Zhiyi’s definition, the subtlety refers to the dharma, and the dharma is subtle, whereby the Ultimate Truth is presented as an integrated reality of Oneness.