Research Areas and Projects
Chinese Philosophy of Technology
I. The Relevance of Chinese Philosophy of Technology
II. General Cultural-Philosophical Background
III. A Philosophical-Historical Survey
IV. Implications for Modern Technology
Chinese Philosophy of Technology
I. The Relevance of Chinese Philosophy of Technology
A. The phenomenon of modern technology: utopian or dystopian?
B. Striving for a balanced stance
C. An inspiring historical model in China
II. General Cultural-Philosophical Background
A. The basic characters of Chinese culture
- Cultural monism 一元文化
- Unity of human and nature 天人合一
- Chinese humanism 人文主义
- Immanent transcendence 内在超越
- Ideal of the sage 圣人理想
- Meritorical elitism 贤人治国
- Poetic philosophy 诗性哲学
B. Philosophical foundations
- Naturalism
- Organicism
- Empiricism
- Phenomenalism
III. A Philosophical-Historical Survey
General Thesis: Traditional Chinese philosophy took a balanced stance on technology, but that stance was lost step by step in the modernization process.
A. Pre-Qin schools: Classical Chinese philosophy
- Confucianism
劳心者治人，劳力者治于人: The priority of humanities
- Daoism
无为: Technological innovation as an important way of practising wuwei
- Mohism
- Military philosophy
不战而屈人之兵: The subordinateness of technology
B. Han philosophy: The new system
C. Song-Ming philosophy: Coping with the impact of Buddhism
D. Modern period: Reaction to the impact of Western modernity
- Late Qing reform: embracing modern technology and the launch of industrialization
- New Cultural Movement: full-scale Westernization and the beginning of self-denial
- Marxism: Scientism, technological determinism and complete self-denial
IV. Implications for Modern Technology
A. The embracing-controlling stance on modern technology
Technology is good but secondary, and if it's not well controlled it's dangerous.