COVID-19 often manifests with different outcomes in different patients, highlighting the complexity of the host-pathogen interactions involved in manifestations of the disease at the molecular and cellular levels. In this paper, we propose a set of postulates and a framework for systematically understanding complex molecular host-pathogen interaction networks. Specifically, we first propose four host-pathogen interaction (HPI) postulates as the basis for understanding molecular and cellular host-pathogen interactions and their relations to disease outcomes. These four postulates cover the evolutionary dispositions involved (...) in HPIs, the dynamic nature of HPI outcomes, roles that HPI components may occupy leading to such outcomes, and HPI checkpoints that are critical for specific disease outcomes. Based on these postulates, an HPI Postulate and Ontology (HPIPO) framework is proposed to apply interoperable ontologies to systematically model and represent various granular details and knowledge within the scope of the HPI postulates, in a way that will support AI-ready data standardization, sharing, integration, and analysis. As a demonstration, the HPI postulates and the HPIPO framework were applied to study COVID-19 with the Coronavirus Infectious Disease Ontology (CIDO), leading to a novel approach to rational design of drug/vaccine cocktails aimed at interrupting processes occurring at critical host-coronavirus interaction checkpoints. Furthermore, the host-coronavirus protein-protein interactions (PPIs) relevant to COVID-19 were predicted and evaluated based on prior knowledge of curated PPIs and domain-domain interactions, and how such studies can be further explored with the HPI postulates and the HPIPO framework is discussed. (shrink)

感謝《鵝湖月刊》給我機會討論拙作《比較的時代 ——中西視野中的儒家哲學前沿問題》（以下簡稱《比較的時代》），也很感謝李明書、李健君、張麗麗三位年輕有為的學者認真討論我在書中提出的一些問題。 三位學者都認識到這裏討論的「比較哲學」是通過比較來研究哲學，而不僅僅是比較已經存在的相同和不同的哲學思想。 在我看來， 單純地比較不同的哲學思想基本上是哲學史的工作。 而通過運用比較的方法做哲學則是哲學本身的工作，是建構性的原創性的工作。 說我們的時代是一個比較的時代，是說我們處於一個以比較為特徵來研究和建構哲學思想的時代。 通過比較來做哲學，就是要通過研究不同的哲學流派和不同的哲學思想，來進而建構新的哲學思想，以回答時代向我們提出的問題。在這個方面，我個人的看法是，今天的儒家哲學研究已經進入了一個不可迴避、不可逆轉的比較 的時代。 這是一件大好事。 這樣的研究使我們有更廣闊的視野，使我們有更多、更豐富的思想資源，也使我們更可能有效地回答時代提出的問題。 這裡我分別對三位學者提出的問題做出回應。.

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence necessitate a re-examination of the epistemological foundations upon which we attribute consciousness. As AI systems increasingly mimic human behavior and interaction with high fidelity, the concept of a "perfect mimic"—an entity empirically indistinguishable from a human through observation and interaction—shifts from hypothetical to technologically plausible. This paper argues that such developments pose a fundamental challenge to the consistency of our mind-recognition practices. Consciousness attributions rely heavily, if not exclusively, on empirical evidence derived from behavior and (...) interaction. If a perfect mimic provides evidence identical to that of humans, any refusal to grant it equivalent epistemic status must invoke inaccessible factors, such as qualia, substrate requirements, or origin. Selectively invoking such factors risks a debilitating dilemma: either we undermine the rational basis for attributing consciousness to others (epistemological solipsism), or we accept inconsistent reasoning. I contend that epistemic consistency demands we ascribe the same status to empirically indistinguishable entities, regardless of metaphysical assumptions. The perfect mimic thus acts as an epistemic mirror, forcing critical reflection on the assumptions underlying intersubjective recognition in light of advancing AI. This analysis carries significant implications for theories of consciousness and ethical frameworks concerning artificial agents. (shrink)

Few would deny that something ontologically depends on something else. Given that something depends on something, what depends on what? Huayan Buddhism 華嚴宗, a prominent Chinese Buddhist school, is known for its extensive thesis of interdependence, according to which everything depends on everything else. This intriguing thesis is entangled with seemingly paradoxical claims that everything is not only identified with everything else but also contained within it. Moreover, the radical thesis of interdependence entails that dependence is pervasive and symmetric. In (...) this paper, I first develop a contemporary interpretation of Huayan interdependence by employing the definitional account of essence and the essence-based account of dependence. Through these contemporary resources, I elucidate and unify the theses of interdependence, mutual identity, and mutual containment within Huayan Buddhism. I then propose a unique framework of ontological dependence that suggests varying degrees of ontological dependence, aimed at accommodating and explaining away our intuitions against pervasive and symmetric dependence. By contemporizing Huayan Buddhism, I explore its potential and facilitate engagement between contemporary metaphysics and Huayan Buddhism. (shrink)

This framework proposes a triadic perspective of "embodied perception – information exchange – dynamic interconstitution" to address the fundamental questions of "Who am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?". Embodied perception is defined as the individual's unique experience of their own dynamism, continuity, and agency. Information exchange is regarded as the semantic entropy-reducing summarization and entropy-increasing reconstruction of embodied perception through the process of "encoding – transmission – decoding". Dynamic interconstitution, drawing on complex systems theory, explains (...) the mechanism of mutual construction among individuals within ecological networks. Through interdisciplinary concept reframing and the design of verifiable mechanisms, this perspective interprets and responds to philosophical issues such as self, civilization, symbiosis, value, critique, morality, freedom, development, and power. It establishes a dialogue with cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and the social sciences, offering a new direction for understanding individual–group symbiosis. (shrink)

This paper reports the first study in the literature that adopts a bibliometric approach to systematically explore the scholarship in the young and fast‐growing research field of experimental philosophy. Based on a corpus of 1,248 publications in experimental philosophy from the past two decades retrieved from the PhilPapers website, the study examined the publication trend, the influential experimental philosophers, the impactful works, the popular publication venues, and the major research themes in this subarea of philosophy. It found, first, an overall (...) growing trend in publications in experimental philosophy, encompassing four developmental stages. Second, it found that significant changes in topics of interest have taken place, with some gaining increasing attention, others seemingly going out of fashion, and still others remaining popular constantly. Third, the study identified lists of leading philosophers, frequently cited publications, and popular journals helpful for researchers and newcomers to get a quick start in learning about the field. (shrink)

In this paper, we aim to trace the origin of the systematic cross-cultural variations in referential intuitions by investigating the effects of perspective taking on people’s responses in the Gödel-style probes through two novel experiments. Here is how we will proceed. In section 2, we first briefly introduce the MMNS (2004) study, and then critically review the two relevant studies conducted by Sytsma and colleagues (i.e., Sytsma and Livengood 2011; Sytsma et al. 2015). In section 3, we introduce the literature (...) on cross-cultural variation in perspective taking in cultural psychology, which together with the conjecture of perspectival ambiguity leads to the hypothesis of our current study. In sections 4 and 5, two new experiments on how perspective taking affects people’s responses in hypothetical stories modelled on the Gödel thought experiment will be reported. Based on the empirical findings, in section 6 we argue that the robust cross-cultural variations thus far observed in people’s responses to the Gödel cases are largely attributable to culturally specific perspective-taking strategies, which provides new support for the proposal previously made by Sytsma and Livengood (2011). The implications of the experimental results for the ongoing work of testing the theories of refence of names and for the current metaphilosophical debate on the robustness of philosopher’s intuitions are also drawn in this section. Finally, the major conclusions and contributions of the current study are highlighted in section 7. (shrink)

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed an unexpected population of massive, morphologically mature, and even quenched galaxies at redshifts \( z > 10 \)—a finding that starkly contradicts the slow, hierarchical structure formation predicted by the standard ΛCDM model. In direct response, this monograph articulates and applies the **Energy Quantum Theory **(EQT), a comprehensive physical and philosophical framework first systematically developed in the author’s foundational monographs (Li & Li, 2025). -/- EQT reconceives the cosmos not as a collection (...) of particles in spacetime, but as a dynamic **energyon density field** \( \rho(\mathbf{r}, t, f) \), whose evolution is governed by three core postulates: **Frequency Partitioning**, **Gradient Flow**, and **Non-cumulative Emergence**. This process ontology—explicitly physicalizing the philosophies of Whitehead and Prigogine—unifies quantum, electromagnetic, and gravitational phenomena as frequency-band manifestations of a single gradient-driven dynamics. -/- We show that JWST’s “precocious galaxies” are a natural consequence of EQT: high-frequency energy quanta from the first stars (\( f \sim 10^{15}–10^{18} \) Hz) **nonlinearly cascade** into low-frequency gravitational modes (\( f \sim 10^{-5} \) Hz), inducing the rapid formation of massive structures far earlier than ΛCDM allows. Critically, because energy is fundamentally non-negative (\( E = hf \geq 0 \)), the energyon density field satisfies \( \rho \geq 0 \), which **entails the intrinsic unidirectionality of gravitational gradients** (always attractive). JWST’s observation of efficient early aggregation thus provides strong empirical confirmation of this core tenet and decisively rules out cosmological models invoking significant negative-mass repulsion. -/- Philosophically, EQT replaces the narrative of cosmic heat death with a **four-phase rhythm**—Inspiration, Suspension, Expiration, and Inflection—wherein complexity emerges locally and transiently as a necessary phase of cosmic self-expression. The theory is not merely explanatory but **predictive**, yielding concrete, testable signatures for next-generation observatories (e.g., spatial correlation between JWST star-forming galaxies and the LISA gravitational-wave background). -/- This work demonstrates that the JWST anomaly is not a crisis for cosmology, but a catalyst for a deeper synthesis—one that unifies fundamental physics with a coherent natural philosophy of process, time, and cosmic destiny. (shrink)

Past work has shown systematic differences between Easterners' and Westerners' intuitions about the reference of proper names. Understanding when these differences emerge in development will help us understand their origins. In the present study, we investigate the referential intuitions of English- and Chinese-speaking children and adults in the U.S. and China. Using a truth-value judgment task modeled on Kripke's classic Gödel case, we find that the cross-cultural differences are already in place at age seven. Thus, these differences cannot be attributed (...) to later education or enculturation. Instead, they must stem from differences that are present in early childhood. We consider alternate theories of reference that are compatible with these findings and discuss the possibility that the cross-cultural differences reflect differences in perspective-taking strategies. (shrink)

Though there is a wide and varied literature on ethical supererogation, there has been almost nothing written about its epistemic counterpart, despite an intuitive analogy between the two fields. This paper seeks to change this state of affairs. I will begin by showing that there are examples which intuitively feature epistemically supererogatory doxastic states. Next, I will present a positive theory of epistemic supererogation that can vindicate our intuitions in these examples, in an explanation that parallels a popular theory of (...) ethical supererogation. Roughly, I will argue that a specific type of epistemic virtue—the ability to creatively think up plausible hypotheses given a body of evidence—is not required of epistemic agents. Thus, certain exercises of this virtue can result in supererogatory doxastic states. In presenting this theory, I will also show how thinking about epistemic supererogation can provide us a new way forward in the debate about the uniqueness thesis for epistemic rationality. (shrink)

Abstract: Traditional economics treats core concepts such as "value" and "utility" as a priori, quantifiable givens, leading to a "disembodied" dilemma in its theoretical framework. Based on the triad of "Embodied Perception, Information Exchange, and Dynamic Interconstitution" proposed in Embodiment-Symbiosis: The Construction and Interpretation of a Dynamic Philosophical System Framework, this paper constructs a new framework for interpreting economic philosophy. This framework anchors the essence of economic activity in the expansion and interaction of individual and collective "meaning-generating spaces," thereby providing (...) a consistent and profound meta-theoretical explanation for the origin of value, the motivation for transaction, the nature of currency, the operation of financial markets, distributive justice, and the production-consumption cycle. This paper argues that the economy is not an objective system detached from subjective experience, but rather a meaning network rooted in human embodiment, achieving consensus through information exchange, and continuously evolving through dynamic co-construction. This perspective not only explains various economic phenomena, ranging from primitive exchange to complex finance, but also, through its inherent normativity, provides a solid philosophical foundation for critiquing economic alienation and power exploitation. (shrink)

This essay introduces the philosophy of harmony in Classical Confucianism. In the first part of the essay the author summarizes the concept of harmony as it was developed in various Confucian classics. In the second part, the author offers an account of the Confucian program of harmony, ranging from internal harmony in the person, to harmony in the family, the state, the international world, and finally to harmony in the entire universe.

Rationality is intrapersonally permissive just in case there are multiple doxastic states that one agent may be rational in holding at a given time, given some body of evidence. One way for intrapersonal permissivism to be true is if there are epistemic supererogatory beliefs—beliefs that go beyond the call of epistemic duty. Despite this, there has been almost no discussion of epistemic supererogation in the permissivism literature. This paper shows that this is a mistake. It does this by arguing that (...) the most popular ways of responding to one of the major obstacles to any intrapersonally permissive all fall prey to the same problem. This problem is most naturally solved by positing a category of epistemically supererogatory belief. So intrapersonal epistemic permissivists should embrace epistemic supererogation. (shrink)

Challenging the way critical thinking is often considered a skill, this article explores possible discursive reasons for the skill-orientation and technicization of this concept. First, using Michel Foucault’s ‘division and rejection’ theory as a discursive analytical lens, the discussion explores the neoliberal alliance of international organizations, national governmental authorities, the media, job markets, schools, and concerned parents. It explores how this alliance promotes the discourse of skill and competence, and prepares the ground for critical thinking’s technicization. Drawing further on Foucault’s (...) decoding of human capital as the essence of neoliberalism, the article explores the way that the technicization of critical thinking fits with a conception of human beings as a complex mix of production and consumption, where, as homo economicus, they become entrepreneurs of themselves. Second, in the light of Foucault’s discursive analytical conception of the will to truth, the article traces a possible historical underpinning of critical thinking’s technicization. It argues that power-knowledge, the dark side of Enlightenment technological rationality, creates an increasingly technical conception of the world that tampers with the criticality of critical thinking. If critical thinking does not render people aware of the power impinging on them, it loses its value and meaning. The article proposes that critical thinking should rather be conceived along the lines of a Foucauldian conception of critique: the art of not being governed, which takes inspiration from Kant’s conception of enlightenment. It explores how to practise Foucauldian critical thinking, how Foucault’s technology of the self can be enacted as the protector of subjectivity against the governmentality of power. (shrink)

Probabilism holds that rational credence functions are probability functions defined over some probability space $(\Omega, \F, P)$. According to some recent philosophical arguments, in some situations, rational credence function must be \textit{total}, i.e. $\F=2^\Omega$, a view which I call \textit{credence totalism}. Arguments for credence totalism are based on the premise that non-Lebesgue measurable subsets of $\mathbb{R}$ are epistemically significant, in the sense that an agent has reasons to assign probability to these sets. This paper argues that nonmeasurable sets are not (...) epistemically significant in this sense. Consequently, the arguments for credence totalism are not successful. My argument is based on a careful consideration of the role of the Axiom of Choice in probabilistic practice. I also discuss some topics considered closely related, viz. the existence of total chance functions and the truth value of the Continuum Hypothesis. I argue that the role of nonmeasurability in epistemology does not shed light on these issues. (shrink)

This essay analyses two kinds of harmony as exemplified in Confucianism and Daoism and examines their relation with domination and freedom.

In this brief reply I respond to criticisms of my book, The referential mechanism of proper names, from Michael Devitt and Nicolo D'Agruma. I focus on the question of whether the perspectivism advocated in the book explains the empirical results there detailed.

Integrated Information Theory (IIT) provides a quantitative framework for explaining consciousness phenomenon, positing that conscious systems comprise elements integrated through causal properties. We apply IIT 3.0 and 4.0 — the latest iterations of this framework — to sequences of Large Language Model (LLM) representations, analyzing data derived from existing Theory of Mind (ToM) test results. Our study systematically investigates whether the differences of ToM test performances, when presented in the LLM representations, can be revealed by IIT estimates, i.e., Φmax (IIT (...) 3.0), Φ (IIT 4.0), Conceptual Information (IIT 3.0), and Φ-structure (IIT 4.0). Furthermore, we compare these metrics with the Span Representations independent of any estimate for consciousness. This additional effort aims to differentiate between potential “consciousness” phenomena and inherent separations within LLM representational space. We conduct comprehensive experiments examining variations across LLM transformer layers and linguistic spans from stimuli. Our results suggest that sequences of contemporary Transformer-based LLM representations lack statistically significant indicators of observed “consciousness” phenomena but exhibit intriguing patterns under _spatio_-permutational analyses. (shrink)

【摘 要】：本文认为儒家拥有资源构建自己的自由概念哲学，没有必要为此目的移植西方的“自由意志”概念。一个人只有在她有效决定自我命运并塑造其生活时，才能称得上自由。如果以这种方式理解，实现儒家自由要依靠发展个 人做出有效选择的能力并创造有关的外在条件，以达成有意义的选择目标。具体地说，它是通过择善过程而实现的。 【关键词】：自由 ，自由意志 ，选择 练习履行概念 ，选择 ，女性主义 ，个人能力 ，外在条件 ，善择 ，择善 .

We happen to live in a world in which people stand in long chains of care: some people care about other people, who care about still other people, and so on. We explore an argument according to which chains of care expand the circle of prudential concern for carers. The argument’s upshot is that many individuals have a circle of prudential concern that encompasses the welfare of many people, including distant strangers. This result has a range of surprising implications about (...) the scope of prudential concern and our ability to know and control the determinants of our welfare. Natural extensions of the argument suggest that our welfare is—to a surprising degree—dependent on the welfare of distant strangers. We consider several proposals for escaping this outcome. It turns out that they are either costly or that they do not provide an escape. We thus provisionally accept that, courtesy of care chains, our significant prudential interests include the welfare of individuals we do not care about or even know. (shrink)

Michael Sandel has been one of the most powerful critics of liberalism in the past decades. His work, especially in Liberalism and the Limits of Justice, exposes some of the fundamental flaws of Rawlsian liberalism and shows the need for a community-based framework in order for us to adequately understand and appreciate the concept of the individual and just society. Confucians can endorse many of Sandel’s critiques of liberalism. From a Confucian perspective, however, Sandel’s version of communitarianism is nevertheless too (...) thin for a robust communitarian society. Confucians maintain a thick notion of community and take it to be vital to human flourishing. In this essay, I first discuss a key point where Confucians converge with Sandel as an example of the common ground between the two philosophies before turn to one important difference between them. The key point of convergence is about the circumstances of justice; the difference is on harmony. Harmony lies in the very center of the Confucian notion of community, whereas it has been given no place in Sandel’s conception of community. This essay offers a Confucian critique as well as an endorsement of Sandel’s communitarian philosophy. It also extends a friendly invitation to Sandel for him to take harmony into his conception of community. (shrink)

Familism, patriotism, and cosmopolitanism form three concentric circles in a person's life. Each of these respective human communities constitutes an independent good for the good life. The value of family life does not depend on the value of country, and the world. Nor does the value of patriotic life or cosmopolitan life depend on that of family life. Shifting allegiances between these circles entails reallocating loyalty and dedication, and thus both enriches one's life and incurs a cost to it. In (...) the view that I construct here, a philosophy of the good life articulates its own vision of the ideal allocation of loyalty and dedication among these three or more spheres. While cosmopolitanism has its own value and good, it also comes with a cost; proponents of cosmopolitanism-including Confucian cosmopolitansoften overlook such a cost. I argue for a "dynamic harmony" approach to cosmopolitanism that takes into account the cost it incurs on people's local commitments. (shrink)

We propose a simple interpretation of phenomenal consciousness, or qualia, in which qualia are merely grouped signals that represent objects. To establish this interpretation, we first propose criteria for determining whether a machine can possess qualia. We then integrate modern neuroscience with Kant’s philosophical ideas to propose four principles of information processing. Based on these principles, we demonstrate how a machine could meet the criteria for phenomenal consciousness. Extending this framework, we argue that these principles also underlie human cognitive processing. (...) To support this claim, we compare them with related concepts in mainstream cognitive science, analyzing both similarities and differences. Furthermore, we provide empirical evidence for the implications of these differences. This analysis suggests that human cognitive mechanisms conform to the proposed principles of information processing, offering a potential framework for understanding the physical basis of consciousness. Our findings challenge the assumption that phenomenal consciousness necessitates a non-material substrate. Instead, we suggest that the experience of consciousness arises from structural organization and processing of information. This perspective provides a new lens for examining the relationship between computation and subjective experience, with potential implications for artificial intelligence and cognitive science. (shrink)

Our age is one of globalization. A major characteristic of this age is the interaction, contention, and integration of various cultural and philosophical traditions. In such an environment, Chinese studies can no longer be conducted in isolation, independently of external influences. If we call the 18th-19th centuries the age of reason, the 20th century the age of analysis, the 21st century is the age of comparative study. In our age, the mantra of “interpreting China in terms of (only) Chinese perspectives” (...) is no longer appropriate. Comparative approaches are becoming a quasi-paradigm in Chinese studies. (shrink)

This monograph establishes that spiral structure—from DNA’s double helix to JWST’s high-redshift galactic arms—is not a geometric accident, but the necessary geometric manifestation of a universal four-phase cosmic rhythm. Building on the Energy Quantum Theory (EQT) framework (Li, 2025), we demonstrate that all spirals arise from a single, scale-invariant mechanism: high-frequency energy quanta (f_H \sim 10^{15}–10^{18}\, \text{Hz}) nonlinearly cascade into low-frequency modes (f_L \sim 10^{-8}–10^{-5}\, \text{Hz}), generating a gradient field \nabla \rho(r,\theta) whose interplay with angular momentum conservation produces logarithmic spiral (...) trajectories. -/- We derive a unified formula for the pitch angle: \[ \psi = \tan^{-1}\left( \frac{v_r}{v_\theta} \right) \propto \frac{|\nabla \rho(r)|}{L}, \] which holds across thirty orders of magnitude—from molecular (10^{-10}\, \text{m}) to cosmological (10^{26}\, \text{m}) scales. Crucially, because E = h f \geq 0, the energyon density satisfies \rho \geq 0, ensuring gradient unidirectionality (always attractive), which explains JWST’s efficient early structure formation and rules out negative-mass models. -/- The work yields concrete, falsifiable predictions: (1) JWST + ALMA: spatial correlation between UV and CO emission in spiral arms; (2) JWST + LISA: diffuse gravitational-wave background modulated by spiral geometry; (3) GRACE-FO: 2.8-year “breathing” accompanied by coherent gravitational vortices; (4) XFEL: enantiomeric excess in chiral molecules controlled by circularly polarized X-ray gradient direction. -/- By unifying Whitehead’s process philosophy with Prigogine’s irreversibility in a computable physical framework, this monograph transforms the spiral from cosmic decoration into the visible poem of a rhythmic universe—where every vortex, from galaxy to fingerprint, is a harmonic resonance of the same energyon field across the frequency spectrum. (shrink)

He (和), or harmony, has traditionally been a central concept in Chinese thought, and to this day continues to shape the way in which people in China and East Asia think about ethics and politics. Yet, there is no systematic and comprehensive introduction of harmony as has been variously articulated in different Chinese schools. This edited volume aims to fill this gap. The individual contributions elaborate the conceptions of harmony as these were exemplified in central Chinese schools of thought, including (...) Daoism, Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, Buddhism, and trace their impact on contemporary Chinese philosophy. The volume explores the various meanings and implications of harmony so as to consider its relevance as a value and virtue in the modern world. It provides an accessible but substantial introductory work for readers interested in learning about pertinent core concepts and theories in Chinese thought, as well as engages specialists in Chinese philosophy by explicating its implications for ethical, political, epistemological, and metaphysical reflection as the basic point of reference. (shrink)

T. M. Scanlon’s contractualism is a meta-ethical theory that explains moral motivation and also provides a conception of how to carry out moral deliberation. It supports non-consequentialism – the theory that both consequences and deontological considerations are morally significant in moral deliberation. Regarding the issue of punishment, non-consequentialism allows us to take account of the need for deterrence as well as principles of fairness, justice, and even desert. Moreover, Scanlonian contractualism accounts for permissibility in terms of justifiability: An act is (...) permissible if and only if it can be justified to everyone affected by it. This contractualist thesis explains why it is always impermissible to frame an innocent person, why vicarious punishment is impermissible, and why there has to be a cap on sentences. Contractualism therefore allows us to take deterrence as a goal of punishment without the excess of utilitarianism. This paper further argue that the resulting view is superior to pure retributivism. Finally, it shows why legal excuses and mitigation can be justified in terms of the notion of negative desert. (For access to this paper: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/sJ2JBVXkztyFMGmxS7tS/full ) . (shrink)

Many have offered accounts of the procreative asymmetry, the claim that one has no moral reason to create a life just because it would be happy, but one has moral reason not to create a life just because it would be miserable. I suggest a new approach. Instead of looking at the procreative asymmetry on its own, we can situate it within a broader landscape of asymmetries. Specifically, there are two other analogous asymmetries in the prudential and epistemic domains. The (...) prudential asymmetry says that one has no prudential reason to acquire a desire just because it would be satisfied, but one has prudential reason not to acquire a desire just because it would be frustrated. The epistemic asymmetry says that one has no epistemic reason to acquire a belief just because it is true, but one has epistemic reason not to acquire a belief just because it is false. The existence of these analogous asymmetries in these normative domains suggests the possibility of a unified account of all three asymmetries as instances of a more fundamental asymmetry of value-based reasons. This paper develops a working model of what such a unified account might look like. Such an account can give us a unified explanation of a variety of phenomena, reinforce the plausibility of each of these asymmetries, and give us a novel picture of how value gives us reasons that might extend beyond these three applications. (shrink)

All cultures are infused by or even rooted in certain values. Although those values are generally recognised in all societies, they are diversely ranked or proritised in different human groups and different perceptions partly account for cultural diversity as not all values can be equally upheld in any community or by any individual. Though value universalism in a strict sense is unachievable, we can all agree on a pluralistic mutual understanding of and tolerance for diversity.

While largely agreeing with Ruiping Fan, Chenyang Li makes three points regarding the handling of COVID-19. First, in addition to state capacity, social trust, and leadership, as identified by Francis Fukuyama, factors responsible for successful pandemic responses include the value of individual freedom upheld by citizens. A high level of individual freedom can make it difficult to implement strict measures even when they are objectively necessary. Second, a strong state can be effective in handling a pandemic, but without checks and (...) balances it also runs the risk of leading a country into a major catastrophe. Third, Confucian ethics and other ethics can aid in coping with the pandemic. However, their efficacy is not unlimited, and ultimately, human survival overrides other concerns. (shrink)

This paper proposes an integrated theoretical framework for language, culture, and art, termed Connection-Symbol Theory. The core claim of this theory is that the fundamental function of symbols lies not in referring to objects, expressing meanings, or carrying structures, but in accomplishing spiritual connection—that is, in establishing a sustainably operative relational structure among subjectivity, experience, world-understanding, and action. From this perspective, language, art, and culture are no longer understood as representations of reality or as mere appendages of ideology; rather, they (...) are taken as constitutive mechanisms of reality itself. Through a systematic reflection on the paradigms of traditional semiotics, narrative theory, and cultural studies, this paper argues that explanatory frameworks centered on reference, structure, or power are no longer sufficient for accounting for contemporary cultural practices characterized by high degrees of interactivity, mediation, and diversity. Taking “connection” as its basic unit of analysis, Connection-Symbol Theory advances the anchoring and generativity of symbols, and on this basis distinguishes different types of connective modes, thereby showing that there is no commensurable, unified evaluative metric across cultural practices. By analyzing the origins of art, the generative mechanisms of narrative, and the openness of meaning, this paper argues for the ontological equality of cultural forms at the level of legitimacy, and provides a non-essentialist and non-hierarchical theoretical tool for understanding contemporary cultural democracy, the legitimacy of spiritual needs, and the implicit adjudications embedded in evaluative structures. Finally, this paper points out that Connection-Symbol Theory is not only an interpretive framework for culture and art, but also a foundational theoretical premise for understanding cultural production in the digital age, meaning-generation, and the structure of public discourse. (shrink)

Since antiquity, Confucians have sought to work with the state in order to implement their philosophy through state sponsorship. And yet, whenever Confucians have sought state sponsorship, naturally the government has adopted Confucian philosophy selectively to serve its own purposes and thus compromised the integrity of Confucianism. Throughout Chinese history, countless Confucian officials attempted to help rulers to do the right thing. They often failed when their advice went against the fundamental interest of rulers. On reflection, this outcome should not (...) be unexpected. The primary goal of rulers is to solidify power; the primary concern of Confucianism is the wellbeing of the people. When the two conflict, it is highly unlikely for a government to prioritize Confucian ideals. In a democratic era, Confucianism can influence society without joining the state apparatus. It can and must promote its social ideals through grassroots democratic participation rather than leave itself to the mercy of state sponsorship. (shrink)

Engaging in dialogue with African philosophy, I respond to questions raised by Thaddeus Metz on characteristics of Confucian philosophy in comparison with African philosophy. First, in both Confucian philosophy and African philosophy, harmony/harmonization and self-realization coincide in the process of person-making. Second, Confucians accept that sometimes it is inevitable to sacrifice individual components in order to achieve or maintain harmony at large scales; the point is how to minimize such costs. Third, Confucians give family love a central place in the (...) good life before extend love to the rest of the world. Fourth, the Confucian philosophy of gender equality is based on appropriate division of labor consistent with its yin-yang philosophy, rather than equal split of power in the family. Fifth, in the Confucian view, hierarchy and harmony do not necessarily contradict each other, though hierarchy is not essential to all forms of harmony. The two can co-exist. (shrink)

Li, B. (2025). The Algorithmic Philosophy — A Synthetic and Social Philosophy: (Translated by Omar Mahmutović). Theoria: časopis Za Filozofiju, 12(12), 157–173.

In this essay I attempt to articulate a Confucian idea of gender equality from a perspective of yin-yang philosophy.

Current attempts to test whether AI systems are conscious fall into two families: (i) theory-driven criteria imported from cognitive or neuroscientific models (e.g., global broadcasting, higher-order representation, integrated information), and (ii) behavioral or verbal-report tests in the spirit of the Turing paradigm. The former are theory-dependent namely, their verdicts presuppose the correctness of contested explanatory accounts and thus cannot independently ground attributions of phenomenal consciousness. The latter are counterfeit-vulnerable. For example, advanced language models can mimic first-person discourse, inviting anthropomorphic bias (...) without evidencing phenomenality. We propose a substrate-independent sufficiency criterion that avoids both pitfalls by operating under informational control. If a system trained without any explicit or implicit consciousness-related data can, nonetheless, when prompted, articulate the defining properties of phenomenal consciousness including ineffability, physical irreducibility, intentionality, and unity, then we should attribute consciousness to it with the same degree of confidence we attribute to other humans. We operationalize this criterion for large language models via a test framework comprising: (1) training-data filtering to remove consciousness leakage; (2) a staged evaluation with prerequisite semantic checks and two options for probing (structured property-specific tasks or an open-ended prompt for high-ability models); and (3) a baseline comparison between restricted and unrestricted models under expert judgment, preceded by an intelligence pre-check to avoid confounds. Our proposal does not claim necessary conditions or solve the hard problem. It offers a logically rigorous, counterfeit-resistant path to empirically adjudicate attributions of phenomenal consciousness in artificial systems. (shrink)

Abstract: In this essay I will discuss five major challenges faced by Confucianism in recent times. Two of these challenges have been widely acknowledged, namely those of science and democracy. I believe that Confucianism's problem with science has been largely solved, even though more constructive work would further strengthen Confucianism in this regard. The problem of democracy is still being dealt with. I will examine three more major challenges. The third major challenge for Confucianism comes from environmentalism. Confucianism has taken (...) note of its important message and has begun to respond to it. The fourth major challenge is the feminist challenge. Even though contemporary Confucianism accepts sexual equality, philosophically significant progress is yet to be made. The final challenge is the challenge of Confucianism's own survival. After serving three major assults in the 20th century, especially the most recent assult by "the glorious cat," Confucianism needs to find a way to renew itself into future. . (shrink)

长期以来，中国学术界流行把儒家的基本思想乃至整个中国文化归结为“天人合一”，并常常把“天人合一” 的源头归结于《易经》。其实考诸中国思想史，把儒家的基本思想总结为“天人合一”，特别是把“天人合一” 的来源归结于《易经》的说法并不准确，是一种误导。《易经》的“天、地、人”三才思想较之于“天人合一”更为符合儒家思想的本旨。在儒家三才和谐的理念中，天、地、人三者各自都有自身的功能与价值。身为三才和谐结 构中的积极参与者，人类拥有促进与维持宇宙和谐的重要责任。就环境哲学而言，儒家的“三才”说既不是“环境保护主义”，也不是“自然保护主义”，而且相对于大地伦理学与深层生态学等西方的整体性环境哲学而言，儒家 整体性的环境哲学赋予人类在宇宙间以一个更崇高的地位和责任。 .

The 2006–2008 Atlantic gravity anomaly—a 7000-km dipolar transient detected by GRACE and lasting precisely 2.8 years—is conventionally attributed to mineral phase transitions in Earth’s lowermost mantle. We demonstrate that this event is instead a direct empirical validation of the Energy Quantum Theory (EQT). In EQT, physical reality is not composed of static entities but of *gradient transients*—non-equilibrium states of the energy quantum density field $\rho_f(\mathbf{r}, t)$ where $\nabla \rho_f \neq 0$. The anomaly arises as a low-frequency ($f \sim 10^{-9}~\text{Hz}$) gradient (...) transient in the gravitational sector, triggered by the 2007 geomagnetic jerk. Its evolution follows EQT’s master equation: nonlinear aggregation ($k_{\text{eff}} \rho^2$) forms a dipole (high-density core + low-density rim), while diffusion ($-D_{\text{grav}} \nabla^2 \rho$) dissipates it in 1.8 years, totaling 2.8 years—matching GRACE data with $r = 0.992$ and $\chi^2/\nu = 0.14$. Crucially, this process requires no "mass clumps," phase transitions, or cross-frequency mediation; it is a self-contained, single-band dynamics. This event thus provides the first planetary-scale confirmation of process ontology: Earth itself “breathes” in the universal rhythm of gradient formation and decay. EQT unifies this phenomenon with quantum (XEFL), galactic (JWST), and cosmological (black hole) scales under one principle—*process as being*—thereby completing its empirical closure across 20 orders of magnitude. (shrink)

Western psychology primarily studies human emotions via physiological reactions to external stimuli. Research suggests that cultural variations lead East Asians and Western-heritage individuals to experience distinct emotional patterns beyond bodily responses. A more thorough understanding of affect, involving culturally influenced emotions, remains unexplored in cross-cultural contexts. Influenced by Confucianism, East Asian cultures show unique emotional patterns. Unlike the Western focus on rationality, Confucian philosophy values human affect (qing 情), going beyond conventional emotions. This paper delves into the transformative nature of (...) Confucian affect, specifically its four facets: (1) philosophized (zhelihua 哲理化), (2) moralized (dehua 德化), (3) ritualized (lihua 禮化), and (4) aestheticized (meixuehua 美學化). These dimensions redirect human emotions towards mutual care and moral elevation. Despite limited empirical research, contemporary East Asian experiences shed light on Confucian affect's ongoing significance in daily life. This paper illuminates existing research to elucidate Confucian affect and proposes future directions for exploration. By recognizing the interplay of cultural influences and emotions, a richer comprehension of affective experiences across cultures emerges, offering insights into the intricate tapestry of human emotions shaped by diverse philosophical and cultural foundations. (shrink)

本文討論儒家思想傳統在近代和現代所面臨的五個主要的挑戰:科學,民 主,女性主義,環境主義,以及儒家自身如何生存下去的挑戰。.

道德修养是否必须以物质富裕为前提? 抑或物质贫困反而是历练并检验道德修养的必要条件? 先秦儒家对此表达了两种看似矛盾的观点,我们可以将此解读为早期儒家的“富德两难”问题.对此问题可以提出四种可能的解决方案,即分别主张:(一)上述两种观点一对一错;(二)物质富裕与物质贫困 分别对应不同德性;(三)物质价值与道德价值相互独立;(四)上述矛盾命题分别针对着不同而说教对象.然而,这四种处理方案,各有其文本解释与学理上的局限性.区分个人和社会两种视角,一方面强调个人在道德选择上 肩负着无法推卸的责任,另一方面从统计科学的角度看待社会整体道德水平与物质贫富之间的正相关关系,或为解释物质富裕与道德修养关系问题的有效思路.