Author: herai (professor, centre for research in philosophy and fundamental theory, faculty of philosophy and society, university of jilin)
With the rapid development of the scientific and technological revolution, represented by artificial intelligence, the real challenges to the development of the humanities are increasingly attracting widespread attention and discussion. As a core component of the humanities, philosophy has become an inescapable subject for philosophers to reflect on and respond to this serious challenge and to seek new opportunities for philosophical development in new contexts and conditions。
In the view of the author, in the face of the challenges, philosophy, on the one hand, must adhere to its unique discipline of “personality” and, on the other hand, it must fully utilize its intellectual influence and radioactivity through dialogue with other disciplines and with the wider social life, thereby highlighting the “publicity” of the philosophical discipline. The pursuit and realization of the inner unity of the philosophy of “personality” and “publicity” are important ways in which today philosophy seeks to develop more space and achieve its irreplaceable influence and radiation。
Philosophy, as a special dimension of human culture, has developed its own unique academic personality in long-term evolution, which is the most valuable academic and intellectual character that distinguishes it from other disciplines, not only because it cannot be overshadowed and replaced by new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, but also because of its irreplaceable role today as an important force to inhibit scientific rationality and the alienation of life。
This unique discipline of philosophies, the “personality” — first and foremost, its unique character of reflection and critical character. The philosophy of “reflection” is one of thinking about the ideas and perceptions that are already in place, and the philosophy of “criticism” is one of clarifying and defining the premises and boundaries that govern people's ideas and ideas. Specific disciplines are guided by a “targeting mind”, which tends to ignore the ideological premises upon which it is founded. In contrast, philosophy is precisely about self-reflection and criticism of the intellectual premises that many people see as self-evident, and through such reflection and criticism to enhance the self-awareness and conscious understanding of the subject. In the long process of development, this critical rethinking of philosophy has played an important role in the intellectual liberation of humankind and the progress of civilization. It is in this sense that marx emphasizes that dialectics are essentially “revolutionary and critical” and that the great mission of philosophy is to “discover a new world in a critical world”. Today, artificial intelligence can help people deal with big volumes of literature, information and data through big data analysis and algorithms, but it does not yet have the capacity to reflect and criticize the literature, information and data themselves. In this sense, philosophical reflections of critical character are irreplaceable for artificial intelligence, and the processing results of literature, information and data that artificial intelligence uses and algorithm applications also require a more critical review of philosophical reflection。
The question of the normative basis and meaning of the values of human beings, societies and civilizations is another important discipline of philosophy, “personality”. The in-depth exploration of the spiritual world of human beings, based on the inexhaustible questioning of the meaning of human existence and the values of civilization, is a major task that philosophy has consciously undertaken since its birth. This function of philosophy, both in history and in reality, is indispensable to mankind's ever-increasing absence from ignorance and barbarity and to the preservation and visibility of human and social development. It makes us realize that the meaning of human existence, the values of civilization and society cannot be reduced to mere rational intelligence, or to data, let alone to algorithms, otherwise human lives will be reduced to infertile and undirected feelings. In this sense, all advances in science and technology, including smart machines, cannot be separated from the conscious clarification and reflection of philosophy on their relevance and value objectives。
Philosophy's critical spirit of reflection, its pursuit and exploration of human meaning and values are inseparable from its deep concern for the future of humanity and civilization. It is another important idea of philosophy, “personality”, that constantly transcends the existing state and promotes the opening of the space of human beings to the future. The “future” of mankind and civilization, which is the focus of philosophy, is not “natural time” in the physical sense, but “lifetime” determined by people's actions, which in turn are deeply influenced by today's perceptions, how to understand reality and the future, and to a large extent define the future of humanity. In this sense, philosophy's concern for the future of human beings and civilization cannot be relegated to any knowledge, much less to intellectual machines, which can only be based on knowledge, data and language that are already available to humankind, and the future is an open possibility that always requires philosophical thought and imagination。
The philosophy's “personality” complements the philosophy's “publicity”. In the face of the major challenges of contemporary society, there is an urgent need to align the “personality” of philosophical disciplines better with the “publicity” of philosophy by highlighting and realizing the philosophies of philosophy on a broader and more public academic horizon and intellectual platform. Within the philosophy discipline, in-depth research is conducted around classic texts, classical philosophical questions, important philosophical figures and thoughts, which are essential for philosophical education and research. However, the “text” of philosophy should not be limited to the “books” of philosophy, but should also be extended to the richer content of the “real-life text” “the human cultural text” “the social history text”. Philosophy can only develop more space and display more profound intellectual life by fully irradiating its personality and permeating it in these more diverse and “public” forms of “texts” and avoiding its becoming an over-structured, “circle” game. This is particularly evident in two areas。
One is to demonstrate the intrinsic unity between the “personality” and “publicity” of philosophical disciplines through critical dialogue in other disciplines and knowledge fields. Philosophy is neither a “supreme science” over other specific disciplines, nor a passive follower of other specific disciplines. Philosophy and other specific disciplines should be a “inherent transcendent” relationship that is both “inside” and “outside”. “inside” means that philosophy has a profound interest in, understanding and grasping the intellectual achievements and important advances in other fields of knowledge, including contemporary science; “outside” shows that, unlike other disciplines, philosophy does not take the knowledge systems of the various disciplines as a natural “truth”, but rather deepens people's self-understanding of the results of their own knowledge and culture through in-depth critical reflection of their theoretical premises, revealing the underlying theoretical principles, ways of thinking and normative foundations of values. Marx has set us an example in this regard. The fact that marx communicates with a wide range of social sciences, including political economics, history, politics and anthropology, and maintains a critical philosophical perspective on them, also constitutes an important way of working in his philosophy. For contemporary philosophical research, both the full expression of the “personality” of philosophical disciplines and their articulation with specific disciplines and areas of knowledge have become important trends。
The second is to demonstrate the unity of the “personality” and “publicity” of philosophical disciplines through critical reflection on the fundamental realities of social reality and the process of human civilization. In the history of philosophy, the unity of this philosophy, “personality” and “publicity”, constitutes the essence of philosophy. As the foundation of western philosophy, socrates' philosophical activity clearly reflects the unity of “personality” and “publicity”. Al-hossel had thus revealed this intrinsic element of philosophy: “what is the most fundamental for ancients? By way of comparative analysis, it is certain that it is nothing more than a `philosophical' form of existence: according to pure reason, that is to say, by philosophy, they are free to shape themselves, their entire lives and their laws”. In the development of philosophy, this dual identity of intra-philosophical unity has been overshadowed to a certain extent by a tendency towards too narrow institutionalization and specialization. At present, the quest for unity between the “personality” of philosophical disciplines and the “publicity” of contemporary philosophy has become increasingly self-conscious through philosophical reflection on the major realities of social realities and the process of human civilization, in particular through a critical reflection of the major forces that influence and shape the life and future of modern human beings, including science and technology. This theoretical orientation is clearly reflected in the practical perspective established by marx, which is often used to summarize the fundamental features and basic trends of contemporary philosophy, in terms of substance, as reflected in the conscious pursuit of the inherent unity of the “personality” and “publicity” of philosophical disciplines。
The intrinsic unity of the philosophy disciplines, “personality” and “publicity”, has effectively avoided and overcome the closed and isolated nature of the philosophy disciplines, while at the same time opening up a wider space for the full realization of the philosophy-specific disciplines, “personality”, so that they demonstrate greater development potential and new possibilities. This provides an important avenue for overcoming the major challenges posed by contemporary science and society in the face of philosophy, moving beyond the primacy of scientific and technological rationality over the world of life and seeking new opportunities for philosophical development。
The daily light (27. 04. 05. 15)
