Professor Gao
Speech at the Seminar of "Commemorating Hong Qian's Birthday100th Anniversary" in Philosophy Department of Peking University.
From 1957 to 1966, Professor Hong Qian was my teacher in the undergraduate and postgraduate classes of philosophy department of Peking University. To my honor, Mr. Hong never stopped guiding me from then until his death. His quiet and serene manners, gentle and generous manners, rigorous and solid academic spirit, coupled with his serious thoughts, have gradually become my spiritual wealth; The kindness of the teacher made me feel precious and cordial when commemorating his centenary birthday!
Teacher Hong Qian's education and communication with me can be divided into three periods:
The first phase is 1957 to 1962. At that time, as an undergraduate of philosophy department of Peking University, I not only got the guidance of Mr. Hong Qian, but also took courses offered by him. I visited him many times in his apartment in Yandong Park with reverence, and received his kind personal guidance and specialized academic guidance at his home. During the writing of my graduation thesis, in addition to the personal guidance of Professor Qi, Mr. Wang patiently corrected my thesis on Kant's apperception many times, encouraging me to continue to apply for graduate students after graduation. It was with his support that I decided to apply to be a graduate student of Mr Zheng Xin during the summer vacation of 1962.
In the second period, from 1962 to 1966, I studied Kant's philosophy as a graduate student under the guidance of Professor Zheng Xin. At that time, on the one hand, I continued to go to Mr. Hong's house frequently and received his guidance directly, on the other hand, I was also at the teacher's house and received the guidance from two teachers at the same time. Zheng Xin and Hong Qian are good friends. Hong Qian has taught me Kant's philosophy with him many times in his home in Zheng Xin, and also told me about their experiences and feelings during their study in Germany.
The third period was 1978, after I went abroad, until the death of Teacher Hong Qian. During this period, whether I was in Hongkong, or in Paris and Taipei, Mr. Hong Qian was very concerned about me, not only giving guidance in academic thought, but also in personal life. During this period, I sent him many letters in succession and met him many times at home and abroad. Teacher Hong Qian wrote me more than ten letters, including twice recommending me to attend Professor Fegor's class at the University of Minnesota and attending his lecture at Oxford University. An important member of the Vienna school
When I first entered the gate of Peking University, Mr. Hong was only 48 years old. However, as a famous representative of the Viennese School of China's philosophy, he has long been among the first-class famous teachers and is deeply loved and respected by my younger generation.
1September, 1957, I attended a "welcome meeting" hosted by the student union and the office of the philosophy department in the lecture hall of Peking University10/kloc-0. I and more than 70 other philosophy students are very excited, waiting for the professors to sit down one by one. At that time, there were more than 30 philosophy professors in the philosophy department of Peking University. According to our senior, in the "adjustment of colleges and departments" of universities in Chinese mainland at the end of 1952, the government decided to concentrate all the philosophy professors from universities all over the country on the philosophy department of Peking University, so as to concentrate on "ideological transformation". Therefore, from then until the anti-rightist struggle, the Philosophy Department of Peking University became the unique teaching and research base with the strongest teachers in China. In addition to Hong Qian's expertise in logical positivism and empirical philosophy, there is Feng Youlan, the authority of China's philosophy history; Wang Xianjun, an expert in mathematical logic; Zhu Guangqian, a western aesthetic expert; Greek philosophy experts Ren Hua and Wang Zisong; Kant's philosophical experts and Qi; Hegelian philosophy experts He Lin and Zhang Shiying; China philosophy historian, Ren,, Zhu Bokun; Buddhist authorities Xiong Shili, Tang Yongtong and Tang; Western ethical historian Zhou Fucheng; The aesthetician Zong Baihua; Leibniz expert Chen Xiuqi; Wang Taiqing, a historian of western philosophy; Existentialist expert Xiong Wei; Japanese aesthetic historian Ma Cai; Japanese philosopher Zhu; Fang Shuchun, an expert in Greek philosophy, and Li, an expert in formal logic.
At about seven o'clock in the evening, a few minutes before the welcome meeting, the professors walked into the meeting place one by one. Professor Hong Qian came with Professor Zheng Xin, then head of the department, and we gave him warm applause. Mr. Hong looks a little thin, wears a pair of short-sighted glasses, is a little tall, still strong, gentle and full of research spirit. At that time, Mr. Hong and Professor Ren Hua were jointly responsible for the teaching and research section of the history of western philosophy, and at the same time instructed graduate students Chen Qiwei and others.
At the orientation meeting, Professor Zheng Xin introduced all the teachers to the freshmen one by one. When introducing Mr. Hong, the professor said to his classmates: Mr. Hong is an expert of Vienna School, a student of Shrek, and a classmate of yours. Everyone applauded warmly to show his respect and admiration. Inheriting empiricism and praising Kant and Hume
During my undergraduate and graduate studies in the Philosophy Department of Peking University, Mr. Hong lived in Yandong Garden outside the East Gate of Peking University. Several classmates and I often visit Mr. Hong. Yandong Garden has dense trees, lush foliage and vitality, which is the advantage for professors to calm down and write speeches. We students call it "Xanadu".
The first time I visited Professor Hong Qian was on New Year's Day in 1958. In order to pay a New Year call to him, three classmates and I came to Yandong Garden. When Mrs. Hong opened the door, she kindly led us into the living room.
Teacher Hong was pleased to receive us in the living room and kindly asked us what difficulties we had in learning the history of foreign philosophy as freshmen. That conversation left me two very deep impressions: first, it was Mr. Hong who emphasized the importance of empirical philosophy to us; Second, emphasize the importance of learning a foreign language and reading the original.
This paper discusses the importance of empirical philosophy from the portraits of Kant and Hume hanging on the living room wall. Teacher Hong said that he admired Kant and Hume. Kant's contribution lies in creating the research foundation of scientific epistemology and laying the basic principles of epistemological research based on precise mathematics and physics; Hume's contribution lies in systematizing empiricism and carrying it out to the end, making it possible for modern philosophy to get rid of the influence of metaphysical tradition completely, and focusing on solving the basic problem of "empirical confirmation of meaning"
When talking about the basic principles of empiricism, Mr. Hong also emphasized the difference between Hume's traditional empiricism and logical positivism. In his view, it is not enough to point out the basic principles of empiricism, because traditional empiricism fails to overcome the individuality and fragmentation of ordinary experience and is too obsessed with personal experience, so it cannot achieve truly universal and philosophical realism on epistemological issues. Mr. Hong Qian pointed out that Schlick's contribution is precisely to reverse the direction of the basic problems of empiricism, to point out the fundamental difference between "reality" in philosophy and "reality" in daily life, and to highlight that the true soul of scientific knowledge lies in its testability in recognized experiments!
To this end, Mr. Hong has repeatedly asked us to remember Shrek's famous saying: "The significance of a proposition lies in its verification method."
Teacher Hong's words about empiricism and logical positivism pointed out the direction, which made our younger generation step into the profound philosophical field from the beginning and made clear the true meaning of the problem. From then on, whenever I face the difficult problem of analytical philosophy, I will always think of this teaching of Mr. Hong, and further thinking about various problems from the most basic ideological point of view will often have the effect of being solved.
Mr. Hong's subtle understanding of the empiricism tradition of logical positivism made him always emphasize the decisive role of "experience" in judging reality in his conversations and lectures with us.
I remember that in the third year of college, Mr. Hong gave us a lesson of logical positivism. From the beginning, he emphasized that logical positivism laid the foundation for philosophical research on "experience", because only "experience" can judge reality. Logical positivism does not absolutely exclude the important role of rational thinking, but the role of thinking in epistemology is only to describe the judgment of "reality" with repeated variants of the same language.
For our younger generation, it was the first time in our lives that we knew what the role of reason was in judging reality. I remember that Mr. Hong clearly wrote down the German original die tautology of "repetition in the same language" on the blackboard and explained it. Because of our limited knowledge at that time, we could not fully understand Mr. Hong's exposition of the basic idea of empiricism, but his explanation of "repetition in the same language" made us clearly distinguish analytical propositions from comprehensive propositions, formal truths from empirical truths; Formal truth is based on analytical propositions, which are innate, because analytical sciences such as mathematics and logic are based on assumptions defined in pure form. Therefore, in all deductive reasoning, the argument of the conclusion is always contained in the premise. At best, these analytical propositions only describe the transformation of the pure form of words of the same value, which has nothing to do with experience and naturally has no factual expression, so the analytical propositions belong to a priori.
However, the authenticity of the empirical truth on which logical positivism is based cannot depend only on the consistency or non-contradiction within the propositional system as the formal truth mentioned above; But to confirm the consistency between proposition and reality, we need to accept the test of observation and experience. Therefore, only the proposition that points to "reality" is meaningful; Metaphysical propositions that don't mention "reality" are meaningless at the same time. Only propositions about reality that can be confirmed and confirmed through empirical observation are qualified to be called empirical truth. Scientific propositions in modern physics belong to this kind of empirical truth.
If Schrick repeatedly emphasized that "the significance of the problem lies in its verification method", then, at a deeper level, the significance of the problem lies in whether the facts it expresses and describes can stand the test of empirical observation and experiment, and whether it can get a clear answer of "yes" and "no". When it comes to intensive reading, Mr. Hong and his mistress, Mrs. He, first emphasized the importance of learning English and German. Jenny told us that in the early days from Vienna to Oxford, England, in order to master English as soon as possible and train listening, conversation and writing skills, Mr. Hong went to the cinema almost every day, sometimes staying in the cinema several times in a row, insisting on understanding the content. Teacher Hong said that learning western philosophy can't rely on translation. We must read the original text, read it intensively and scrutinize it repeatedly, instead of "chewing pictures quickly". We should think about every sentence and analyze it before and after. Teacher Hong especially criticized some students for being too ambitious and content with their half-baked learning attitude. Teacher Hong said that it is impossible to learn foreign philosophy without knowing a foreign language or the original text.
When I was a graduate student, I often went to my tutor, Mr. Zheng Xin's house to ask questions and discuss problems. Teacher Zheng Xin lives in Yannan Garden, which is separated from our No.29 graduate dormitory by a wall. I often go to find Mr. Zheng Xin through a small wooden door in the corner of Yannan Garden and the path in front of Mr. Feng Youlan's house.
Professor Zheng Xin is an expert in Kant's philosophy, and he is proficient in German and the original works of Kant's philosophy. Hong Qian and Zheng Xin are good friends. I often meet Professor Hong Qian at Professor Zheng Xin's house. They often talk and discuss philosophical issues in German. Both of them began to study in Germany in the 1920s, and both of them are from Anhui. One studies Kant and neo-Kantianism, and the other studies logical positivism. Perhaps because of their similar experiences, they also have some opinions on the issue of "experience", which makes their friendship very harmonious.
When I was seeking advice at home in Zheng Xin, I happened to have the original German version of Kant's Introduction to Future Metaphysics. Mr. Hong and Mr. Zheng discussed the book word for word in German and patiently explained it to me word for word. Teacher Hong told me that we should study hard in Kant's original works, sentence by sentence. He also personally selected several sentences for me to translate on the spot, and kindly pointed out that the deficiency of translated sentences lies in hard translation, which washed away the sound and style with the precise emotion that the imaginary form in the sentence wanted to express.
This hands-on teaching reminds me that my classmate Li Bulou and I go to Professor Wang Taiqing's dormitory twice a week and ask him to read the German version of Vendel's A Course in the History of Philosophy. Professor Wang Taiqing, Professor Hong Qian and Professor Zheng Xin are very good friends. They all carefully guided us to read the original text, which benefited our younger generations a lot.
One day at Professor Zheng Xin's house, Zheng Xin and Hong Qian talked about Cohen (1842- 19 18) and Hartman (1882- 1950). Teacher Zheng said with emotion that Hartman actually studied epistemology from a realistic point of view in his later period, so that he thought that the study of ontology should be parallel to the study of epistemology. Mr. Zheng Xin thinks this is a betrayal of Neo-Kantian and empiricism. So Mr. Zheng said that after listening to Hartman's speech at Haller University, he returned angrily, and he got lost because he changed trains halfway. Speaking of which, Mr. Zheng and Mr. Hong and I all burst out laughing.
Teacher Hong also told me that to study and study foreign philosophy, we should not only read the original works intensively, but also understand the cultural and historical background of western countries and the relationship between each philosopher's personal thinking style and his national cultural traditions. Therefore, he said, generally speaking, the best way to learn foreign philosophy well is to study abroad in person, study on the spot and experience it.
On the eve of 1978, when I was about to leave to live abroad, Mr. Hong warmly invited me to Xinqiao Hotel for dinner. He reminds me from time to time not to be distracted after going abroad, but to concentrate on one or two important issues and go deeper. He also recommended me to go to the University of Minnesota to find feigl (1902- 1988), because feigl was Hong's old classmate in Vienna and one of the main representatives of American analytical philosophy at that time. When talking about feigl, Mr. Hong emphasized that we should read his monographs "Mind and Body" and "Spirit and Body" first. After I arrived in Hong Kong, I specially ordered and read this book. Although I didn't go to the United States later, the "theory of physical and mental identity" expounded by him in this book inspired me very much, which made me deeply inspired when I studied Maurice Melo-Ponty's phenomenological theory of body and mind in France.
Because Mr. Hong attached great importance to the original works and classics, he personally advocated the compilation of four volumes of Selected Works of Western Classical Philosophy (the first volume of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, 16,1the second volume of western European philosophy in the eighth century,1the third volume of French philosophy in the eighth century,1the end of the eighth century1the beginning of the ninth century). When we were in college, these original works of western philosophy became our most basic and original main reference materials, which laid a solid foundation for us to further study and study western philosophy. After I left France and settled in Hong Kong on 1978, Mr. Hong wrote to me for guidance from time to time, and repeatedly mentioned the trend of contemporary western analytical philosophy in his letters. 1980 and 1982, Mr. Hong went to Vienna and Oxford twice to attend Wittgenstein and Schrick-Neurath Centennial Seminar respectively, and wrote to me during the meeting, hoping to meet me, which made me feel the care of my teacher again and again, and also made me lucky to get a good opportunity to study again. The most unforgettable one was in 65438.
Mr. Hong revisited Oxford twice at the beginning of 1980, which was of great significance. When Professor Hong Qian met me, my wife, Ms. Xu Dunhuang, and my youngest daughter, Gao Ning, at Trinity College, Oxford, he said generously and excitedly that his meeting in Oxford reminded him of the road he had traveled forty or fifty years ago. Half a century is not a long time, but comparing Vienna and Oxford is like dreaming. Although the former Justus von Liebig Lane and Pozmann Lane frequented by Professor Schrick from 1928 to 1936 remain the same, and the site of the Institute of Philosophy and Thursday's seminar led by Schrick still stands, the years have passed and the atmosphere has changed greatly. The famous university town of Oxford, with its numerous college buildings, libraries and churches on the streets, also shows great incongruity with deafening traffic and endless tourists. Mr. Hong invited us to take a walk in the quiet courtyard of Trinity College, enjoying the flowers and trees full of spring, and talked about his half-century journey from Vienna to Oxford, his relationship with Schrick, weismann, Aier and Wittgenstein, and his meeting with Sir Karl Popper when passing through London. Through this long talk with Mr. Hong at Trinity College, Oxford University, I have a deeper understanding and profound knowledge of this older generation scholar whom I have long known and respected.
At the age of 65438-0927 18, Mr. Hong studied in Berlin and Jena, Germany, and was recommended by Liang Qichao, a master of Chinese studies, and supported by Anhui Association of Hometown Association. It was while studying physics, mathematics and philosophy in Berlin that he was inspired by Reichenbach and decided to apply for Schlick in Vienna.
Mr. Hong has been studying philosophy in Vienna since 1928. He said that from the very beginning, Schlick suggested that Mr. Hong study natural science, and master mathematics and physics first, and suggested that Mr. Hong attend the course of mathematical logic in Carnap. When Mr. Hong asked about my philosophy research direction after I arrived in France, he repeatedly reminded me that even if I didn't study philosophy of science, I couldn't ignore the profound influence of the theoretical achievements of modern natural science and its methodology on the development of philosophy.
In the courtyard of Trinity College, Oxford University, Mr. Hong slowly talked about the scene when 1945 first came to Oxford. He admired Wittgenstein; In Mr. Hong's view, it is impossible to deeply study contemporary logical positivism without studying Wittgenstein. When Mr. Hong was in Oxford more than forty years ago, it was the heyday of Wittgenstein. As I have written the biography of Russell (Hong Kong Tiandi Book Company 1980 edition, Taipei Publishing House new edition 199 1 edition), I also take this opportunity to discuss the relationship between Russell and Wittgenstein with Mr. Hong. Mr. Hong admires Wittgenstein very much: he would rather give up his rich family property than accept a huge inheritance and stand on his own feet. He first worked as a primary school teacher in the Austrian town of Kirchburg, then as a gardener in a monastery, and later as an assistant in the laboratory of a hospital in London. Even after he was hired as a professor of philosophy by Trinity College of Cambridge University and became the teacher of his teacher Russell, he resolutely resigned as a teacher in order to concentrate more on philosophical research.
Teacher Hong thinks Wittgenstein's important position lies in highlighting the importance of logical structure and language analysis. Teacher Hong repeated Wittgenstein's famous saying to me: "The purpose of philosophy is to clarify ideas logically." This reminds me of the learning requirements put forward by Mr. Hong to his graduate student Li Bulou when I was a graduate student at Peking University. This requirement still impresses me and makes me sharp-eyed. Teacher Hong asked Li Bulou to concentrate on studying and intensively reading Wittgenstein's On Logical Philosophy, because it was in this book that Wittgenstein clearly pointed out that to eliminate philosophical difficulties, it is necessary to study the logical structure of language. When Mr. Hong talked about Wittgenstein in Oxford, he specially sent me a newly published book "Wittgenstein's Philosophy and Culture". Publication of essays on logical empiricism
Teacher Hong always cares about my study and research, and always guides me through letters. I feel honored that when I decided to edit the Western Culture Series edited by RTHK on 1988 (published by Hong Kong Sanlian Bookstore and Taipei Publishing Company at the same time), Mr. Hong not only readily agreed to be the consultant of the Western Culture Series edited by our college together with Mr. Liang Shuming, but also personally entrusted me with a series of important papers he had written in recent years. Teacher Hong wrote an enthusiastic preface for this.
In the preface, he said, "The Series of Western Cultures edited by Mr. Gao Xuan is really meaningful for understanding and studying the new ideological trend of contemporary philosophy and social sciences. As his teacher and friend, I should do something for his great achievements, which is obligatory. ...... A few years ago, my students and friends suggested that I compile the papers and speeches published at home and abroad for more than 40 years into Hong Qian's Collected Works. I accepted the idea and began to do some preparatory work. However, in order to make a modest contribution to the western culture series, I decided to give up the original plan and select relevant parts from the collected materials to compile this logical empirical prose collection as one of the series, hoping to get readers' criticism and suggestions. " Teacher Hong's encouragement is a great encouragement to me and the authors and editors of the series.
This collection of logical empirical essays by Mr. Hong contains reports of his participation in international academic conferences in recent years, academic speeches in some foreign universities and papers written for important foreign philosophy magazines or series, which has profound academic theoretical value. Therefore, after the publication of this anthology, it immediately attracted the attention of academic and theoretical circles at home and abroad, and it is a very precious historical document for studying the development history of Vienna School.
In order to fully affirm Mr. Hong's outstanding contribution in carrying forward the logical positivism of the Vienna School, I was hired by the President of the International School of Philosophy to 1984 to 1986. He spoke highly of Mr. Hong's teaching and research work at Seminaire sur la China Seminar on Contemporary Philosophy hosted by the leader of the International Institute of Philosophy (refer to the French version of 1985 and 1986 seminar outlines of the French Institute of International Philosophy).
1989, editor-in-chief of Research and Criticism Series in Tangshan Publishing House, Taiwan Province Province. Mr. Hong Qian once again sincerely supported my publishing plan, and promised me to incorporate the philosophy of the Vienna School published in his early years into the research and criticism series. This philosophy of Vienna School systematically summarizes the basic viewpoints, methods and development process of Vienna School.
Professor Hong Qian hopes that the publication of this book in Taipei will contribute to the cultural exchange between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and strengthen the study of Viennese philosophy. Therefore, Hong Qian also suggested that four short essays written by him should be supplemented on the basis of the original version in mainland China: An Overview of Logical Empiricism, Wittgenstein and Shrek, Vienna School on the Elr and Comment on Shrek's Philosophical Problems and Their Relations, so as to discuss the philosophical theory of Vienna School in more detail.
Unfortunately, Professor Hong Qian didn't see the book published in Taibei. 1992 suddenly became seriously ill in early spring and died in Beijing Hospital on February 27th at the age of 82. According to Mrs. Hong, even when she was lying on her deathbed, she did not forget the typography and publication of this book in Taiwan Province, and always mentioned that it must be stepped up.