Discourse on the Method by Descartes

Why do I like philosophical books? There are many reasons. One of them is this one. They articulate major problems of human existence. Philosophy is strong in articulating existential problems. And social, political, and scientific too. They make us think by providing us with questions. I am not sure if philosophy is strong in giving us answers. I am sure, that an important cultural role of philosophy is to ask important questions. Philosophers are strong at articulating these questions in a thoughtful way. In this video series, I want to see if such questions are applicable to our times. I think, they are. A great book has a more universal meaning. The great books ask questions that are important in different epochs and cultures. That is why these books are great. And their ideas are great. Such is Discourse on the Method by Descartes.

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Essays by Montaigne and Me

I am lucky. My native culture has had wonderful translators of classic French literature. I could read them when I was much younger. One of them was Michel de Montaigne’s Essays. I took from him the idea of humanism and how to perform culture. Also, I got interested in what we call today cultural diversity. By humanism, I understand focus upon the lot of individual living in society. The individual is important. By writing his essays he showed us his unique way of seeing things. And it is no phantasy. Rather an interpretation of the real issues that happen around and inside of you. And this is, at the same time, cultural life. Because you take inspiration from the world outside. And you create your interpretation of the world. And you are careful about the difference between reality and illusion. It must have influenced me by setting to write text on different things to express myself. From the present perspective, I can see how therapeutic for me was such writing.

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My Personal Reasons to Talk about Confucius

I remember well that I read The Analects first when I was thirteen. I found a translation into my native language in my sister’s library. I liked it so much that I would rewrite some of its fragments and learnt them by heart. The fascination lasted for some time until started to read Greek philosophers. The second reason is a bit strange, given my professional interest in American pragmatism. What’s the connection between American pragmatism and Chinese Confucianism? Namely, one of its most eminent representatives, John Dewey, visited China in 1919-1920 and earned popularity to such an extent that some called him ‘Second Confucius’. It is interesting to read many materials that compare these two, on moral education for example. And I was even a reviewer of a PhD dissertation on it at the university of Malaga, Spain. And the fourth reason refers to my Chinese students. I give university courses to Continental Chinese students in English. Rhetoric and Persuasion most often. It is interesting to see the cultural difference between the Chinese and the Western way of communicating. English is an issue, but it is not that problematic as a different mentality. To reduce the cultural shock, I turn to the Confucian tradition. It helps understand many things.

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Books that Stand the Test of Time

I talk about books that have stood the test of time. Books that can be useful for people living in the 21^st century. I do not talk to experts, professors, historian of philosophy. My target audiences are those who look for some practical pieces of advice. Or for some refection from such books. The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is such a book. For example, many contemporary books, texts, podcasts, blogs, and vlogs refer to it. Even a contemporary movement, Modern Stoicism, has appeared and gains popularity.

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Through a somewhat surrealistic literary language, Gombrowicz’s Ferdydurke (a title that means practically nothing) presents a concept of human life; secular, social, intellectually creative and also existentially disoriented. It places it among the dominant cultural powers according to a mechanism of formation and deformation. What does that mean? Every structure of human life, individual or corporeal, both established and developing, manifests itself with the help of speech, the use of symbols, in reference to the values it respects, that is, through its Form, according to Gombrowicz’s vocabulary. By maintaining his Form, he fights for a position in the socio-political hierarchy for recognition, also for fame and for the power to influence others.

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