Rousseau's Socraticism

Author: Liu Xiaofeng, Chen Shaoming, Editors
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Ignoring the imaginative symbolic meaning of language is to ignore its most powerful expression of power. —Rousseau openly declared his admiration for Plato's dialogues, especially The Republic, which led him to believe that education is the business of the novel. Socrates, as the main speaker, narrates a "story about the education of heroes" — the author of Emile tells a similar story imbued with ancient spirit. —Ellis
The difference between Rousseau and his predecessors lies in his understanding of distinguishing what constitutes the starting point of chronological order from what constitutes the principle of ideal order. —Jean Starobinsky
The Western Enlightenment not only swept away the academic traditions of China but also ended the classical era of the West. However, with the arrival of the late 20th century, the Enlightenment was inevitably swept away by its Western descendants. "The Way and its manifestations are split across the land," whether in Western or Chinese academia, knowledge has already become fragmented as it adapts to the changes in social life. At the turn of the century, new currents and theories surged, and the anxieties of the times took on countless forms. Science and scholarship should neither be conflated nor drift apart. One pertains to practical knowledge for solving societal problems and improving daily life, while the other concerns the spiritual cultivation of individuals and nations. The resources of scholarship do not lie in the ever-evolving scientific principles of the modern era but in the harmonious and elegant historical classics. Today, both Western and Chinese studies face the following choice: either to follow the postmodern critique that completely shatters classical scholarship or to restore the classical garden and reorganize spiritual cultivation.