Science and Humanities in the Mind of Chinese Scholars. Volume on Humanities

Author: Wang Zhangwen, Hou Yangxiang (General Editors)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-06-01
Features: Nostalgia is not the same as longing. Longing still has a distant person, making your thoughts occasionally genuinely joyful or sorrowful. Nostalgia is hopeless, only allowing you to imagine the various scenes of your father from the past in the places where he stayed or lived, and only able to grieve over the objects related to him with a heavy heart. Sometimes, when doing unrelated things, you suddenly think of your father, and every time it makes me feel as if I have truly returned to the past. At such moments, I write a piece of text, and over time, these memory fragments accumulate, hoping that they can help me escape some nameless occasional sorrows.
It is said that humanistic thinking about the development of science and technology is a "new way of thinking" and "high-level thinking." In my view, the ancestors of such thinking are precisely Marx, Engels, and Marxism. The moral concepts in the fine traditions of the scientific community are both a valuable scientific spirit and a valuable humanistic spirit. Throughout history, outstanding figures in the scientific community have struggled for truth, science, and human progress, filled with a spirit of dedication, even at the cost of sacrificing their lives. In their scientific research, they are diligent and persistent, content with simplicity and unseeking fame, devoting their energy to their careers rather than spending it on pleasure. They are aware of the responsibility of their scientific work to society and humanity, actively participating in struggles against wars, upholding human peace and humanity, and protecting the ecology and environment. All of this reflects the high integration of scientific and humanistic spirit. Insufficient emphasis on and inadequate promotion of the humanistic spirit within scientific spirit are also weaknesses in our scientific education and scientific publicity.
In conclusion, the humanistic spirit we advocate should be one with a modern scientific (natural and social sciences) awareness, and the scientific spirit we advocate should be one full of high humanistic care.