1. Fascinating. All these years, while reading about China's prodigious development, I've been wondering *when* are these things going to happen. Now we are getting the answer.
2A. A century ago, the European philosopher and Nobel prize laureate for Peace Albert Schweitzer wrote that in his time, people live without a worldview, and don't even feel a need to have one, but actually live aimlessly moved by the social currents one way and another. So, it is with fear and trepidation that I ask: How many and how much of your generation Z feel a need for a view of the world that is earnestly held; a philosophy about life and society, that would be shared with friends and so on?
2B. They tend to see Confucian work ethic with emotional detachment.
But what of alternatives?
Perhaps some might find inspiration in Chuang-Tzu ?
And what if they were to be introduced to Western critics like
* Bertrand Russell, his essay In Praise of Idleness
* William Morris: his essay "Useful Work versus Useless Toil"
Thank you for liking this. I think for the general public around the world, a comprehensive worldview is still a luxury. For now, and for a foreseeable short period of time, Chinese society will still be a combination of pre-modern, modern, and postmodern society, which needs to be talked about case by case.
Many intellectuals have read the books you mentioned, but there are limited echoes. Sociology books or articles that answer (or try to) about the East Asia situation are more popular here. Like The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
1. Fascinating. All these years, while reading about China's prodigious development, I've been wondering *when* are these things going to happen. Now we are getting the answer.
2A. A century ago, the European philosopher and Nobel prize laureate for Peace Albert Schweitzer wrote that in his time, people live without a worldview, and don't even feel a need to have one, but actually live aimlessly moved by the social currents one way and another. So, it is with fear and trepidation that I ask: How many and how much of your generation Z feel a need for a view of the world that is earnestly held; a philosophy about life and society, that would be shared with friends and so on?
2B. They tend to see Confucian work ethic with emotional detachment.
But what of alternatives?
Perhaps some might find inspiration in Chuang-Tzu ?
And what if they were to be introduced to Western critics like
* Bertrand Russell, his essay In Praise of Idleness
* William Morris: his essay "Useful Work versus Useless Toil"
* Lewis Mumford
* Ivan Illich
* Darren Allen
?
Thank you for this article.
Thank you for liking this. I think for the general public around the world, a comprehensive worldview is still a luxury. For now, and for a foreseeable short period of time, Chinese society will still be a combination of pre-modern, modern, and postmodern society, which needs to be talked about case by case.
Many intellectuals have read the books you mentioned, but there are limited echoes. Sociology books or articles that answer (or try to) about the East Asia situation are more popular here. Like The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han