Socrates in Sichuan : Chinese students search for truth, justice, and the (Chinese) way / Peter J. Vernezze.

By:

Vernezze, Peter, 1959-

Material type: Text

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9781597977487
1597977489

Subject(s): Genre/Form:

Electronic books.

Additional physical formats: Print version:: Socrates in Sichuan.DDC classification:

306.0951/090511 22

LOC classification:

HN733.5 .V47 2011eb

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

What am I doing here? -- What is the good life? -- What is the impact of technology on our lives? -- What is a good marriage? -- What is the meaning of life? -- What is a hero? -- Fate or free will? -- What is sanity? -- What is a good education? -- What is human nature? -- Are there two sides to every coin? -- Is marriage necessary? -- Is romantic love a myth? -- What is the difference between Eastern and Western thinking? -- What is the value of the past? -- What is funny? -- What are the limits of privacy? -- Is prostitution wrong? -- What is truth? -- Meltdown -- What is gender? -- When is a boycott justified? -- What is our obligation in a disaster? -- One year later : Chinese sex parks, swine flu, and my return to Chengdu -- Final thoughts : the Tao of Angelina.

Summary: When Peter J. Vernezze took a sabbatical from his position as a philosophy professor to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in China, he supplemented his main task--teaching English at Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu--with leading a weekly philosophical discussion group of undergraduate and graduate students. In each session the Chinese students debated topics as diverse as the status of truth, the meaning of life, the reality of fate, the definition of sanity, the necessity of religion, and the value of romantic love. Each of the twenty-five chapters of Socrates in Sichuan focuses on the topic of one evening's discussion, which was always in the form of a question: How are ancient conceptions of virtue holding up in a society overrun by capitalism? Are traditionally conservative sexual values going the way of the rickshaw? Can an atheistic country even have a sense of morality?Summary: This unprecedented portrait of the Chinese mind allows the up-and-coming generation--known as the ba ling hou, or "post-1980s generation"--To express its unique perspective on China--and America. In addition, the book provides the reader with a crash course in Chinese culture, both ancient and modern, as students discuss everything from Confucius to the Edison Chen scandal (a Chinese pop star whose sexually explicit pictures were posted on the Internet), from classical Chinese poetry to the Super Boy and Super Girl televised talent competitions (Chinese versions of American Idol). Throughout, the author provides the intellectual and historical context necessary to appreciate and understand today's China. --Book Jacket

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Holdings
Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Materials specified	Status	Date due	Barcode
Electronic-Books	OPJGU Sonepat- Campus	E-Books EBSCO			Available

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

When Peter J. Vernezze took a sabbatical from his position as a philosophy professor to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in China, he supplemented his main task--teaching English at Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu--with leading a weekly philosophical discussion group of undergraduate and graduate students. In each session the Chinese students debated topics as diverse as the status of truth, the meaning of life, the reality of fate, the definition of sanity, the necessity of religion, and the value of romantic love. Each of the twenty-five chapters of Socrates in Sichuan focuses on the topic of one evening's discussion, which was always in the form of a question: How are ancient conceptions of virtue holding up in a society overrun by capitalism? Are traditionally conservative sexual values going the way of the rickshaw? Can an atheistic country even have a sense of morality?

This unprecedented portrait of the Chinese mind allows the up-and-coming generation--known as the ba ling hou, or "post-1980s generation"--To express its unique perspective on China--and America. In addition, the book provides the reader with a crash course in Chinese culture, both ancient and modern, as students discuss everything from Confucius to the Edison Chen scandal (a Chinese pop star whose sexually explicit pictures were posted on the Internet), from classical Chinese poetry to the Super Boy and Super Girl televised talent competitions (Chinese versions of American Idol). Throughout, the author provides the intellectual and historical context necessary to appreciate and understand today's China. --Book Jacket

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