题记：本文系提交2012年10月18日首尔大学ICER 13（the 13th International Conference on Education Research the 13th International

Conference on Education Research）论文要点。其意趣主要不在于高等教育，而在于论述praxiology和quietology的基本逻辑。题图照片摄自景福宫。

 

 

The fate of humankind and higher education:

 the double perspectives of praxiology and "quietology" 

This paper tries to present a new view of the fate, propose an interpretation from the double perspectives of praxiology and "quiet-ology". And clarify their meanings for higher education----- the ideas of university in the 21st century.The paper argues that fate includes destiny and luck (or chance). Destiny can not be changed (immutability), but luck can be changed (variability). knowledge may not be able to change fate,changing fate can only rely on the wisdom.The nature of knowledge lies in knowing ,but wisdom lies in action and quiet. Praxiology is the study of human action,it has a series of unique concept to describe the action phenomenon. praxiology's wisdom can only help to change luck,but it can not solve all problems of the fate. The study of destiny （"quietology"）is how to cope with immutable things actively. The wisdom society depends on enhancing of the realm of self. Finally,the paper pointed out that the idea of the university in the 21st century must take into account these two aspects.

Keywords: fate of mankind, higher education, praxiology, quiet-ology, realm of self  

1．Introduction

There are many deep thinkings on "cultivating humanity"and "knowledge society" in west societies(OECD,1996[1]; Martha C .Nussbaum,1997,[2]).Tu Weiming(2010)emphasized the importance of the humanities in the construction of a world-class university[3].Science is the knowledge of fact, but Philosophy and humanities are the knowledges of fate(Ting-yang Zhao,2001). As an old topic, the fate has been gotten attention mainly from literature,philosophy and theology in the past long time. The paper tries to present a new view of the fate, and propose an interpretation from the perspective of praxiology. Finally, I will clarify its meaning for Higher education----- the ideas of University in the 21st Century.  

2．Existence is fate: the meaning and structure of fate

In Chinese culture, the word "crisis(危机)", contains the double meaning of the "danger（危险）" and "opportunity（机会）".Similarly, the word "fate(命运)" also includes two meanings, namely, the “destiny（天命） " and "luck（运气）"or"chance（机遇）". Destiny (or fate) is a predetermined course of events.It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the cosmos.[4] Luck or chance is fortune (whether bad or good) which occurs beyond one's control, without regard to one's will,intention,or desired result.[5]

These immutable things(destiny) include age, sex, place of birth, family, death,incurable disease,climate,and so on. They are subject to the laws of nature. individuals can not choose and control. However, Existence between life and death is the category of luck. Luck change at any time, belongs to the category of subjective efforts. Therefore,The fate have two senses of "immutability"and "variability".

Destiny is not changed(immutability), and luck can be changed(variability). But knowledge may not be able to change fate. changing fate can only rely on the wisdom,because the nature of knowledge lies in knowing ,but wisdom lies in action. If anyone thinks, as long as he has the knowledge ,he can change fate, it would confuse the difference of the nature of knowledge and wisdom.

"Wisdom begins with wonder,"said Socrates. In his mind, one could not know anything without knowing one' s self. In fact, "Knowing yourself" really made astonishing progress today. Nevertheless, "Changing yourself"is in a stagnant state. Developed and developing countries, both of which are so. For example, List of countries by suicide rate [6]according to data from the World Health Organization is a strong proof. This list shows that the countries which have the highest suicide rete are mostly developed countries. Cornell University was once even called a "suicide school".[7] on the other hand,starting from the late 1970s,the number of divorces and the divorce rate continue to rise in mainland china.At present, the divorce rate has more than 1/3 in Beijing and Shanghai,while Beijing and Shanghai are the most developed cities in Mainland China.  

The examples suggest that knowledge itself does not change the fate of humankind, while people living in developed countries or in famous university have more knowledge.

3．Changing the fate of humankind (1): praxiology  

Since Knowledge may not be able to change your fate. changing fate can only rely on the wisdom,and wisdom lies in action,how do we take action? Praxiology(or praxeology) can provide support.

What is praxiology?Many people do not understand it. Praxiology is the study of human action and conduce[8].The problem of praxiology is how to change or create the world[9].As action is different from behavior, praxiology is different from behavioral sciences. At the same time, praxiology is also different from the action science(Chris Argyris & Donald Schon)[10] or action research[11].

Although praxiology has made great achievements,there are many also significant problems in praxiology.One of them is that praxiology is regarded as a deductive study of human action based on the action axiom ,such as economist Ludwig von MIses(1949);or a subdiscipline of philosophy,such as Tadeusz Kotarbiski(1955,1965).But I think,praxiology is an independent discipline which has its own object of study,because it has a series of unique concept to describe the action phenomenon.  

In a word, the concepts of praxiology are divided into two parts,namely action structure (or action system) and action procedure. The study of action structure include the followiing subsystems: action unit, action environment(action situation), action rules, action force, action goals(direction,purpose,object,and task),action condition, action means, action effect(result),action hinder,and so on.

The study of action procedure include: action planning,action countermeasures(game theory),logistics(operations research),action preparation, try(experiment,test), adventure,design,simulation(exercises, learning-by-doing,practice teaching),struggle,cooperation,and so on.  While the former is extremely important, but we are more concerned about the latter.

At present,praxiology is perhaps best representedn in higher education within certain professional schools and departments including law,engineering and medicine. Within these disciplines,training is largely designed around a clinical or professional body of subject matter which serves to bring about what is valued-or what ought to be-thriugh action.  

4.Changing the fate of humankind(2):quietology

Can we re-conceive the post-industrial selfhood, sensitive to the changed economic environment while resisting dehumanization, self-fragmentation and nihilist culture consequent on the knowledge economy?

Praxiology's wisdom can heip to change luck,but it can not  solve all problems of the fate.The wisdom society also depends on the study of destiny.If the problem of praxiology is how to change or create the world,the study of destiny(I call it "quietology") is how to cope with immutable things actively.The basic concepts of quietology includes the following subsystems:respection, utilization, obey, sympathy, tolerance, adaption, and so on.

Although many effective ways had been proposed in this regard,one of coping styles is enhancing of the realm of self. According to the person's self-development course, the level of the value of life and the spirit of freedom, the realm of self can be divided into four levels, namely small-self realm, large-self realm，self-forgetting realm, and self-none realm.  

All west philosophers can be roughly divided into two categories: optimists and pessimists. some western philosophers push the principle of subjectivity to the extreme,and they inevitably tend to pessimism.Because small-self get unlimited expansion, the corresponding result is ubiquitous in competition,even if people have made some success,they have no happiness too. This is exactly one of the reasons which the high suicide rate in eastern and western developed countries.  

5.The ideas of University in the 21st Century

  "A university cannot become a real first-class university with only prominence in science, engineering, agriculture and medicine while low level of humanity." This is the comment made by Tu Weiming(2010).

The task of higher education becomes primarily not so much the production of students-as-knowers (or even of students-as-critical-thinkers) nor of students-as-doers but more that of students as becoming-persons, able to take account of and to withstand the world in all its vicissitudes（Ronald Barnett，2010）.[12]

Becoming-persons not only means getting knowledge,but also means the pursuit of wisdom. Praxiology and its series concept can provide the positive tools of changing-fate(luck), quiet-ology and enhancing the realm of self can provide the negative means of changing-fate(destiny).

The idea of the university in the 21st century must take into account these two aspects. In short, the theme of this article can be summarized as follows: ( figure omission )  

References:

1. Arne Collen、Wojciech W. Gasparski(1995),Design & Systems,Transaction publishers 

2.Nussbaum, Martha C.(1997) Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press 

3.Ludwig Von Mises(1949),Human action，Fox & Wilkes 

4.OECD(1996),The konwledge-based Economy,Paris 

5.Ronald Barnett(2010). The Idea of Higher Education ,Foreword to Chinese translation, The idea of Higher Education,Peking university press,2012 

6.Tadeusz Kotarbinski(1965),Praxiology，Pergamon press 

7. Ting-Yang Zhao(2001),Knowledge,fate and happiness, Philosophical Researche,2001,8:36-41 

8.Victor Alexandre(2000),The roots of Praxiology，Transaction publeshers 

9.Wojciech W. Gasparski(1983), Praxiological Studies，D.Reidel Publishing Company

Notes:

[1] OECD(1996),The konwledge-based Economy,Paris