Ziqiang Bai | The Chinese University of Hong Kong (original) (raw)

Papers by Ziqiang Bai

Research paper thumbnail of Zhuangzi's Conception of Human Nature ( Xing 性)

Philosophy East and West, Apr 1, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Human being as both being in itself and being in relation: Aquinas's Metaphysical Vision of Whole Person Education (A Chapter in Whole Person Education in East Asian Universities)

Routledge, 2021

Thomas Aquinas's metaphysical vision of whole-person education is rooted in his metaphysical unde... more Thomas Aquinas's metaphysical vision of whole-person education is rooted in his metaphysical understanding of the actually existing whole-human-person. On the one hand, Aquinas develops Boethius's definition of person and understands a real human person in terms of substantiality (self-standingly itself), individuality (uniquely itself), rationality (freedom of action); accordingly, education is essentially student-oriented, forming the students' solid confidence in themselves as self-standing and their appreciation of their own uniqueness, as well as fostering their self-initiated education. On the other hand, he situates the actually existing human person together with the entire world within the exitus-reditus (going forth-return) structure of divine action. Metaphysically speaking, then, the whole human person does not simply exists in itself (esse in) but also intrinsically exists in relation, i.e., exists from others (esse ab) and exists for others (esse ad). Accordingly, education would also mean primordially to foster a backward-contemplative gaze, a heart that is capable of receptivity in gratefulness, as well as to promote the creative outpouring of the self in love as care for the world and praise for God.

Research paper thumbnail of An integral understanding of truth as the event of adequation: A retrieval of St. Thomas Aquinas (A Chapter in Education in an Age of Lies and Fake News)

Routledge, 2021

Truth for St. Thomas is the adequation of intellect and things. However, truth is not a static re... more Truth for St. Thomas is the adequation of intellect and things. However, truth is not a static relation between intellect and things, it is rather a dynamic mode of being that realizes itself in threefold events, i.e. the event of epistemological adequation, the event of metaphysical adequation, and the event of moral adequation. Truth is an event of epistemological adequation, because it is the human intellect that essentially accomplishes the mode of natural being as truth. Truth is also an event of metaphysical adequation, because the truthful being of natural things is passed onto them by the intellect such that they depend both on human intellect for their truthful being per accidens and on divine intellect for their truthful being per se. Truth is all the more an event of moral adequation, because truth for St. Thomas is not an indifferent mode of being, it is rather the ultimate good for all natural beings. As an event of moral adequation, truth is not a detached reporting of reality but requires for its integrity (1) honest accounting for one's words and actions, (2) other-oriented compassion for everything, and (3) divinely oriented concern for all. This threefold events of adequation is, for St. Thomas, the integral truth that can be the “foundation of human, personal and social existence”.

Research paper thumbnail of The Personal Significance of the Human Body in Wojtyla's (John Paul II) Philosophy of the Human Person

Philosophia, 2020

The human body has always been a fascinating object of investigation throughout human history. In... more The human body has always been a fascinating object of investigation throughout human history. Indeed, as a topic, the human body encompasses almost the totality of human concerns. It can be examined in various contexts and from multiple points of view. In fact, the human body has been treated from so many diverse standpoints that it seems no longer able to be considered from a particular broader perspective as a sing subject matter. In Karol Wojtyla’s philosophy of the human person, however, a particular broader perspective of the body is possible and also necessary. The human body for Wojtyla is not completely reducible as a specific object of investigation. As a part of the whole that is the human person, the human body is also something that is irreducible, i.e., with a personal significance. Without acknowledging the body’s personal significance, the different considerations of the body are without a particular broader perspective and thereby easily lapse to be considerations not of the human body but a specific organism. This paper intends to explore the body’s personal significance in Wojtyla’s philosophy of the human person. Specifically, this paper proceeds in two steps, first Wojtyla’s understanding of the human person is presented, and then his analysis of the human body as personal.

Research paper thumbnail of THE TRINITY’S MISSION AS THE HIGHEST FORM OF BOTH DIVINE PEDAGOGY AND HUMAN KNOWING-A RETRIEVAL OF ST. THOMAS （A Chapter in Initiation and Mystagogy in Thomas Aquinas, ISBN 978-90-429-4127-4)

Leuven: Peeters, 2019

...Specifically, I will explain in a very brief manner, first, St. Thomas’s view on human pedag... more ...Specifically, I will explain in a very brief manner, first, St. Thomas’s view on human pedagogy; second, St. Thomas’s understanding of the imago Trinitatis as thoroughly dynamic; third, the ontological presence of the divine persons as divine pedagogy; and fourth, the intentional presence of the divine persons as the fruit of human knowing.

Research paper thumbnail of Relation in Trinitarian Theology: Thomas Aquinas and the Church Fathers Relacje w teologii trynitarnej: św. Tomasz z Akwinu i Ojcowie Kościoła

Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia, 2019

Relation has always been used as a tool to understand the central truths of Scripture, i.e., God ... more Relation has always been used as a tool to understand the central truths of Scripture, i.e., God as absolutely one and irreducibly three. In this paper, I first traced the use of relation in the Church Fathers' Trinitarian reflections, specifically that of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Augustine; then I explained how Thomas understands relation as a special category of being and how his understanding of the divine persons as subsisting relations gives an excellent exposition of Scriptural truths on the one hand, and on the other hand provides a quite balanced and thus accommo-dative Trinitarian monotheism wherein the Church Fathers' functional use of relation merge together and their insightful reflections on the Trinity shine brilliantly.

Research paper thumbnail of Zhuangzi's Conception of Human Nature ( Xing 性)

Philosophy East and West, Apr 1, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Human being as both being in itself and being in relation: Aquinas's Metaphysical Vision of Whole Person Education (A Chapter in Whole Person Education in East Asian Universities)

Routledge, 2021

Thomas Aquinas's metaphysical vision of whole-person education is rooted in his metaphysical unde... more Thomas Aquinas's metaphysical vision of whole-person education is rooted in his metaphysical understanding of the actually existing whole-human-person. On the one hand, Aquinas develops Boethius's definition of person and understands a real human person in terms of substantiality (self-standingly itself), individuality (uniquely itself), rationality (freedom of action); accordingly, education is essentially student-oriented, forming the students' solid confidence in themselves as self-standing and their appreciation of their own uniqueness, as well as fostering their self-initiated education. On the other hand, he situates the actually existing human person together with the entire world within the exitus-reditus (going forth-return) structure of divine action. Metaphysically speaking, then, the whole human person does not simply exists in itself (esse in) but also intrinsically exists in relation, i.e., exists from others (esse ab) and exists for others (esse ad). Accordingly, education would also mean primordially to foster a backward-contemplative gaze, a heart that is capable of receptivity in gratefulness, as well as to promote the creative outpouring of the self in love as care for the world and praise for God.

Research paper thumbnail of An integral understanding of truth as the event of adequation: A retrieval of St. Thomas Aquinas (A Chapter in Education in an Age of Lies and Fake News)

Routledge, 2021

Truth for St. Thomas is the adequation of intellect and things. However, truth is not a static re... more Truth for St. Thomas is the adequation of intellect and things. However, truth is not a static relation between intellect and things, it is rather a dynamic mode of being that realizes itself in threefold events, i.e. the event of epistemological adequation, the event of metaphysical adequation, and the event of moral adequation. Truth is an event of epistemological adequation, because it is the human intellect that essentially accomplishes the mode of natural being as truth. Truth is also an event of metaphysical adequation, because the truthful being of natural things is passed onto them by the intellect such that they depend both on human intellect for their truthful being per accidens and on divine intellect for their truthful being per se. Truth is all the more an event of moral adequation, because truth for St. Thomas is not an indifferent mode of being, it is rather the ultimate good for all natural beings. As an event of moral adequation, truth is not a detached reporting of reality but requires for its integrity (1) honest accounting for one's words and actions, (2) other-oriented compassion for everything, and (3) divinely oriented concern for all. This threefold events of adequation is, for St. Thomas, the integral truth that can be the “foundation of human, personal and social existence”.

Research paper thumbnail of The Personal Significance of the Human Body in Wojtyla's (John Paul II) Philosophy of the Human Person

Philosophia, 2020

The human body has always been a fascinating object of investigation throughout human history. In... more The human body has always been a fascinating object of investigation throughout human history. Indeed, as a topic, the human body encompasses almost the totality of human concerns. It can be examined in various contexts and from multiple points of view. In fact, the human body has been treated from so many diverse standpoints that it seems no longer able to be considered from a particular broader perspective as a sing subject matter. In Karol Wojtyla’s philosophy of the human person, however, a particular broader perspective of the body is possible and also necessary. The human body for Wojtyla is not completely reducible as a specific object of investigation. As a part of the whole that is the human person, the human body is also something that is irreducible, i.e., with a personal significance. Without acknowledging the body’s personal significance, the different considerations of the body are without a particular broader perspective and thereby easily lapse to be considerations not of the human body but a specific organism. This paper intends to explore the body’s personal significance in Wojtyla’s philosophy of the human person. Specifically, this paper proceeds in two steps, first Wojtyla’s understanding of the human person is presented, and then his analysis of the human body as personal.

Research paper thumbnail of THE TRINITY’S MISSION AS THE HIGHEST FORM OF BOTH DIVINE PEDAGOGY AND HUMAN KNOWING-A RETRIEVAL OF ST. THOMAS （A Chapter in Initiation and Mystagogy in Thomas Aquinas, ISBN 978-90-429-4127-4)

Leuven: Peeters, 2019

...Specifically, I will explain in a very brief manner, first, St. Thomas’s view on human pedag... more ...Specifically, I will explain in a very brief manner, first, St. Thomas’s view on human pedagogy; second, St. Thomas’s understanding of the imago Trinitatis as thoroughly dynamic; third, the ontological presence of the divine persons as divine pedagogy; and fourth, the intentional presence of the divine persons as the fruit of human knowing.

Research paper thumbnail of Relation in Trinitarian Theology: Thomas Aquinas and the Church Fathers Relacje w teologii trynitarnej: św. Tomasz z Akwinu i Ojcowie Kościoła

Biblica et Patristica Thoruniensia, 2019

Relation has always been used as a tool to understand the central truths of Scripture, i.e., God ... more Relation has always been used as a tool to understand the central truths of Scripture, i.e., God as absolutely one and irreducibly three. In this paper, I first traced the use of relation in the Church Fathers' Trinitarian reflections, specifically that of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Augustine; then I explained how Thomas understands relation as a special category of being and how his understanding of the divine persons as subsisting relations gives an excellent exposition of Scriptural truths on the one hand, and on the other hand provides a quite balanced and thus accommo-dative Trinitarian monotheism wherein the Church Fathers' functional use of relation merge together and their insightful reflections on the Trinity shine brilliantly.