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JOURNAL OF DIALECTICS OF NATURE
A Comprehensive, Academic Journal of the Philosophy, History, Sociology and Cultural Studies of Science and Technology
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Published ahead of Print
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Aphantasia and Imageless Episodic Memory
Abstract: Contemporary philosophy of memory centres on the nature of episodic memory, which refers to the memory of events that occurred at a particular time and place. The standard view sees the mental image of the remembered event as an essential component of episodic memory. For example, Fernández explicitly argues that the metaphysical essence of episodic memory is a kind of mental image. However, in the past decade, psychologists have coined the notion of “aphantasia”, a condition in which individuals struggle to generate mental imagery. Empirical studies have shown that while aphantasics have difficulties visualizing mental images, they can nevertheless complete episodic memory tasks. Specifically, despite the reduced vividness of their retrieved content, aphantasics are not inferior to non-aphantasics in terms of the accuracy and success rate of episodic memory. This indicates that mental images may not be a necessary condition for episodic memory, and thus the standard view has overlooked the diversity of mechanisms underlying episodic memory. In light of this, the present paper will propose and outline a more inclusive functionalist theory of episodic memory. Key Words: Episodic memory; Aphantasia; Mental imagery; Functionalism
Author:
LAI Changsheng
CHEN Shufan
Issue:Volume 48, lssue 3, March 2026
Page: 1-9
Memory Enhancement, Memory and States of Life
Abstract: With the development of smart drugs, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and chip implantation, it has become possible to enhance human cognition and memory. Memory enhancement includes the enhancement of memory capacity, the modification of memory content and the manipulation of memory-related behavior. Scientists are making use of various technologies to realise these forms of intervention. These practices pose a challenge to existing accounts of the nature and categorization of memory. At present, prevailing conceptions of memory are constrained by an “attachment view”, according to which memory is regarded as subordinate to cognition, and memory enhancement is consequently subsumed under cognitive enhancement. To understand and deal with this challenge is to change the notion of memory. One possible approach is to rethink memory from the perspective of states of life. Memory can be divided into two types: dry memory and wet memory. This distinction has the potential to overcome the limitations imposed by the attachment view of memory. It also enables memory to be understood from multiple perspectives, including temporal representation, material traces, behavioral processes, motility emergence, ethical practice, and existential meaning. In this way, the attachment view can be overcome through a transformation of our notion of memory. Key Words: Memory; Human enhancement; Life attribute
Author:
YANG Qingfeng
Issue:Volume 48, lssue 3, March 2026
Page: 10-17
Multisensory Memory and Its Challenges and Revision to Mnemonic Causal Theory
Abstract: This paper explores how multisensory memory revises and extends traditional causal theories of memory, proposing a novel framework of active causality. Traditional theories posit that as a source of knowledge, memory must adhere to a linear causal chain between past experiences and current representations. However, the sensory diversity of multisensory memory intensifies generative, counterfactual and holistic challenges. To address these challenges, we construct an active causal network model by integrating predictive mind, extended mind, and active inference theories. This framework reconfigures mnemonic causality as a dynamic distributed network, minimizing prediction errors through predictive coding mechanisms and Bayesian causal inference, thereby enhancing the robustness and reliability of multisensory memory. These advancements elevate the cognitive significance of memory and drive the transformation of memory philosophy from static preservationism to active causalism. Key Words: Multisensory memory; Mnemonic causal theory; Active causal theory
Author:
YU Feng
Issue:Volume 48, lssue 3, March 2026
Page: 18-26
The Generationist Turn in the Epistemology of Memory
Abstract: Memory has traditionally been viewed as a preservative source, in the sense that it cannot generate new justification. In recent years, however, this traditional view has been challenged, and a position known as “generationism” has gradually gained prominence. Generationists have provided a variety of arguments for the view that memory can generate new justification. This paper reviews the main generationist arguments, as well as the objections that they face. Tracing the development of generationism through two “waves”, it lays the groundwork for an assessment of competing forms of generationism. Key Words: Generationism; Preservationism; Memory; Epistemology
Author:
WANG Yuping
Kourken Michaelian
Issue:Volume 48, lssue 3, March 2026
Page: 27-36
The Locality of Anglo-American Epistemology
Abstract: Anglo-American epistemology is the mainstream of epistemology in today’s world, and has been spread all over the world. However, this epistemology expressed in English is not a universal epistemology that can be unconditionally adapted to any other language. The concept of “local knowledge” and the most universal and objective knowledge of physics, mathematics and logic are all local, which provides a preliminary proof for the locality of Anglo-American epistemology. “The argument from that the translation of English knowledge verbs cannot be standardized” and “the argument from given dependence of knowledge attribution” can prove strong proof for the locality of Anglo-American epistemology. The locality of Anglo-American epistemology demands us that: it is theoretically feasible and necessary to study and construct the epistemology or even Chinese philosophy based on Chinese expressions, and that the introduction of other cultures needs to be in some given. Key Words: Anglo-American epistemology; Locality; Universality; Given
Author:
CAO Jianbo
Hesilaiti Muhetaier
Issue:Volume 48, lssue 3, March 2026
Page: 37-44
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How Could AI Develop Its Self-consciousness?
Abstract: The danger of AI will come from its self-consciousness rather than its capacity. AI would be a challenge to mankind if it develops a capacity for reflection on the system of its own, so that it would know how to remake its system with new rules, especially when it could invent its own language for all purposes, equal in capacity to human natural language, it could do anything it would. And AI would be most dangerous if it would be able to learn human desires, emotions and values, because all hostilities are based upon human desires and values.
From A Man-Machine Relationship to Inter Human Relations: Definition and Strategy of Artificial Intelligence
Abstract: In order to distinguish the intelligent machine as a tool from the robot as a subject, the definition of human must change from essentialism to functionalism. So far, artificial intelligence has gone through three stages of development: formalization, empiricization and rationalization, but it is still not in the structure, but in the function of simulating human thinking. Only a functionalist definition of human beings can be compatible with the future of new species and new humans-"uncontrolled" robots. If "uncontrolled" robots emerge, the relationship between natural person and robot will develop from human-machine relationship to inter-human relationship. This relationship is neither the relationship between man and machine, nor the relationship between man and animal, nor the relationship between natural people. Natural people should not adopt the previous strategy to treat robots. Human supremacism is not self-evident. Natural man's self-re-evolution, man-machine parallel and man-machine fusion are feasible schemes for natural man to avoid being overtaken, replaced and eliminated by robots.
Non-Reductive Explanation in Biology: Context Arguments
Abstract: Biological practice over the last several decades has shown that in many cases we cannot properly explain a higher-level phenomenon of interest only in terms of phenomena or mechanisms provided by lowerlevel explanations; to properly explain the higher-level phenomenon, information provided by the higher-level is also indispensable. One typical case is the context dependence of biological phenomena, namely, the occurrence of a higher-level phenomenon depends on its relevant environmental factors (e.g. cellular environments) which cannot simply be reduced to the lower-level (e.g. molecules) . On the other hand, the occurrence of the higher-level phenomenon can sometimes be independent of its lower-level underpinnings, since a change to the lower-level underpinnings does not necessarily result in corresponding changes in the higher-level. Facts based on these two sides constitute a ground for rejecting explanatory reductionism. This essay, by reference to examples drawn from biological practice, will discuss how contextual facts pose a challenge to explanatory reductionism.
Organismic Traits and the Explanatory Scope of Natural Selection
Abstract: Could natural selection explain why an individual organism has the traits it does? Debates over this topic have lasted for decades in the philosophy of biology. Indeed, the negative view and the positive view have different interpretations of the very why-question. The two sides have posited different explananda: a whole explicit fact (for the positive view) vs. a particular contrastive focal aspect of the explicit fact (for the negative view). Both explananda are reasonable and acceptable. However, elimination of misinterpretation does not render the negative view true. Rather, I argue that the negative view as a universal proposition is indeed untenable, for there are counterexamples for it in cases of symbiosis, lateral gene transfer, and genic selection. Key Words: Organismic traits; Natural selection; Scientific explanation
Dr. Edward Hume: The Intermediary Who Promoted the Rockefeller Foundation’s Initial Public Health Practice in China
Abstract: The Rockefeller Foundation intended to carry out hookworm disease treatment and prevention campaigns in many countries around the world at its initiation. Dr. Edward Hume, as the founder of the Yali Hospital and the Hsiang-ya Medical College in Hunan, tried to seek financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation in order to fulfill his plan in public health education in China. He used his connections and influence in Hunan to help the Rockefeller Foundation introduce the hookworm disease treatment and prevention project into China. In this transnational undertaking, Dr. Hume essentially played the role of an intermediary, who considerably promoted the Rockefeller Foundation’s earliest public health practice in China.
Kinnosuke Ogura: A Pioneer in The Study of Social History of Mathematics
Abstract: Kinnosuke Ogura was a renowned mathematical historian and educator in modern Japan. He has made outstanding contribution to the study of mathematics education and the history of mathematics. In the filed of mathematical history, he began to study the social problems of mathematics in the late 1920s. He believed that the sociality of mathematics must be concretized in the study of mathematical history, and investigated the relationship between the ideology, the economic foundation and the development of mathematics. He was a pioneer in the social history of mathematics. Key Words: Kinnosuke Ogura; Mathematical history; Sociality
News & Events
Video Playback of the Ninth Session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
On May 8, at 9 p.m. Beijing time, the ninth session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries was held online as scheduled.
Video Playback of the Eighth Session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
On April 10, at 9 a.m. Beijing time, the eighth session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries was held online as scheduled.
Seminar 8. Empire and Gender(New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries )
Welcome to join the Seminar Seminar 8. Empire and Gender of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries .
Video Playback of the Seventh Session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
On March 13, at 6 p.m. Beijing time, the seventh session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries was held online as scheduled.
Seminar 7. Optics and Astronomy(New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries )
Welcome to join the Seminar Seminar 7. Optics and Astronomy of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries .
Video Playback of the Sixth Session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
On February 13, at 9 p.m. Beijing time, the sixth session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries was held online as scheduled.
Seminar 6. Imperial Economies and the Exchange of Natural Knowledge in the 17th and 18th Centuries(New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries )
Welcome to join the Seminar 6. Imperial Economies and the Exchange of Natural Knowledge of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries .
Video Playback of the Fifth Session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
On January 9, at 9 a.m. Beijing time, the fifth session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries was held online as scheduled. The theme is The Chemical Revolution and Climate Change. The first speaker is Jan Golinski, whose speech title is : Climate Change and Society in Britain, 1790-1820. The next speaker is TONG Yichen, whose report title named Between Atomism, Elementalism, and Empiricism: The Chemical Studies of Étienne-François Geoffrey. The meeting was hosted by Professor Bernard Lightman.
Seminar 5. The Chemical Revolution and Climate Change(New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries )
Welcome to join the Seminar 5. The Chemical Revolution and Climate Change(New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries ).
Video Playbacks of the Four Session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
On December 12, at 12 noon Beijing time, the four session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries was held online as scheduled.
Seminar 4. Gardens as Scientific Sites in the Early Modern Period(New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries )
Welcome to join the Seminar 4. Gardens as Scientific Sites in the Early Modern Period(New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries ).
Video Playback of the Third Session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
On November 14, at 10 p.m. Beijing time, the third session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries was held online as scheduled.
Seminar 3. Darwin and the Big Picture(New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries )
Welcome to join the Seminar 2. Imagination and Innovation in Natural Philosophy of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries.
Video Playback of the Second Session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
Welcome to join the Seminar 2. Imagination and Innovation in Natural Philosophy of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries .
Seminar 2. Imagination and Innovation in Natural Philosophy (New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries )
Welcome to join the Seminar 2. Imagination and Innovation in Natural Philosophy of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries .
Video Playback of the first session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
On September 19, at 9 a.m. Beijing time, the first session of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries was held online as scheduled. The theme of the first session is Issues in Nineteenth Century Astronomy. The first speaker is Huang Hsiang-Fu, whose speech title is Visual Technology and Religious Sentiment in Nineteenth-Century Popular Astronomy Lecturing. The next speaker is Robert Smith, whose report named The Retellings of the Discovery of Neptune. The seminar is hosted by Professor Bernard Lightman. The following is the video playback of the seminar.
Seminar 1. Issues in Nineteenth Century Astronomy (New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries )
Welcome to join the Seminar 1. Issues in Nineteenth Century Astronomy of New Perspectives on the History of British Science from the 17th to the 19th Centuries
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Starting from the “Springtime for Science”—An Academic Symposium in Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Launch of the Journal of Dialectics of Nature and the 40th Anniversary of the Founding of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
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