Es gibt verschiedene Gründe, die für eine Beschäftigung mit der nordkoreanischen Standardsprache sprechen. Zum einen wäre da ein allgemeines Interesse an Nordkorea, welches sich offiziell als Demokratische Volksrepublik Korea (DVRK) bezeichnet, und für viele im Westen ein Mysterium ist. Es gibt aber durchaus noch weitere Gründe, die für die nordkoreanische Sprache sprechen. Da wäre zum Beispiel der Fakt, dass die Kultursprache (die offizielle Bezeichnung für den nördlichen Standard) sehr konservativ geprägt ist und damit sehr viele Ausdrücke bewahrt hat, die auch in der koreanischen Diaspora und den heimischen Koreanern in China weiterhin geläufig sind, im Süden jedoch aufgrund verschiedener Faktoren durch neuere Begriffe gewichen sind. Denn während aus einer sprachlichen Sicht das Südkoreanische eher auf den südlichen Teil der Koreanischen Halbinsel beschränkt und durch die DMZ klar abgetrennt ist – obgleich sich eben jene Variante internationaler Beliebtheit erfreut – so scheint mir aus meiner persönlichen Erfahrung die nordkoreanische Sprache nützlicher zu sein, wenn man in die konservativere Sprache der Diaspora und das traditionelle Korea eintauchen möchte. Der Leser mag sich aber selbst ein Bild davon machen.
My Publications on Korea (Selection)
Articles and Papers:
Sketching the basic concept of Korean Shamanism – Theology, Rituals, Societal value. Journal of Ethnophilosophical Questions and Global Ethics 1 (1), 2017, 19-21.
The Juche philosophy of North Korea –Philosophical Content and Practical Failure. Journal of Ethnophilosophical Questions and Global Ethics 1 (1), 2017, 52-57.
The Crucial Role of New Religious Movements in the Liberations of Korea and Vietnam. Revista Română de Studii Eurasiatice, an XVI, nr. 1-2/2020, 229-242.
Wie kann die internationale Gemeinschaft Nordkorea in Zeiten von Corona helfen?. Ponto Grassroots Think Tank Austria, 2021.
Analysing the Systematisation of Juche and Its Output. Revista Română de Studii Eurasiatice, an XVIII, nr. 1-2/2022, pp. 221-244.
Jiwŏn : Un principe et un espoir de dialogue entre les deux Corées ?. Foraus, 2022.
남북대화의 종교문제와 종교교류 6가지 점. Draft, 2022.
Books:
Das nordkoreanische Wissenschaftsverständnis und die ideologischen Grundlagen der Staatsdoktrin (2022)
关于朝鲜民主主义人民共和国的历史和政治信息 （一）(2023)
From my blog (later published in books):
Writing Systems for Modern Korean (2014). In: Selected English Articles, 2014-2017 (2020).
“The Flower Girl” in a socio-critical context of 1920s Korea (2016). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 1 (2022).
A Critical Review of Kim Jong Il’s demand on good literature and his image on literature in general (2016). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 1 (2022).
A critical look on Juche philosophy (2015/16 [2019]). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 1 (2022).
The Red Banner philosophy as religious legitimation of the DPRK political apparatus in civil life (2017). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 1 (2022).
The religious symbolism of the Red Banner movements in DPRK media (2017). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 1 (2022).
The economic situation of North Korea – 2018 (2018). In: Selected English Articles, 2018-2019 (2021).
Analysis on the recent situation in North Korea – 2019 (2019). In: Selected English Articles, 2018-2019 (2021).
Korean Shamanism (2019). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
Le problème du maître dans la philosophie Juche (2019). In: Sélection d’articles en français, 2014-2020 (2021).
L’homme comme premier sujet dans la philosophie Juche (2019). In: Sélection d’articles en français, 2014-2020 (2021).
Analysis on the recent situation in North Korea – 2020 (2020 [2021]). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
The development of North Korea between 2008 and 2018 – Analysis of one decade (2020 [2021]). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
Are there really no cases of COVID-19 in North Korea? Assumptions of an outbreak and countermeasures conducted in the DPRK as of 24 April 2020 (2020 [2021]). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
North Korea: Information Policy and the novel Coronavirus – And what about the rumors around Kim Jong-un’s health? (2020 [2021]). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
“There’s always something to celebrate in the DPRK!” – Analysing Kim Jong un’s reappearance (2020 [2021]). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
North Korea under the Kim-Duo in 2020: Development, Difficulties and Chances of the Isolated Country (2020 [2021/22]). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
North Korea fears a second Corona wave – How the country performed in the crisis so far and why things are worsening (2020). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
An analysis on North Korea – December 2020 (2020). In: Selected English Articles, 2020 (2021).
Eine kurze Einführung in den Koreanischen Schamanismus (2020). In: Politische und Philosophische Analysen (2021).
An analysis of North Korea – February 2021 (2021). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
An analysis of North Korea – March 2021 (2021). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
An analysis of North Korea – April 2021 (2021). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
An analysis of North Korea – June 2021 (2021). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
Wie sieht sich Nordkorea selbst in der Welt und was bedeutet dies für den Westen? (2021). In: Politische und Philosophische Analysen (2021).
[Nordkorea-Beobachter] Woher stammen unsere Informationen über Nordkorea? (2021). In: Politische und Philosophische Analysen (2021).
„Das Blumenmädchen“ im gesellschaftskritischen Kontext des Koreas der 1920er Jahre (2021). In: Politische und Philosophische Analysen (2021).
Temples and Sacred Sites in North Korea (2022). In: A Divinely Way to Philosophy, Vol. 2 (2022).
[Zitat] Wissenschaftliche Definitionen
„An allererster Stelle muss jede Wissenschaft seine Terminologie darlegen, damit man in der Wissenschaft kommunizieren kann. Um eine Eindeutigkeit herzustellen, muss der Begriff erst definiert werden. In der Wissenschaftstheorie gibt es zwei Arten von Definitionen: Nominaldefinitionen und Realdefinitionen. Die Nominaldefinition legt eine sprachliche Konvention fest, „es wird für einen bereits bekannten längeren sprachlichen Ausdruck ein neuer, kürzerer Ausdruck eingeführt“ [Stegmüller, 1963: 328]. Dabei wurde klassischerweise von einer Definition gefordert, das sie einen genus proximus und eine differentia specifica besitzt. Stegmüller weist aber zurecht daraufhin, dass diese Anforderung schnell an ihre Grenzen kommt und daher nicht mehr zeitgemäß ist. Von einer Definition kann man daher eigentlich nur verlangen, dass es möglich sein muss „den durch die Definition eingeführten Ausdruck aus allen Texten, in denen er vorkommt, zu eliminieren“ [Stegmüller, 1963: 329], sprich den konventionell gesetzten Begriff durch den längeren sprachlichen Ausdruck zu ersetzen. Gelingt dies nicht, so ist die Definition nicht haltbar.
Realdefinitionen sollen eine Aussage über das Wesen bestimmter Gegenstände treffen und können anders als konventionelle Festlegungen der Nominaldefinitionen auch wahr oder falsch sein [ebda.]. Bei der Realdefinition kann es sich (1) um eine Bedeutungsanalyse, (2) eine empirische Analyse oder (3) eine Begriffsexplikation handeln. Es versteht sich von selbst, dass Definitionen stets angepasst werden müssen. Deswegen gibt es oft nicht die eine Definition, sondern man muss sich für eine Definition entscheiden, welche man seiner Untersuchung zu Grunde legt und am Anfang der Untersuchung offenlegen, damit jeder sehen kann, wie man den Begriff versteht. Natürlich kann man auch selbst eine neue Definition einführen, mitunter ist das sogar zwingend notwendig, nämlich dann, wenn gängige Definitionen dem Untersuchungsgegenstand nicht (mehr) gerecht werden. Aufgrund der Fülle an Bedeutungsmöglichkeiten eines einzigen Begriffs, muss auf jeden Fall eine Operationalisierung stattfinden.“
Zitierte Literatur: Stegmüller, Wolfgang: Wissenschaftstheorie. In: Alwin Diemer & Ivo Frenzel (Hrsg.): Das Fischer Lexikon: Philosophie. Frankfurt a.M.: Fischer Bücherei, 1963, S. 327-353.
Textausschnitt aus: Timo Schmitz: Das nordkoreanische Wissenschaftsverständnis und die ideologischen Grundlagen der Staatsdoktrin. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022.
[PDF] Timo Schmitz: “Was soll die Ehe im 21. Jahrhundert noch leisten?” (2022)
Ein kurzer Text in Form einer Hochzeitsrede, welche sich kritisch mit der Frage beschäftigt, was die Ehe heute noch leisten soll und dennoch sie zu würdigen versucht. Die Textform ist also bewusst gewählt und soll zum Nachdenken über das Ehekonzept anregen, ohne angehende Hochzeitspaare in ihrer Entscheidung zu demotivieren und dennoch ehrlich aufzuzeigen, dass die Daseinsberechtigung des Ehekonzeptes in einer Krise steckt.
Timo Schmitz: “24 Riddles (March Riddles)” (2016) [PDF]
The following article contains 24 philosophical riddles that are awaiting to be replied by you. Feel free to share your thoughts on it. (Please also read the user-friendly license for further use of these riddles in the end of the document.)
Impermanent Reality – A philosophical Story
By Timo Schmitz
This text covers the thoughts that arise while looking out of a train’s window on a rainy pre-spring day.
Passing by, things are passing by, people are passing by, and we are just passing-byers. Passing by, where things arise and go down, where the mist covers the field, that comes as soon as it disappears. Rain crashing on the glass, just to drop down, making its way to an unknown destination, just like people hurrying not to get wet and yet can their hurry save them?
Passing by, just like things come and go, now I am here but in a second I leave, just like this people will leave and go their way, one time seen and then nowhere, like they never were, but still they are. They have stories from all directions, of ups and downs just like the wind. And while the wind grows, it is evident, we have to grow, but for what? And why do people always look back to what they never can be – to what they never were and to what they never will be again? Tired of circulating, tired of not moving forward, they pass by in masses. And I ask myself, this ride will be past just like everything that happened, just like this rain, just like this wind, just like this field, this biker on this bicycle track who did not see me passing by in a train and probably never will see me again – why we still hurry for something to grasp, in a world of impermanence? Why do people hurry for something that leaves them in despair? Why do they adopt? We all have our possibilities, our chances, our knowledge, our own character – all what we need is in ourselves – but yet we are too limited to see, this path, just like the track of a train, always moving faster, always moving forward, it has a destination, just as we have, but our cry for liberation, our path to happiness, we ignore.
Passing by, so many people, one day all along, I don’t know their lives, their ways, their motivation, they are running fast from point to point to go their ways – disappearing in a station’s mass.
Passing by, I see flowers on the field, the rain is slaking their thirst. Traces of the cold are left, but the snow disappeared, the landscape changed, nothing is as it was before. Are we attentive of the beautiful nature – the fog, the fields, the flowers and the small lifes that are still hiding?, but the nature feels its sore. Because so many see it while passing-by, knowing that everything arises and goes down, that everything changes in any second, that joy and pain are next to each other, and they follow their routine, their schemata, their busy life – without leaving a photo in their heart.
Published on 15 March 2016. Republished on 1 June 2023.
‘Right Intention’ a.k.a. ‘Right Thought’ in Buddhism – From emotional theory to practise”
By Timo Schmitz
When doing self-study on Buddhism, the second section of the Noble Eightfold Path samma-sankappa, which is translated as ‘right intention’ or ‘right thought’, is an interesting challenge. It suggests that thoughts and feelings have to be separated to be aware of the impermanence of everything to be able to gain mindfulness and awareness. It is easier said than to be done. We can easily say, “hey, let’s separate the two things”, but in practise it is quite difficult at first. So we have to know, what is the source of our feelings? Where do our thoughts come from? What’s the relation between thoughts and feelings?
When we talk about affective feelings, we can talk of emotions and moods, which is described very often in psychology. Non-affective feelings should be left aside here, because they are neutral, and therefore do not inject a certain assessment without an emotive stimulus.
Modern study of emotions goes back to William James who published a theory on the creation of emotions in 1884. While traditionally, people believed that a situation triggers an emotion which leads to a reaction inside the body, James suggested that the situation triggers a reaction which then leads to an emotion. The word emotion here is defined as perception of a physical change. If this is true, every kind of a specific emotion has to have a different physical intensity, which means that every emotion, such as anger, fear, pride or prudency has to have specific physical patterns by which we can differentiate between them (Meyer, Reisenzein & Schützwohl, 2001, p. 143). James’ student Cannon criticised the theory, by proving that the same visceral changes are able to cause different emotions (Meyer, Reisenzein & Schützwohl, 2001, p. 154). At the same time, Cannon criticized that visceral changes are far too slow to be the source of any feeling. Several tests with animals were conducted, in which it was proved that even after the separation of the viscera with the central nervous system (CNS), cats and dogs were able to show anger or happiness to the outside world. Meyer et al. (2001) indicate that James only stated that visceral reactions are important for the experience of emotions and not for their expression, and we do not know whether the animals were able to experience the feelings after the surgical intervention, even further, we even do not know for sure whether animals have feelings at all (p. 158).
Several theories have assumed a post-cognition of emotions, which means that we can feel an emotion at the moment which goes back to a previous event, and we use to interprete it on our situation in which we are now. Zillmann conducted several experiments on this theory, suggesting that sexual excitement might cause aggression (1971), and disgust might be an indicator on humor (1979). In Zillmann’s book ‘Connections between Sexuality and Aggression’, he describes the experimentation in which people were triggered aggressively, after a sexual clip was shown and the excitedness was investigated in a pre-test (p. 208). Those who saw the film clip tended to deliver stronger electroshocks to the annoyer than those who saw an aggressive film. This ‘sex-aggression transfer’ was one of the major milestones for the ‘excitation-transfer theory’ which states that the excitation from one stimulus might lead to the excitatory response to another stimulus. According to Zillmann, this does only work in case that the person is not aware of the preceding situation as cause.
Despite modern scientific research on emotion, the issue has been a matter of debate in philosophy since millenia. As philosophers such as Socrates focussed on reason, emotion was always put in the background and even was regarded as a threat to reason and thus a danger for philosophy (Solomon, 2008). Aristotle rather saw the rise of emotions from the views of the world around us (Strongman, 2003, p.10). However, we can clearly say that the credo in antiquity was the opposition of feeling and thinking, not only in the Western world, but also Confucianism mainly focusses on the fulfillment of duties, rather than on individual feelings.
Another fact is the ability to regulate emotions. We can show emotions, but we do not have to. On the other hand, emotions appear because they want to be felt. The goal of ‘right intention’ is not to suppress feelings or to reason that feelings are unnecessary, but rather that we are aware of our feelings and know where they come from. The next step is to be aware that our feelings and thoughts are often mixed up, and that we can think, judge and reason without emotional affection, if we do the separation of feelings and thoughts correctly.
If we ask for the need why we should separate our feelings and thoughts, it is evident that the mixture of feelings and thoughts trouble our view on reality. The way we see our reality depends on how we see our environment and how we think. And if we allow that feelings mix up our thinking, our view on reality can get emotionally biased, e.g. think of all those who praise how bad everything and anything is, no matter in which situation. This judgment is consorted by a feeling and even further by the qualia of the certain feeling. For instance, Schwarz & Clore (1983) tested the judgment of well-being. In the experiment, moods were induced on sunny or rainy days and people had to judge their happiness and satisfaction with their life. If they were not made aware of the environmental situation, more satisfaction appeared when being in good mood (thus on sunny days) than on bad-mood-days (rainy days). However, if the interviewee was informed about the weather, the ‘rainy day bad moods’ suddenly disappeared and the effect was eliminated. The reason for this is evident. Since life satisfaction changes at any time, people probably use the appraisal processes to evaluate their situation and therefore take the recent environmental state into consideration. If one knows that the weather is bad, one is aware that it is a bad factor for evaluating and more clear asumptions are made (like “oh, I just feel bad because of the weather, but I’m fine”). In this case, same as in Zillman’s experiments, the effects of mood manipulating only work when the subject is not aware of the manipulation.
As a consequence I assume that mindfulness can lead to more objective judgments, since we get aware of mood distractors – a very important impact of ‘right intention’ and the way towards happiness that is praised so much in Buddhist literature.
In Buddhist terminology, mindfulness is called ‘sati’ meaning lucid awareness, in the sense of “understanding of what is occuring, before and beyond conceptual and emotional classifications” (Chiesa, 2012), as well as the development of one’s own memory.
Several scientists have suggested that emotion derives from instincts and thus are instinct processes, such as McDougall (1926) or Plutchik (1980), who suggested primary and secondary emotions. Although the ideas of psychologists about the production of emotion – whether they are the response to physiological processes, cognitive processes or instincts – more or less have their points, I want to focus mainly on their regulation. Of course, this does only include non-reflexive behavior – as reflexive behavior derives from sensory information that directly goes from the thalamus to the amygdala, as LeDoux proposed.
The fact that we develop emotions, no matter where they derive from, does not imply that we are their slaves, as we can see due to ‘jealousy’. Jealousy arises if one fears losing one’s partner, mostly as a rival appears, and one wants to avoid the loss with all means. Jealousy itself is just a feeling – an affection. If we react in daily life just after affections, we will show the behavior that emotional psychologists have found. When we are angry, we start to destruct things, when we are sad, we cry, etc. But luckily, we have a regulatory system – our ratio. In daily life, affection and ratio come together and we think that the feelings that we have are ours. Indeed, they either appear as a result of physiology or cognition. So when we feel jealous, we see the danger, in our body are processes activated and we have an emotion as result. However, everybody knows that when we are angry, we can try not to hurt someone or not to scream, so we can regulate ourselves. This shows that regulation works, although suppression is no solution. If our ratio is above affection, then we can regulate it very well. We realise that due to the complex processes, an emotion appeared, and we can think, “Why do we feel the emotion?”, “Is it really necessary?”, “Is the danger that I feel really existent?”. We can control it when we separate feelings and thoughts. As Zillmann showed through his experiments, we often do not know why we feel in a certain way. Therefore, I want to emphasize, we often have feelings that do not belong to us, but are induced by others. Maybe someone makes a note on jealousy, and the next time when we are in a critical mood, the cognition tells us that we have a reason to be jealous. But as we all know, our cognition is very bad. We are even that bad in finding out the sources of our mood that it makes no sense to attribute our recent mood to any event, but thanks to the mood, we select emotions. If we are in a bad mood, we prefer to listen to bad emotions rather than to the good ones. Another point is the sensory failure that we know from Buddhism. Every human-being has its own cognition, but our senses are not objective, but subjective. This means that we construct our reality, and even further, we interprete information in our situation that is not there, but we use this information from experience. Someone who was often disappointed probably triggers jealousy very early, even in a situation where there is no reason for it – which leads to tensions in relationships. If our emotion is, as James proposed, the result of our physiological change, and if we are not good in estimating the source of our emotion, as Zillmann showed in several experiments, then our emotion is seemingly not our real emotion to our current reality. However, we often think that the recent feeling has to do with the recent situation, and we attribute feelings into a reality that does not exist as such. If we are aware of this ‘betrayal’, we use our thoughts over our feelings, and we do not mix our feelings with our thoughts. We can do this through meditation. In meditation, such as shikantaza, we are just sitting and allow all emotions and thoughts to come to our mind. We try not to suppress emotions, but to deal with them and we try to control ourselves (Schmitz, 2015). And then we try to separate them. We can also do breathing exercises, in which we relax. We try to get aware of ‘what are my thoughts’ and ‘what triggers my recent state?’ If you try to track back your emotion, you might fail, and you get aware, it is not the real emotion of your reality now. Maybe you can track back your emotion, but use your thoughts to rule over your feelings. Be aware of ‘which are my thoughts?’ and ‘which thoughts I just do have because others told me?’. In this way, if we are jealous, we first should think ‘Why am I jealous? What is the source?’.
The dissociation between heart and mind is another topic that has to be covered. In traditional Chinese thought, the heart and the mind are one, and thus when saying ‘shi yan zhi’, one might say “poetry expresses intention” or “poetry expresses emotion” (Chen Eoyang, p. 245). However, we do not need to speak of one mind as such. The dissociation gets clear when we take a look at the ‘two-mind theory’ that was introduced in the Shurangama-Sutra (compare Schmitz, 2015). This dissociation can be scientifically explained with the emotional theories. If we feel a physiological change, but we feel that our correspondent reaction is against this, then we have a conflict. This means, if our affection and our ratio is contrarious, then we have a heart-mind conflict. In contrast to classical Chinese thought, the Indians had a close brahman-atman tie, where the self is the “ultimate substrate of all being” (Venkoba Rao, 2002, p. 316). As an atman and therefore a self does not exist in Buddhism, the self can be reduced to “physical and psychological constituents and processes” (Coseru, 2009/ 2012), although they share a “general view of mental processes as hierarchical and discrete” (Coseru, 2009/ 2012) as the Brahmanical traditions. Therefore, I assume that the Shurangama Sutra – which was probably composed in China – tried to solve the problem that the Indian sutras had a different idea of mind then it was found in Chinese thought. The creation of a two-mind-system therefore probably was a result of terminological transformation, in which different systems of thoughts were syncretized (compare Schmitz, 2015).
To go back to the factor of reality in the emotional conception, I just wanted to clarify again that our reality is constructed – and actually we construct more than we even think (something that the early Yogacarins even put in a strict sense, where they doubted their own cognition, as they thought that nothing is really real and everything derives from the mind), and that we can use meditation to philosophise about our feelings and thoughts – and separate them step by step, as the Buddha taught us to go for right intention and give up wrong intention, such as ill-will and bad emotions, to attain happiness, receive happiness and give happiness and therein develop further. This can be effectively done through meditation, breathing exercises, but has to be further developed in post-meditation.
Literature
Chen Eoyang, Eugene: The transparent eye – reflections on translation, Chinese literature, and comparative poetics. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
Chiesa, Alberto: The Difficulty of Defining Mindfulness – Current Thought and Critical Issues. 2012. https://www.radboudcentrumvoormindfulness.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Chiesa_2012_defining_mindfulness.pdf (retrieved 04 December 2015).
Coseru, Christian: Mind in Indian Buddhist Philosophy. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 03 December 2009 (edited: 12 October 2012). http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mind-indian-buddhism/ (retrieved on 10 March 2016).
McDougall, William: The Principal Instincts and the Primary Emotions. In: An Introduction to Social Psychology (Revised Edition). Boston: John W. Luce & Co., 1926, pp. 47-92.
Meyer, Reisenzein & Schützwohl: Einführung in die Emotionspschyologie (2. Auflage). Bern: Verlag Hans Huber, 2001.
Plutchik, Robert; Kellermann, Henry: Emotion – Theory, Research, and Experience, Vol. 1: Theories of Emotion. New York: Academic Press, 1980.
Schmitz, Timo: Rationalism versus Spiritualism and Atheism versus Polytheism in Buddhism. Berlin: epubli 2015. [now: Buddhism for Overthinkers. Trier & Vschendorf: Buddha TS Publishing, 2018.]
Schwarz, Norbert & Clore, Gerald: Mood, Misattribution, and Judgments of Well-Being – Informative and Directive Functions of Affective States. In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 45 No. 3, 1983, pp. 513-523.
Solomon, Robert C.: The Philosophy of Emotions. In: Lewis, Haviland-Jones & Feldman Barrett (ed.): Handbook of Emotion (Third Edition). New York: The Guilford Press, 2008.
Strongman, K.T.: The Psychology of Emotion From Everyday Life To Theory (Fifth Edition). West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2003.
Venkoba Rao, A.: ‘Mind’ in Indian Philosophy. In: Indian Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 44 No. 4, 2002, pp. 315-325.
Zillmann, Dolf: Connections between Sexuality and Aggression (Second Edition). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1998.
Published on 10 March 2016. Republished on 1 June 2023.
The Danger Of Political Quietism
By Timo Schmitz
History has shown plenty of revolutions everywhere in the world. No ruler could be safe from being pushed away, whether it was the French King being beheaded during the French Revolution or the Russian Tsar being executed during the October Revolution, known as Russian Revolution. When injustice became too strong that the people could not stand it anymore, the force of the people hit away so many despots. People stood up for their rights, whether it were human rights, such as the abolition of slavery or segregation, or societal rights, such as the formal abolition of castes in India and Korea, and the prohibition of Sati in India and Nepal.
Every movement had its idol, and some people made history. Everybody has heard of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Che Guevara, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Rosa Luxemburg and Rosa Parks. And what about today? Taking part in an election is often regarded as the highlight of political participation. Really? Do you really expect a change by choosing your governor, and government always means submission. “I can’t change anything at all, I’m just a normal person”, “I can’t change anything myself”, “Sometimes we have no choice than to obey” … these excuses are very widespread, and even more widespread was the consensus “Demonstrating changes nothing, so I just stay at home”. People who swallow injustice, who look away from misery, closing their eyes just not to see their own helpless situation and by chatting up to oneself “there are much more people in the world who are living far worse than I do, so I am still free” can be found everywhere. Their pessimism is covered by comforting themselves with patriotism, rumors, lies and overestimation of one’s own living, while underestimating one’s own capability and showing resignation at the same time. Nowadays, more and more people go on the streets, and again this is just a wave of events. These waves of protests come every several decades, and they go away when the issue is worn out. However, most people expire into a state of Quietism – by just not participating in anything and just sitting out everything.
While our ancestors were great revolutionaries, people are told nowadays that these things are past now and that we all have achieved freedom. This way of education seems to be quite effective. Those who are in power want to keep their power, and thus people are educated in believing in their government. Those who travel a lot see that there are many systems of government with their pros and cons, but those who live in one place for their whole life often think that their system is the only right one.
And when it comes to miseries, people stay calm, since they are told that they live in the best system anyways. But it is also a fact that the trust into politics is quite limited nowadays and politicians estrange themselves from their people. Some people say “Politicians are liars”, others say “Politicians just want to get our vote, but in fact they don’t care about us!”. However, when it comes to active protest, many people stay at home. Recent crisis, such as the refugee crisis, led to a brought field of solidarity in Germany. After the crisis in Fukushima, large-scale demonstrations against electricity generated by nuclear power introduced the energy revolution – made in Germany, thanks to pressure by German citizens. But when it comes to questions for further participation, to stand up against free trade agreements with a certain country that engaged in bombing countries like Libya back into the Middle Ages, or even when our taxes are poured down the drain, where are the masses?
Political quietism is dangerous, because it gives more space for politicians to do what they like. And if there is no protest, which means that the people do not show them the limit of action, then they can act even more as they like – and not as you like them to act.
To be able to discuss political topics one has to participate in dialogues. To be able to influence politics, one has to rise one’s own voice. To be able to make one’s own life better, one should not be quiet. Those who are quiet cannot design the society and shape them for further progress. Political quietism does affect oneself the most, because one can only realize one’s individualistic needs when being present and active, those who keep quiet just go with the masses and stay passive. In history, many events have shown what kind of large injustice can be done when people stay passive and follow the masses. Thus, political quietism means working against one’s own mind, freedom and conscience. In the worst case, quietism is the license for oppression.
Published on 25 October 2015. Edited in July 2022 and republished on 1 June 2023.
The necessity of Cultural Revolutions
By Timo Schmitz
When using the term “Cultural Revolution”, it is either referred to the historical Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976) or the principle of Cultural Revolution in Maoism that derived from the historical background and was put into an ideological scheme. However, there are plenty of other cultural revolutions, when just referring to the lexical term itself.
History has been full of cultural revolutions, they were just not that extreme than the Chinese one. The reason is obvious. In China, the structural principle did not change notably for over 2,000 years. Students always had to learn the Confucian classics to receive a prestigious state office and the society had to adapt to rules that were already outdated. But even after a revolution came up overthrowing an emperor, the new dynasty only made very small changes in society, law and political structure. By the end of the 19th century, many Chinese saw the society as being stagnated, as the moral values that had been coined during the Warring States were still in use, although modified. The progress of the country however almost did not exist. Instead, Western imperialists with their colonization tactics wanted to get China. One war after another (such as the Opium Wars) had shown to the nation that something has to change. After the last dynasty, the Qing dynasty, ended in 1912, many Chinese wanted to get rid of their old values to establish new ones. But a real change did not take place. China was split in many factions after Yuan Shikai’s death in 1916, as a war between different warlords broke out. Later, it became a civil war between Communists who were sponsored by the Soviet Union and Nationalists who were sometimes described as fascists. Mao Zedong could mobilize all the Communist factions to unite and walk through the country to liberate the people from the Nationalists. His power to unite the people was like a wonder to many Chinese people, because China was split that much and the conditions to win the fights were harsh. However, Mao Zedong did it and therefore was venerated like a god – as he did the unbelievable. The Nationalists had to flee to Taiwan, where the Guomindang is still active today. On October 1, 1949 Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China.
After decades of civil war, the country was that devastated and destructed that a lot of work had to be done. Therefore, Mao Zedong kept on with his success by restoring the country. Everyone could work now and hoped for prosperity. The people’s veneration deepened as the living standard of the people raised in the first years. After such a civil war, it is clear that the living standard could only rise, since the country had to be rebuilt. Mao Zedong established rights for ethnic minorities, simplified Chinese characters and did a lot of other successful reforms in the first years. Several intellectuals however warned him that the economic situation would stagnate after the economic situation was fully restored – something he did not like to hear. Thus, Mao started the Sufan campaign in 1955, in which he removed the intellectuals, but also targeted people in his party that he considered counter-revolutionary. The economic situation started to worsen, as predicted, and so a new campaign “The Great Leap Forward” was proclaimed in 1958. Mao Zedong wanted to push forward the industrialization and therefore every family should send some of their members in the cities to establish an industry, mostly focused on the production of steal. The people now producing in the cities were missing on the farms and there were not enough forces in agriculture anymore. While some areas had not enough farmers for the harvests, other regions had floods and droughts. Together with the bad coordination, this led to a vast famine, called “The Great Chinese Famine”. Mao Zedong who was venerated like a god, was now about to be oustered by his citizens. To avoid a loss of power, a new campaign had to take place, a campaign that was demanded and supported by the masses: a Cultural Revolution.
The idea of a cultural revolution was not Mao’s idea but already existed long before the founding of the PRC. As the society was still influenced by the old values, many young people opposed the imperial thoughts and demanded a harsh removal, so that the new society could breathe. They saw the party being infiltrated by counter-revolutionaries, but did not question Mao. As already mentioned before, Mao had to start a campaign demanded by the people, and although he did not anticipate such a revolution, at the same time he did not know what such a revolution could look like. University professor Nie Yuanzi of the philosophical department in Beijing published a poster demanding a kind of unrest, marking the start of what would become 10 years of chaos. After Mao accepted the Cultural Revolution, demanded by Red Guards who formed out of student protests, the self-proclaimed troops went through China destroying and destructing everything that was old: temples, books, historical sites. People let out their anger that they connected with the “Old China”. They campaigned for destroying the “Four Olds” in June 1966, a term which the party adopted in August on the 8th National Party Congress. Therefore, the term was first used by student movements and only then adopted by the party hinting that Mao Zedong was rather clueless. Another evidence that Mao Zedong had no plans of his Cultural Revolution is the fact that the Red Guards were enemies within themselves. Different troops bashed each other and the event turned to be out of control. Even Mao Zedong had no control over the Red Guards anymore. Thus, it started all in confusion. At the same time, the capital was in a chaotic situation, as the party committee did not function properly after party internal purges. In addition, there was a tense situation between Mao Zedong and Liu Shaoqi and the “Cleansing the Class” campaign targeted at his supporters.
The Cultural Revolution turned out to be a disaster. Many historical books, sometimes unique copies, were burnt, temples and sites were fully destroyed. The Cultural Revolution turned out to be a cultural catastrophe. And it seemed to be a political catastrophe for Mao, too. Mao himself who was severely ill had no real power anymore, as the Gang of Four de facto controlled China – its most influential person was his wife, often described as a tyrant who dreamt of being China’s next queen. Soon after his death in 1976, the Cultural Revolution ended.
In fact, the Cultural Revolution started with a misunderstanding. As Mao’s power was in question in 1966, he had to restore party order, and to do so he accepted a mob fighting for him, soon radicalizing itself. The Red Guards interpreted Maoism in their own ways and triggered a civil war. This misunderstanding is a result of Mao’s inconcrete order what has to be done and the anger of many people concerning their old, backwarded tradition. The Chinese Cultural Revolution was the result of an old civilisation being regarded as backwarded by its people as it was never renewed to modern conditions. Therefore, the reactions to renew the country were harsh and radical.
In many other countries, revolutions took place as well that could be called cultural revolution by its lexical term (not by its historical term!). The French Revolution was such a cultural revolution. It was not only the king being overthrown, but also a crucial change of paradigm. The mentality and awareness of the people changed and the behavior changed as well; the oppressed majority wanted to receive political participation. People attacked the Bastille, not to liberate political prisoners, as there were none in that building as modern history proved. People stormed the Bastille, because it was the symbol of totalitarian absolutism in France. Cultural revolutions took place in the whole human history. When people were dissatisfied with their situation in the Middle Ages, a political revolution took place. But this was not limited to politics. The Renaissance dissolved the Middle Ages. The change of the mainstream mentality, the new zeitgeist, led to paving a new era in a very short time. During the Middle Ages, there was a lack of historical awareness, or better: an awareness for conservation of history. The Renaissance was a revival of the historical understanding and return to arts from antiquity – in a modern sense, however. Such cultural revolutions were not that harsh or violent, because they took place after several hundred years and every hundred years a new cultural revolution took place. In China, these small revolutions under cultural aspects were missing and the urge of a revolution then smashed into a powerful, forceful massive revolution controlled by people’s anger of being chained in a backwarded mentality and their wish to destruct those chains to establish a new prosperous society. The Chinese Cultural Revolution was a dramatic failure in a historical context, but it achieved its goals. After Mao’s death, Deng Xiaoping made reforms and revised Maoist policies and started to eliminate the Maoist legacy. However, due to the Cultural Revolution that in itself had been a complete failure, it changed the people’s attitude and China was able to open up. Many Chinese supported the new reforms and changes and started to think in a modern way.
What happens if a cultural revolution does not take place in a country where a revolution is needed? The last crucially Confucian society existing until today is South Korea, and it is a perfect example for a society being backwarded and outdated. According to Confucianism, every human-being strictly has to obey to a person of a higher rank defined by this ideology, e.g. children have to listen to their father, women to their husbands, widows to their eldest sons, citizens to their government – not to get punished. South Korea never had a revolution in its culture, resulting that these old values are still alive today. People being grown up in such a system tend to accept such a harsh system, as South Korea is surrounded by the sea, and the citizens cannot easily flee out of the country without proper financial means. The dissatisfaction can be seen however in several statistics. South Korea, for instance, has one of the highest suicide rates among teenagers in the world. In 1999, South Korean writer Kim Kyong-Il published an essay called “Confucius Must Die For The Nation To Live” (공자가 죽어야 나라가 산다), blaming Confucianism for society’s alcohol problems, corruption, sexism, missing creativity as well as the previous military dictatorships. Kim argues that in case social problems continue to grow, the government can keep up forcing filial obligations onto families. Kim goes on explaining that the Koreans accept authoritarian characters because the society is not yet free. Wishes for a change in Korea can be seen in the 1980 Uprising for democracy which was torn down by the military regime leading to the Kwangju massacre. In 1998, the last military dictatorship ended and a new era arose, same than a short term of democracy under Kim Dae-jung. However, democracy later declined and Lee Myung-bak came into power establishing his regime, and only after Park Geun-hye’s resignation, democracy could really be restored. However, as long as Confucianism dominates South Korea, social tensions continue to grow. If these problems will not be solved in the near future, a South Korean Cultural Revolution is able to arise. There are several signs indicating that such a revolution could take place, although it will not turn into a Communist revolution as the South Korean mentality seems to be more right-winged and focuses on Korean nationalism.
But how about North Korea? There was no cultural revolution in North Korea, but the society modernized anyways. The absence of a cultural revolution in North Korea can be seen in the ideological difference, created by its state philosophy – the Juche Idea. Juche Idea combines communism with traditional Confucian values. Confucianism therefore is not completely abolished, but it is reformed. Therefore, the North Korean government promoted a policy that accepts history as history (while they look back proudly to history) and at the same time accepts left-wing changes for the future, though from time to time they returned to their Imperial roots, establishing a monarchy. The South Korean government policies in the early 2010s wanted to continue the historical timeline seemingly, but with modern techniques. While in past Korea, the peasants were exploited, nowadays in South Korea the workers are exploited. Foreigners shall think that South Korea is a progressive country. But there are still many deficits in civil freedoms.
Cultural revolutions will continue in the future. Examples for cultural revolutions in the western world are the recent mass movements against climate change in Europe as well as anti-discrimination movements in the USA. A cultural revolution is always drastic, however it does not always need – and generally should not – be violent.
First published on 25 December 2014. Edited in 2020 and completely revised in June 2023.
[Poem] Timo Schmitz: “Kiss” (2013)
So near and so quiet,
Slowly coming close,
Next, you are so near,
My heart just so happy,
Lost is all my fear.
So red and so soft,
Turning around,
You want me to follow,
So quiet, no sound.
I take the advantage,
I don’t think more,
My lips coming closer,
Your smile, I adore.
So nasty the action,
So happy we are,
We have a devotion,
A silent emotion,
You are so tender,
I have to surrender.
I feel like flying in the sky,
I feel thousand angels in you,
I feel such an innocent love,
But then I wake up.
A dream, only a dream,
I see you still in my head,
And then I remember your boyfriend,
And I wonder, and then, sad.
But I know why I dreamt of you,
You remember me of her,
And I think of you, and I think of her,
But I’m still alone.
Written in: June 2013. Adopted from: Schmitz, Timo. For better and for worse – A collection of poems. Berlin, 2013. All rights reserved.
Quote from my book
On the New Constructivist Communism:
It does not try to overcome today’s societies. Instead, it tries to overcome human-being’s ignorance as it is nowadays. It shall change the person, not the state. If every person changes then the state automatically changes for better.
Timo Schmitz: The Self-Reflecting State. Trier & Vachendorf: Graf Berthold Verlag, 2022. ISBN: 9783987561108.
[Poème] Timo Schmitz: “Chère rose que tu ne pourrais pas être” (2016)
Chère rose que tu ne pourrais pas être,
Les morts sont comptés à la nuit,
Les âmes se tombent en bas de la fenêtre,
Les rivières rigolent dehors la vie.
J’espère que tu sois un ange sans ailes,
Je voudrais te rattraper d’abord,
Mais tu ne vois pas mon cœur brisé,
Les vagues de la douleur sont trop fortes.
[Poème] Timo Schmitz: “Le ciel est gris” (2016)
Le ciel est gris,
on cherche la vie,
le soleil se couche,
la mort le touche.
Le sang coule à flots,
Le silence reste sans mots,
Les trains s’arrêtent,
Les larmes regrettent.
Je veux pas penser à toi,
Je veux pas te dire au revoir,
Je t’aime trop sans te le dire,
Mon espoir se couche pour mourir.
[Poème] Timo Schmitz: “Sous les nuages de notre patron” (2016)
Sous les nuages de notre patron,
Où on creuse le cher affront,
Et les couleurs se dansent rondes,
Trop froides sont les émotions du monde.
Petit poème, tu sais me sauver,
Dans cette situation, tu me donnes une clé,
Mais j’aime la peine, nous sommes très amis,
Les larmes se coulent sur la douceur de mon lit.
Sous les nuages de notre ciel,
Les guerres s’agrandissent !
Et toute la connaissance est infidèle,
Creuses sont les chaises dans les églises.
Les cœurs de l’amour sont trop vides,
Je crois pas qu’il existe un pouvoir.
L’amour est mort, tout que je peux sentir.
Comme ma raison est limité du savoir.
[Poem] Timo Schmitz: “I want to feel the love that never ends” (2013)
Sometimes I really feel so sad that you don’t love me,
But sometimes I don’t care, I feel nothing in my heart,
While I think I would feel lonely if I didn’t have this sorrow,
I would miss something, if this painful feeling went away.
I take care of my sadness and I raise it up,
I call it your name, this honour you received,
For all those painful moments I achieved,
And without loving you there’d be no more grief.
But without loving you, then what could I feel,
Being cold-hearted, my heart would be like steel,
The circle of life an endless wheel,
I can break it with my love that cheers my heart.
Maybe all that I like is your physical attraction,
What else could be good about you,
And yet you don’t give me any satisfaction,
But I’m loving you like a lover should.
I can’t imagine my life without you,
And yet it will happen for sure,
And my heart will be bleeding,
But you are the only medicine that could cure.
I am willing to give up, but what will follow then,
And if my feeling comes back, then where’s the sorrow’s end,
Is forgetting really the best way, will the grey really fade away,
Is someone waiting for me who really loves me?
If you love me, then why don’t you tell me,
Now I’m in mood to love again,
My lover, where are you hiding?
I want to feel the love that never ends.
Written in: June 2013. Adopted from: Schmitz, Timo. For better and for worse – A collection of poems. Berlin, 2013. All rights reserved.
[Poem] Timo Schmitz: “In my heart I still love you” (2013)
I am so deeply sad, but you don’t see,
Your face looks so sad, and I see it,
I told you, you can count on me,
But you never told me what happened.
In my heart I still love you,
Actually I love you more and more,
And I don’t know why I can’t give up,
But in this moment, I want to be yours even more.
July, my heart still belongs to you,
I don’t give you up, now that you feel so bad,
But I often told you that you are all alone,
But when I told you the truth, you have always been mad.
Written in: June 2013. Adopted from: Schmitz, Timo. For better and for worse – A collection of poems. Berlin, 2013. All rights reserved.
[Poem] Timo Schmitz: “When you left me alone” (2013)
Falling down, in the middle of nowhere,
Walking around, but I don’t want to be there,
Suddenly, I feel bleeding and I want to cry out,
Realized that my heart is broken and that you turned around.
Now, it’s empty and I fall down again,
Remebering you, remembering what happened back then,
Feel no sunlight on my arms, see the dark in my eyes,
See how lonely I am finally, feel that my hope dies.
I don’t want to love anymore, that’s what I say today,
I want to love again, that’s what I will say tomorrow,
The streets are so narrow, and my heart is filled with sorrow,
How can there be a tomorrow, without living today?
I want someone to support me, get me out of my pain,
But in this moment where I need them, they all went away,
I have no one to trust, I have no one to tell it,
And my pain grows as I think there is no one who can fit.
The people who called themselves my friends, how they dare not to care?
I always supported them, I always knew that happiness is to share,
But now that I need some happiness, I am all alone, where is their conscience?
And wandering all alone through the dark, without any alliance.
My head is empty, same as my heart,
I worry so much, as it was teared apart,
And if I fell into a river, no one would excerpt me?
And if I drowned, no one would be mourning?
If you are my friend, and you go away when I need you,
Then remember that life will act the same to you,
And although if you say you don’t care, you don’t rescue somebody in help,
Your conscience will never forgive you.
Written in: June 2013. Adopted from: Schmitz, Timo. For better and for worse – A collection of poems. Berlin, 2013. All rights reserved.
가슬의 동무
Timo Schmitz (티모 스미즈) 作家 –도이췰란드
바람이 樹葉을 분다, 춥이는 노래를 부른다.
— 내 心臟은 가만히 서다.
슬픔이 나를 감싸고 있습니다.
누가 永生을 알합니까?
바다의 눈물은 사라졌다, 千萬은 보이지 않는다.
꽃의 꿈은 사라지고 그의 젊음은 돌아오지 않는다.
저 멀리에는 空虛함만이 있을 뿐입니다.
가슬의 동무요, 누가 당신의 歎息을 듣습니까?
당신의 勇氣가 밤에 失敗할때.
永遠으로 깨어나십시오.
가슬의 동무요, 時方 어디에 있습니까?
나는 당신을 갈망하고 있습니다 !
이기는 외롭습니다.
더 이상 色相이 없습니다.
附錄:
춥이 : 추위
이기 : 여기
2023年5月26日
Panentheism: Unity and Manifoldness
Panentheism (pan-en-theos: All in God) means that everything is connected to God, so we can find God within the Creation, unlike Pantheism which means All is God. In the latter paradigm, God and nature cannot be separated, while in Panentheism, God is within nature, but nature and God are not identical. Even though God Himself resides in His own realm, He can be identified epistemologically within the Creation, so the Creation is a manifestation of God’s plan, and since God can be recognized within the Creation, we can talk of a panenhenic world outlook. As such, the spirit – which is God – exists outside of man as an independent absoluteness, but through the soul, man inherits a spiritual force which is connected to the spirit, and as such, man is connected to God without that God has less divine essence. There is not a piece of God in man, but rather the soul is made of the same substratum which can be found in the divine realm, so the soul is longing for its source, which is the ultimate spirit, as the soul itself is made of spirit by the Spirit. As such, existence is impossible to be independently form God, as every existence consists of matter and form, and form is no less from the divine realm, as true Being only exists in the divine realm. So the very unity (the Dao) creates a many. But this manifoldness wants to recreate its unity and the moment we reunite with the Divine Principle, there is only Divine Blessing and no more possibility to differentiate. Also to matter without form there cannot be ascribed any identity: thus, there is matter and there is the spiritual, but only if matter conceives with the spiritual, it exists, and forms an own identity with God’s blessing.
See also:
Timo Schmitz: Deep In the Ocean Is a Hidden Treasure. Manderscheid: Timo Schmitz, 2023, pp. 14-18 & 45 f.
Timo Schmitz: Walk in the way of love, as Christ also hath loved us. Manderscheid: Timo Schmitz, 2023, pp. 5 f. & 80.
Timo Schmitz, 25 May 2023
Timo Schmitz 