澳大新語 • 2021 UMAGAZINE 24 49 人物專訪 • EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW an enormous impact on society. Having studied German since his childhood, Wang began to read the original works of some German philosophers and was deeply influenced by their ideas. After graduating from college, he went on to study a postgraduate programme in the Department of Philosophy at Peking University and earned a PhD in philosophy from Tulane University in the United States later. He studied and taught philosophy in the US for more than 13 years before returning to China in 2000 to teach at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2019, he joined UM. ‘It is said that it takes at least 10,000 hours of learning and practice to achieve mastery in a field. I think I have far passed that mark after having spent over 40 years in the field,’ says Prof Wang. East-West Comparative Philosophy Over the years, Prof Wang has focused on contemporary Western philosophy, particularly German phenomenology, East-West comparative philosophy, as well as ethics and moral philosophy. Books he authored or edited recently include From Dasein to Ereignis-Heidegger’s Way of Thinking (2020); Moral Affection and Confucian Exemplary Ethics of Virtue (2016), Heidegger and Beginning of Philosophy (2015), Heidegger: Translation, Interpretation and Understanding (2017), and Virtue, Law and Their Traditions in China (2019). He has also translated some contemporary Western philosophical classics from German into Chinese, such as A New Translation of Einfuehrung in die What is philosophy? What do philosophers study? What qualities do philosophers share? In this article, Prof Wang Qingjie, head of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Macau (UM), shares his answers to these questions. Studying Philosophy for Over 40 Years Prof Wang's office is located on the fourth floor of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FAH) building. Inside his office, there is a computer desk, a small end table, and several chairs weighed down with piles of books. On one wall hangs a painting of the famous Chinese philosopher Laozi riding a black-green buffalo into the west. It appears to be a perfect setting for interviewing a modern philosopher. Prof Wang took China’s national college entrance examination in 1977 and was admitted to the philosophy department of Nanjing University in early 1978, becoming a member of the first batch of university students after the Cultural Revolution. Asked about his introduction to the world of philosophy, he says, ‘There are many paths in life, but often you don't choose them consciously. To borrow Heidegger's words, you are often “thrown” into the world. My introduction to philosophy is probably one of those “thrown” situations in life.’ During his university years, constraints on freedom of thought began to be lifted, and different schools of Western thought flooded into China, creating 王慶節（右二）在北京大學哲學系攻讀碩究生課程 Wang Qingjie (2nd from right), with his friends at Peking University, taken when he was studying a postgraduate programme in the Department of Philosophy. 王慶節教授曾在美國留學和教學超過13年 Prof Wang Qingjie studied and taught philosophy in the US for more than 13 years
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTQ1NDU2Ng==