或者這只是時間的問題。想象一下,在剛發生「911」襲擊后,紐約一位教授要學生辯論是把捐贈的錢物用來救助襲擊遇難者的親屬,還是救助海外的戰爭受害者。他可能被哄出教室。但一年後,這就可能成為討論的話題了。我想,問題在於一年之後我的學生和我是不是就可以討論中國的全球責任了。(作者 DANIEL A. BELL 加拿大人,牛津大學博士,清華大學哲學系教授,著名社會學家,其代表作《社群主義及其批評者》、《東方遭遇西方》已被翻譯成中文、日文等多國文字。)
Shortly after the uprisings in Tibet in March, I happened to lecture on Locke』s idea of constitutional democracy. A student asked if the 「right to rebel」 would justify the use of violence by Tibetans fighting for independence. In the interest of class time, I had to shut off the discussion. The next week we discussed Isaiah Berlin』s concept of freedom, and a student mentioned the cover illustration of a German magazine that depicted the Olympic rings in barbed wire. Once again, I was forced into the strange position of cutting off debate before it got out of hand.
After the Sichuan earthquake, one student told me the disaster was a punishment from heaven and that the government would have to make amends. Another accused the local government of suppressing news predicting an earthquake because it might have disrupted the 「harmonious environment」 for the Olympics.