Volume 83

This paper analyzes three films—Chungking Express (1994), Fight Club (1999), and Her (2013)—to examine how voice-over and recurring material objects mediate the process of subjectivity construction, particularly by framing the dialectical relationship between the Self and the Other. Specifically, the use of voice-over and the cinematic representation of recurring material objects become integral to the process where characters perceive their own subjectivity and build therelationship with an Other which allows them to reflect on the Self. Drawing on Lacanian psychoanalysis approach, I argue that cinematic language and narrative techniques used by these three films, including voice-over as a reflexive interface and objects as affective anchors, strive to reveal the instability of identity and self-awareness when the Other asserts agency or departs from its presumed imagery. With a focus on the common cinematic techniques of the three films, this paper demonstrates how subjectivity in contemporary urban setting is constructed through the material mediation of the interpersonal relationship between the Self and the Other, or the protagonist and their counterpart. The analysis also shows how urban, cultural, and technological contexts shape how the instability of subjectivity is represented in contemporary film.

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In one of the most renowned articles, Heidegger released in his later career, The Question Concerning Technology, the brilliant thinker famously warned that modern technologies are turning humans from authentic dwellers in the world to resources to be optimized. However, against the backdrop of a drained era manipulated by vicious technologies, the concept of the metaverse seems to emerge as a savior, creating a world where humans are granted omnipotent powers and are enabled to, once again, reclaim their dominion over technology. In fact, the prospering gaming industry and flourishing virtual reality market demonstrate that more and more people are turning to the virtual world to regain control of their lives after exhaustive work. This paper scrutinizes this very phenomenon and examines whether the metaverse really extends beyond the limits of enframing technology that Heidegger criticizes. By distinguishing ready-to-hand engagement from the standing-reserve and analyzing the metaverse as a “tool of tools,” we argue that virtual environments can preserve worldhood and subjectivity and, therefore, indeed possess the potentiality of transcending traditional technology. However, a closer look reveals that despite its unique advantages, the current metaverse is constructed in a manner susceptible to intentional information manipulation, which will eventually intensify, rather than overcome, the enframing. After articulating the potential and challenges of the metaverse, this paper closes by outlining design conditions for a genuinely poietic metaverse that serves Dasein without reducing it to standing-reserve.

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Since Aristotle’s time, classical two-valued logic has been the foundation of Western rational thought. One of its most important principles, the law of excluded middle, states that every statement must be either true or false, with no in between. But when the situation is changed from the formal language to the everyday human language, there are a lot of unclear terms like “tall”, “bald”, and “pile”. These terms cannot be clearly labeled as completely true or false, and their existence challenges the absolute authority of classical binary logic. This raises a key philosophical and logical question: how to deal with this common uncertainty in life? The idea of “fuzzy logic” was first suggested by L. Zadeh in the 1960s, who claims that traditional set theory does not work for describing the complex problems humans face in real-world systems because it focuses on absolutes. Therefore, solving such problems requires a theory of fuzziness. This paper aims to examine this claim. First, this paper talks about the classic problems that come up when things are vague and explains the basic ideas of fuzzy logic. Then, it looks at the big ideas behind it and how they can be used in the real world. Finally, after looking closely at these applications, the paper makes more conclusions. The value of fuzzy logic consists in its practicality, not its status as a philosophical theory of truth.

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This paper aims to provide a coherent metaphysical account of metaphysical necessity, particularly Kripke’s notion of “a posteriori necessary truths,” through a modified Kantian approach. Starting from Kant’s concept of the thing-in-itself, the paper makes a crucial revision to its agnostic stance: while the intrinsic qualities of the thing-in-itself remain unknowable, its structural or functional role—namely, as the transcendental foundation for the unity of phenomena—can be grasped by reason through transcendental reflection. Building on this foundation, the paper demonstrates that what Kripke refers to as “essence” is in fact the functional manifestation of the Ding an sich. Putnam’s “correspondence principle” provides empirical corroboration for the Ding an sich’s role in guaranteeing the unity of phenomena. The necessity of a priori propositions like “water is H₂O” does not derive from the empirical content itself, but from the Ding an sich’s essential, constitutive function as the bearer of universality. Furthermore, this paper addresses philosophical challenges such as multiple realizability from Quinean holism and functionalism, thereby further consolidating the rationality and explanatory power of this revised approach. Ultimately, it seeks to build a philosophical bridge between Kant and Kripke, demonstrating that the foundation of metaphysical necessity is deeply rooted in the functional role of the thing-in-itself and the transcendental structure of human cognition.

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The sorites paradox reveals the tension between the vagueness of natural language and the principles of classical logic. It has sparked significant contemporary debates in logical philosophy. Traditional binary logic struggles to face the challenges posed by ambiguous predicates. Researchers have proposed various solutions, such as degree theory, supervaluationism, and many-valued logic, but all face interpretive limitations. This paper systematically examines the logical structure of the sorites paradox and focuses on Williamson’s epistemicist theory. Epistemicism maintains that ambiguous predicates possess objective and precise boundaries, though these lie beyond human cognitive reach and remain unknowable. By introducing the notion of “unknowability,” this theory preserves the validity of classical logic while offering a unique framework for addressing vagueness. This paper analyzes the mathematical logic foundations of epistemicism and its applied value in natural language analysis, legal reasoning, and ethical judgment, highlighting its advantages in theoretical simplicity, interpretive consistency, and intuitive rationality. Although epistemicism still faces challenges such as boundary arbitrariness and higher-order fuzziness, it has significant importance in resolving the sorites paradox and promoting interdiscipcolinary exchange. Finally, this paper proposes that future studies on epistemicism should focus on these three aspects: formal expansion, comparative studies, and interdisciplinary integration.

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Against the backdrop of accelerated aesthetic consumption in the short-video era, film and television—often regarded as “slow media”—have re-emerged as strategic arenas where luxury brands contest cultural discourse power. This paper takes Dior and the Apple TV+ series The New Look as a case study, drawing on Bourdieu’s theories of cultural and symbolic capital, Edelman’s concept of symbolic politics, and recent scholarship on cultural branding to explore how luxury brands leverage audiovisual narratives to construct identity myths and consolidate cultural authority. Employing qualitative case analysis of series content, character portrayals, and audience reception on both Chinese and international platforms, the study demonstrates that luxury brands are moving beyond surface-level visual exposure toward active participation in narrative production. Specifically, the findings show three key mechanisms: Dior’s construction of a morally charged brand identity; its symbolic positioning in contrast to Chanel; and the overlap between premium streaming audiences and luxury consumers, which reinforces brand identification. These strategies enhance Dior’s cultural legitimacy and symbolic capital, but they also generate debates around historical authenticity and the instrumentalization of culture. The analysis highlights both the potential and the constraints of film and television as cultural battlegrounds for luxury brands seeking symbolic power.

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This study examines how diamonds evolved from 19th-century symbols of power into global icons of love, emphasizing the collaborative roles of De Beers’ monopoly, Hollywood films, and advertising narratives. De Beers controls the diamond output to artificially create scarcity as a foundation, while Hollywood’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes reinterpreted diamonds as metaphors for eternal love. Until 1947, the slogan A Diamond is Forever standardized this emotional association. Upon entering China, this symbolic system interacted dynamically with traditional customs like the Three Golds. Facing rising gold prices, approximately 30% of Chinese couples born after 1995 adopted a mix model of renting gold jewelry while purchasing a diamond ring. Meanwhile, Brands such as Chow Tai Fook promoted narratives like “Diamonds engrave vows, Gold guards life,” facilitating a symbolic coexistence of Chinese and Western wedding customs and notions. Additionally, diamond brands like DR have introduced the concept of 'one for your true love,’ leveraging social media to transform diamonds into a public measure of loyalty. This has completely deconstructed the myth of scarcity concealed by the global diamond reserves exceeding one billion carats, driving the transformation of gold from a financial burden into an emotional carrier. The study concludes that wedding customs derive meaning from participants’ cultural agency rather than material value, highlighting consumers’ ability to adapt and reinterpret global symbols within local frameworks. Future research should explore how lab-grown diamonds disrupt notions of scarcity and how local media reinterpret diamond-free marriages.

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Platform capitalism has become the dominant paradigm of the digital economy, with user data becoming the primary source of value extraction. Within this paradigm, platforms precisely capture fragmented data such as users' browsing history, consumption preferences, and social interactions. With the rise of data-centric digital infrastructure, platforms have not only transformed markets but also labor patterns, social behavior, and identity. At the market level, platforms have broken the temporal and spatial constraints of traditional transactions, building decentralized supply-demand matching networks. However, they have also created new market monopolies by setting rules and extracting commissions. This article draws primarily on Nick Snicek's concepts, supplemented by sociological theories such as Granovetter's embeddedness theory and McLuhan's "electronic age," to explore how platforms operate not only as market participants but also as embedded sociotechnical institutions. Snicek's theory of "platform capitalism" reveals how platforms achieve comprehensive economic penetration through the integration of data, capital, and technology. This article examines how platforms commoditize user behavior, reshape individual identities, and, through algorithmic governance, reinforce new forms of social inequality. Every user's search, share, and stay is transformed by the platform into a data commodity, sold to advertisers or used to optimize algorithms, while users themselves struggle to gain access to the data's benefits. This article argues that platform capitalism has reshaped labor and identity, and future research could focus on worker subjectivity and digital resistance.

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With the rise of online gaming community culture, this paper takes the HELLDIVERS 2 "Heart of Democracy" event as a case study. Employing content analysis, comparative analysis, and survey methods, this paperit explores the formation and impact of group identity among players participating in narrative-driven events. The research finds that the event provided a space for constructing sites of memory, guiding players to spontaneously build cross-cultural sites of memory, thereby forming a cross-cultural collective identity. The event effectively spurred a surge in active Steam players, significantly increased discussion volume of related videos on Bilibili, and enhanced community activity. Core controversies surrounding the event centered on player dissatisfaction with the developer's preset narrative, leading to opposition between the community and the developer. The conclusion indicates that the event achieved promotional success by constructing cross-cultural identity through historical intertextuality. However, it highlighted communication issues between creators and the community, offering insights for related cultural industries.

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Literature has always been a significant form of expression for popular culture. With the rapid development of the internet, Chinese web literature has exhibited a unique aesthetic style, becoming an important component of the contemporary cultural landscape and a crucial carrier of collective emotion and social memory. Anchored in Jan Assmann's Cultural Memory theory, this study employs case studies and textual analysis to delve into its mechanisms for constructing collective emotion. It reveals how web literature elevates individual experiences into group identity through mechanisms of emotional belonging, symbolic participation, and platform orchestration, thereby constructing a decentralized collective memory system. The research finds that web literature not only reshapes the generative methods of traditional cultural memory but also creates new "sites of memory" (lieux de mémoire) within the digital space. Through its reinforcement effect on individual memory and the cohesive function of external guidance on collective emotion, web literature forms a closed loop for collective memory construction.

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