摘要
My purpose here is to offer a critical self-reflection and meditation on Deng Zhenglai＇s unexpected and tragic passing. Drawing from the classical and critical Western traditions, with intermingled references to the Heraclitus, Plato, Aristotle, Hegel, Marx, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, and Foucault, among others,I consider Deng＇s death as a personal death and as well as the death of everyman, while also humbling myself in consideration of his many achievements and sacrifices. The passing of a person like Deng offers a moment of sobriety and pause, when the best among us lays face up under a thin white sheet. Such people attract both supporters and critics and the only certainty between them is that death is that final, terrible cure, the one that settles all scores. Sometimes, such moments of sobriety produce their opposite, whether a modicum of panic or outright hysteria, when emotional responses overwhelm rational ones. When that happens it is helpful for the secular mind to return to philosophy, albeit like a penitent seeking both mercy and a few moments more within and without the Mystery and eternal pity.
