20140520

懷念 Laurence Goldstein 教授


約十天前才得知 Laurence Goldstein 教授身患重病,想不到今天便收到他病逝的噩耗!只七十歲左右吧,不算老,去世前不久仍然在學術上很活躍,2013年就發表了兩篇期刊論文和編了一本書;遽然而去,能不令人惋惜?

對我來說,除了惋惜,還有哀思,因為 Laurence(我們第一次見面時,他便堅持我稱呼他 ‘Laurence’ 而非 ‘Dr. Goldstein’)不只是我的老師,還是一個我十分喜歡的人。他在香港大學哲學系任教多年,我讀 M.Phil 時,就是他指導我寫論文的。我跟他認識不算深,因為我不足兩年便完成了 M.Phil,接著到美國去,此後只跟他見過幾次面;然而,我對他的好印象一直不變,不是因為他已去世我才在這裏替他講好說話,而是他的樸直和善良令我留下深刻的印象。

Laurence 的專長是邏輯、語言哲學、和維根斯坦研究,我的碩士論文寫的是 Donald Davidson 的語言哲學,當時港大哲學系只有他一人能指導這個題目。Davidson 的哲學是超級難懂的,我還記得看完 Davidson 的一些論文,在 Laurence 的辦公室跟他討論時的情況:我的英文說得不好,結結巴巴地努力表達自己的意思;Laurence 平時說話頗流利的,可是,遇到想得不通暢之處時,他會突然停下來,然後半閉著眼,緩慢地、帶幾分吞吞吐吐也是努力表達自己的意思。那個情景,假如有人拍攝下來,會是相當有趣的短片。

我申請讀博士時,Laurence 也幫了我不少忙除了替我寫推薦信及修改申請用的範文,還十分關注申請的進展。我告訴他收到牛津接納的消息時,他那替我高興的神色,令我自然而然地受到感動。柏克萊加大接納我的消息,他知道得比我還早;我記得一天早上八時許,我在睡覺,給 Laurence 打來的電話弄醒,原來他得到消息,便急不及待通知我,好像比我還高興。當時港大哲學系是「英國幫」,我決定去柏克萊而放棄牛津,全系明顯支持我決定的,就是 Laurence

最後一次跟 Laurence 見面,是 2001年。那時我已完成了博士論文,在找教席,卻不甚順利。我的其中一個面試是在三藩市,那時 Laurence 剛巧在那裏,我們便約見。先到酒吧喝了三四杯啤酒,然後到餐廳吃晚飯,喝了一支紅酒;邊喝邊談,Laurence 竟然有點盡訴心中情,令我不知所措(內容當然不便公開)。就是這種率直,令我特別喜歡他。

我相信喜歡 Laurence 的不只我一人,對於我們這些喜歡他的人,Laurence 的離去,令這世界失色了不少。

9 則留言:

  1. Hi Wong Sir,

    Would you mind give me the link of one of your articles about vaccine? I tried to look for it in your older article without luck. The content was about some people avoiding vaccine without the complete knowledge of it. I would like to forward to one of my Chinese friends. Thanks in advance.

    Rosemary

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  2. 這麼好的老師又這樣早離世悼念之餘也確係令人惋惜。

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  3. 我1976年畢業後,Dr Goldstein才進港大,當時系主任是C.G. New,但因他沒博士學位,書教得好但顧住寫小說,懶出研究論文,港大不給他「教授」名份。
    那時行舊制,一個系只有一個教授。
    後來,Dr Goldstein成為哲學系教授了。

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  4. 讀《長夜抒懷》 有感.
    真的觉得自己似盲蠅? 這是你的概歎? 抑或感觉良好? 那就給你一个讚.

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    1. 「唯恐」,即有點擔心自己是,但又不肯定是。

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    2. Well, I've been a 盲蠅 for many years and I'm very partial to 盲蠅. Haha.

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  5. HKU 今日發的訃文
    Message from Faculty of Arts

    It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Laurence Goldstein, Professor Emeritus of HKU, passed away peacefully on the 19th May, 2014, aged 67. Laurence was an excellent friend and colleague to many in HKU, having first arrived here in 1976 as a young Lecturer in Philosophy. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1983, to Reader four years later, and to Professor in 1991. He held positions as Head of the Department of Philosophy and Master of Graduate House, as well as a number of shorter-term appointments in Comparative Literature, History, and the Institute of Human Performance. He retired from the University in 2004, but continued his close commitment to HKU through a series of Honorary Professor appointments.

    He was most recently at the University of Kent, where he held the positions of Professor of Philosophy and Head of the School of European Culture and Languages.

    He was noted for his work on logico-semantical paradoxes, on Wittgenstein, and, in HKU, for helping to set up the multidisciplinary Cognitive Science programme. His wit and humour will be the subject of many reminiscences, but he will perhaps be best remembered for his acute interest in a broad spectrum of academic enquiry and endeavour at HKU. He always seemed to his colleagues to be an irrepressible spirit, but at the end he quickly and sadly succumbed to one of the more virulent forms of brain tumour, first diagnosed at the end of 2013. In what was surely not intended as a premonition, he wrote in 1995, in an article on dying in the journal Analysis, that "Many people appear to slip away...while sleeping peacefully and painlessly". His wife, Carol, and family were with him throughout his last days.

    His friends and colleagues,
    including
    Douglas Kerr,
    John Spinks,
    Vivian Chu,
    Christopher New.

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