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15 July 2026, Volume 58 Issue 4 Previous Issue   

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Why Artificial Intelligence Lacks Consciousness Zhenming Zhai 2026, 58 (4):  1-6.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.001 Abstract ( 94 )   HTML ( 2 )   PDF (575KB) ( 22 )   Save The question of whether artificial intelligence (AI) possesses consciousness can be examined through four progressively unfolding dimensions: the nature of consciousness, the operational mechanisms of AI, the basis for the non-replicability of consciousness, and the positioning of AI. First, consciousness has the dual cores of subjective experience and biological foundation: At the level of subjective experience, “qualia” and the “Mary’s Room” experiment explain the privacy and non-transmissibility of consciousness; while at the level of biological foundation, the correspondence between brain regions and functions, as well as clinical cases, demonstrates that consciousness is an emergent product of the biological processes of brain neurons, and it can be distinguished into “phenomenal consciousness” and “access consciousness” to reveal its qualitative and functional attributes. Second, the operational essence of AI is symbol manipulation and functional simulation under the “large-scale data training + algorithm optimization” model, which has three major limitations, that is, the absence of subjective experience, the absence of self-awareness, and the absence of genuine creative breakthroughs. The experiment of “Chinese Room” and the concept of “philosophical zombie” also corroborate the essential difference between AI and human consciousness. Furthermore, through the dual perspectives of philosophical thought experiments, including “Chinese Room”, “philosophical zombie”, and “consciousness replacement”, and neuroscientific mechanisms, including the functional specificity of brain regions, the potential role of quantum processes, and neuroplasticity, it can be proved that consciousness is non-replicable for it depends on subjective experience and a biological basis. On these grounds, AI should be positioned as a “tool extension” of human capabilities, with its value lying in enhancing human abilities in data processing and mechanical labor, while the subjective experience, meaning-making, and moral responsibility of human consciousness remain irreplaceable. In the future, a “human-machine collaboration” model should be upheld to achieve harmonious coexistence between humans and technology. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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On Neurorights as an Emerging Category of Rights Hao Yu 2026, 58 (4):  7-19.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.002 Abstract ( 78 )   HTML ( 6 )   PDF (664KB) ( 33 )   Save Neurotechnologies represented by brain-computer interfaces are challenging the traditional assumption that the interior of the human skull is an untouchable domain. The existing system of fundamental rights reveals an institutional vacuum in areas such as thought-reading and mental manipulation. Neurorights, centered on protecting human cerebral dignity and mental autonomy, form an emerging composite category of fundamental rights encompassing the right to personal identity, the right to mental integrity, cognitive liberty, and mental privacy. In China, a multilayered and localized normative framework for the protection of citizens’ neurorights can be gradually developed by recognizing the constitutional value of mental integrity and mental privacy, incorporating neural data into the category of sensitive personal information, strictly prohibiting the implementation of mandatory neural interventions, and supplementing these measures with ethics review mechanisms for neurotechnologies and product market-access systems. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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From Autonomy to Solidarity：The Expansion of Principles and Paradigm Shift in Medical Research Ethics Yijie Wang, Guoyu Wang 2026, 58 (4):  20-28.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.003 Abstract ( 51 )   HTML ( 0 )   PDF (633KB) ( 6 )   Save With the rapid development of digital and intelligent technologies such as genomics, precision medicine, and medical artificial intelligence, medical research increasingly exhibits new features: the other-regarding nature of individual data, the indeterminacy of research purposes, the proactive character of research participation, and etc. They pose a profound challenge to the traditional paradigm of subject protection, which is grounded in the principle of respect for autonomy and centered on the institution of informed consent. Introducing the principle of solidarity offers a fresh perspective for resolving this predicament. This principle emphasizes the interdependence of human health, the foundational role of social responsibility, and the relational nature of autonomy, thereby expanding the ethical considerations of medical research in the dimension of public health. Driven by the principle of solidarity, the subject of medical research shifts from subject to participant, the relationships in medical research expand from a dyadic structure to a multi-stakeholder network, and the focus of informed consent moves from fully informed disclosure to shared responsibility. These three transformations together propel a paradigm shift in medical research ethics from subject protection to participant solidarity. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Ethical Dilemma in the Mechanism of the Formation of Modern European Nation-States and International System Fenglin Jin 2026, 58 (4):  29-40.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.004 Abstract ( 46 )   HTML ( 0 )   PDF (684KB) ( 5 )   Save In the formation of European nation-states, the ethical malady of the convergence of populism, nationalism and totalitarianism in European states was driven by three interlocking forces: the concentration and expansion of urban capital, persistent inter-state warfare, and the widespread dissemination of Christian culture. The international system of European nation-states shaped on this basis is uniquely characterized by the in-depth linkage between the internal treaty system and the external colonial system. It serves as the historical root of contemporary North-South inequality across the globe. Furthermore, the deep entanglement of the internal treaty system and the external colonial system reveals a strong civilizational hierarchy and anti-humanistic ethical attributes, ultimately leading to the profound ethical paradox of the binary opposition between internationalism and nationalism in the contemporary world. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Will Ownership Come to an End?：The Transformation and Sublation of Ownership in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Weibing Liu 2026, 58 (4):  41-51.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.005 Abstract ( 71 )   HTML ( 0 )   PDF (597KB) ( 13 )   Save In the age of artificial intelligence, as long as private ownership of the means of production persists, ownership will not come to an end; however, based on the separation of labor from ownership, the laws of capital accumulation, and the contradiction between the socialization of production and the private ownership of the means of production, a trend toward the end of ownership will emerge. The trend toward the end of ownership manifests in people obtaining only rights of use, the inability of ownership to achieve exclusive possession of the technical content of artificial intelligence, and the emergence of ambiguity regarding the subjects of ownership. This trend will give rise to exchange dilemmas and the influence of “AI totalitarianism.” Only by transcending private ownership can we fundamentally transcend the trend toward the end of ownership. The developmental logic of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the demands of the times, when combined with new institutional designs such as data trusts and public governance of algorithms, can collectively enable the mastery of the logic of capital, thereby achieving a limited overcoming of the trend toward the end of ownership. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Event ≠ Being Present：A Thick Description of the Ethical Turn in Literary Studies Yang Liu 2026, 58 (4):  52-62.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.006 Abstract ( 53 )   HTML ( 1 )   PDF (706KB) ( 6 )   Save In spite of their similarities in the first glance, the event is essentially different from being present. The fundamental difference lies in that being present, through the truth illusion caused by sounds, as well as its metaphysical narcissistic structure, replaces the event’s originality, contingency, singularity and voidness formed in the repetitive and differential senses, with the dissolution of the event in an individual sense. Thus, the event transforms the temporal nature of being present into an empty temporal nature, without falling into metaphysics any more. According to this distinction, literature, despite of its appearance of being present, is essentially not present in the ordinary sense, as revealed by deconstruction theory, that the meaning as the signified rapidly slips into the scene as the signifier. Instead, literature is the event blocking the directness and transparency of being present. It is not being present but the event that is the correct coordinate for discussing literature. With its thick description of the ethical turn in literary studies, this distinction provides a new perspective for understanding literary actions. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Urban Yanhuo Qi：A Philosophical Anthropological Reflection Zhejun Yu 2026, 58 (4):  63-72.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.007 Abstract ( 60 )   HTML ( 0 )   PDF (701KB) ( 7 )   Save Yanhuo qi, which literally means a lively atmosphere, is untranslatable and undefinable. Previous studies on yanhuo qi have largely relied on three main approaches: urban consumption and dining culture, literature and urban memory, and urban planning and regeneration. Broken down and inserted into the urban fabric as mere “materials”—as consumers or producers, and so on, people lose their integrity, and in this context, yanhuo qi is understood in a narrow and banal sense. Tracing back to the authenticity of human beings from the perspective of philosophical anthropology, we can address the questions of what kind of city and what kind of yanhuo qi we need. Drawing on theoretical resources from thinkers such as Georg Simmel, Henri Lefebvre, Gernot Bhme, and Helmuth Plessner, we can attend to dimensions such as human autonomy and non-self-sufficiency, human integrity, human sensibility and “atmosphere”, and human eccentricity, thereby offering a diagnosis of yanhuo qi. Based on China’s indigenous experience, it is also possible to construct an ideal-type classification of urban yanhuo qi, tracing its manifestations through several historical stages: ancient bonfires and sacrificial rituals, medieval town commerce and festival celebrations, early modern urban yanhuo qi, and the recent impact of urban regeneration and new technologies. Finally, we can envision a new form of yanhuo qi for the future. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Revisiting Everyday Life：A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Urban Life Siyi Huang, Fei Yan 2026, 58 (4):  73-84.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.008 Abstract ( 52 )   HTML ( 0 )   PDF (674KB) ( 6 )   Save Everyday life is not mere the leftover space for urban development, but rather a crucial site that connects cultural meaning, the experience of modernity, and urban social structure. The cultural turn in urban studies since the 20th century brought everyday life to the center of sociological analysis of the city, and critical theories of everyday life grounded in spatiotemporal frameworks have since become a key theoretical resource. Yet existing research on urban everyday life in China has tended to privilege spatial practice, while engagement with the temporal dimension has remained largely confined to the more expansive registers of teleological time and eventful temporality organized by major events. The sociological imagination grounded in “everyday time” remains considerably underdeveloped. This paper thus proposes the analytical perspective of “daily temporality”, emphasizing that the temporal rhythms, routine repetitions, physical arrangements and micro-ordering in daily life are not merely passive recipients of structural changes, but rather an important foundation for the generation, accumulation and development of historical logic. Revisiting the taken-for-granted time arrangements of urban life, and attending to the structures of meaning, affective experience and reservoirs of practical capacity that are embedded in them, as well as to the continuity, discontinuity and reorganization of these daily arrangements in the temporal dimension, holds distinctive sociological value for understanding the experience of modernity, the transformation of urban culture and the micro-generation mechanism of social structure in contemporary China. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Theoretical Connotation and Mechanism Optimization of Prosecution Approval Provisions for Young Juvenile Offenders Wenjun Du, Tao Zhang 2026, 58 (4):  85-95.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.009 Abstract ( 89 )   HTML ( 1 )   PDF (639KB) ( 19 )   Save Although lowering the statutory age of criminal responsibility reflects criminal law’s responsiveness to societal transformations, the supplementary newly-established prosecution approval procedures for young juvenile offenders may also risk violating the legitimate rights and interests of involved minors. It is imperative to rationally define the theoretical positioning of prosecution approval provisions and refine their operational mechanisms to minimize the risks of this legislative adjustment. The substantive criterion underpinning these provisions is criminal responsibility. Within this framework, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate’s prosecution approval authority should be confined to reviewing the criminal responsibility of young juvenile offenders, while the examination of other legal elements remains the responsibility of the handling judicial organs. Under the principle of human rights protection, the operational mechanism for the approval procedure must adhere to the following baselines: (1) Establishing novel supervision measures before approval decisions to safeguard the relative autonomy and freedom of young juvenile offenders’ lives during the review period; (2) ensuring that prosecution approval decisions are independently exercised by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, which should adopt a neutral stance and employ a combined approach of interrogation, hearing and expert evaluation for review, while actively soliciting opinions from defense counsel; and (3) establishing the fundamental principle that prosecution approval does not interfere with trial proceedings, clarifying that granting prosecution approval does not preclude the trial court from rendering an acquittal verdict for young juvenile offenders due to erroneous factual determinations, insufficient evidence, or other statutory grounds. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Common Prosperity and the Transformation of Corporate Governance：Towards a Collaborative Employee-shareholder Governance Model Donghui Liu 2026, 58 (4):  96-109.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.010 Abstract ( 54 )   HTML ( 0 )   PDF (667KB) ( 4 )   Save Reasonable corporate governance can provide a micro material and organizational basis for our country to improve primary distribution and promote common prosperity. Extreme shareholder centralism is not conducive to the maximization of the company’s long-term interests, but also causes an imbalance in the distribution of labor and capital; and generalized stakeholder protection is not feasible. For appropriate employee-shareholder cooperative corporate governance is in line with the goals of sustainable development and common prosperity, it can promote corporate efficiency and fair distribution, improve the implementation efficiency of labor laws, and achieve win-win cooperation between shareholders and employees. Although China has the appearance of employee-shareholder collaboration, it faces challenges such as vague positioning of employee supervisors, lack of independence, lack of employee profit sharing mechanism, and employee-related information disclosure as a mere formality, making it impossible to balance efficiency and fairness. Under the prospect of common prosperity, China should moderately correct short-sighted shareholder centralism, take the opportunity of state-owned companies and listed companies to improve ESG performance, and steadily optimize employee-shareholder cooperative corporate governance from the following three aspects on the basis of corporate autonomy: Firstly, building an employee director system with employee protection as the core, and ensuring their independent performance of duties by allocating special powers, requiring them to participate in remuneration committees, and selecting representatives from local trade unions; secondly, encouraging certain types of companies to embed employee benefit sharing clauses in their articles of association, and building a fairer employee stock ownership system for listed companies; thirdly, building a mandatory employee-related information disclosure system, and setting specific disclosure indicators based on the materiality of investors and employees. These optimization measures require the coordination of labor laws, securities laws, and fiscal and taxation laws. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Rights Orientation of “Common Prosperity”：Jurisprudential Basis and Institutional Framework Xiahao Wang, Daohang Yang 2026, 58 (4):  110-122.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.011 Abstract ( 55 )   HTML ( 0 )   PDF (672KB) ( 4 )   Save The realization of common prosperity cannot be achieved without the protection of the rule of law, and the core of the rule of law construction lies in constructing a good rights system. The realization of common prosperity should focus on its rights orientation, and common prosperity is embedded with three elements, that is, the right to liberty, the right to society, and the right to solidarity. Guaranteeing the right to liberty helps to consolidate the economic foundation of common prosperity, strengthening the right to society helps to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, and developing the right to solidarity contributes to the common prosperity of all human beings. These three rights elements coexist in the concept of common prosperity and guide the construction of the rights system. In the new era, the three elements of rights extract the people’s right to a happy life as the greatest common ground. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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How can Trade Agreements Empower Chinese Firms to Enhance Industrial and Supply Chain Resilience? Guobing Shen, Zijian Liu, Binchao Shen 2026, 58 (4):  123-145.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.012 Abstract ( 76 )   HTML ( 3 )   PDF (1099KB) ( 7 )   Save Rising global economic uncertainties make the improvement of industrial and supply chain resilience ever more imperative. This paper studies how trade agreements can empower Chinese firms to enhance industrial and supply chain resilience. The research results show that: (1) The expansion and quality upgrading and efficiency enhancement of trade agreements can improve firms’ upstream and downstream resilience. (2) Trade agreement expansion with OECD economies yields larger resilience gains, and quality upgrading and efficiency enhancement of trade agreements with Belt and Road partner economies delivers larger resilience gains. (3) Trade agreement expansion and quality upgrading and efficiency enhancement of trade agreements strengthen supply chain resilience through two mechanisms, i.e., stimulating firm innovation and amplifying upstream – downstream spillovers. (4) A stronger business environment reinforces the impact of quality upgrading and efficiency enhancement of trade agreements on both upstream and downstream resilience, while pilot free trade zones provide additional reinforcement for the impact of quality upgrading and efficiency enhancement of trade agreements on upstream resilience. Accordingly, relevant parties need to accelerate the upgrading of foreign trade agreements to better enhance the resilience of Chinese enterprises’ production and supply chains. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Impact of Institutional Innovation in Cross-Border E-Commerce on Enterprise Supply Chain Resilience：From the Perspective of Institutional Opening-up Jian Han, Linfeng Zhou, Hang Zheng 2026, 58 (4):  146-162.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.013 Abstract ( 103 )   HTML ( 5 )   PDF (1257KB) ( 7 )   Save Against the backdrop of rising uncertainties in global supply chains, enhancing supply chain resilience with the advancement of institutional opening-up has become a key strategic path for the high-quality development of China’s economy. Based on the sample data of A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2024, this paper constructs a comprehensive index system for supply chain resilience. Taking the implementation of the cross-border e-commerce pilot zone policies as an example and using the quasi-natural experiment method, it empirically examines the impact of cross-border e-commerce institutional innovation on enterprise supply chain resilience and its mechanism. The research results show that the cross-border e-commerce policy significantly enhances enterprise supply chain resilience, and their policy effects are mainly achieved through three paths: promoting trade facilitation, advancing digital transformation, and alleviating financing constraints. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promotion effect of the cross-border e-commerce policy on supply chain resilience is more prominent in coastal areas, non-national digital service export bases, the secondary industry, and non-state-owned enterprises. Further research finds that this policy mainly functions by enhancing the recovery ability, resistance ability, and collaboration ability of enterprises. The conclusions of this paper provide important policy implications for deepening the reform of cross-border e-commerce and enhancing the international competitiveness of enterprises. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Development of Digital Economy，Division of Occupational Skills and Wage Growth：Based on A “Task Transaction” Team Production Model Shuijun Peng, Peng An, Ying Fang 2026, 58 (4):  163-181.  doi: 10.16382/j.cnki.1000-5579.2026.04.014 Abstract ( 49 )   HTML ( 4 )   PDF (1222KB) ( 7 )   Save Against the backdrop of the digital economy profoundly reshaping labor market landscapes and the increasingly salient problem of human resource misallocation, uncovering the intrinsic mechanism through which the digital economy drives an effective division of labor by skills is pivotal to achieving high-quality full employment. By constructing a “task transaction” team production model that incorporates the digital economy, this paper reveals a pathway in which the development of the digital economy reduces intra-team “task transaction” costs, thereby enabling an effective skill-based division of labor, leveraging workers’ comparative advantages, enhancing overall team productivity, and ultimately promoting wage growth. Taking the “Broadband China” policy as a quasi-natural experiment and using individual-level data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), the empirical tests find that the digital economy significantly promotes a widespread increase in workers’ wages, and this effect is more pronounced for workers in non-routine occupations and those with higher cognitive skills. Further mechanism analysis employing data from listed companies demonstrates that the digital economy boosts team productivity by cutting task transaction costs, thereby driving wage growth. Extended analyses reveal that the digital economy also promotes firms’ demand for different types of occupations, especially non-routine skill-intensive occupations, representing another important pathway through which the digital economy increases wages. Figures and Tables | References | Related Articles | Metrics