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1、The History of Western Thought: An IntroductionWeek 1Objectives: (1) an overall introduction to this course: references, the definition of philosophy, the relation of philosophy to the history of philosophy, (2) the division of the history of Western philosophy; (3) The origin of Greek civilization:
2、 Part One.Part One: Introduction1. Some readings in Western philosophyRussell, Bertrand. A History of Western Philosophy, and its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1945.Thilly, Frank. A History of Philosophy.
3、3rd ed. Revised by Ledger Wood. New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1957.Samuel Enoch Stumpf & James Fierer. A History of Philosophy-Socrates to Sartre and Beyond.McGraw-Hill, 2003.2. What is “Philosophy”? What is the relation between philosophy and the history of philosophy?Philosophy, eastern o
4、r western, means a general understanding of the universe around us and of the place we have in it. In China, philosophy is usually classified into three main areas: Marxist philosophy, Chinese philosophy and western philosophy. As students of English, an elementary knowledge of western philosophy is
5、 indispensable if one intends to go further in his or her study and research. I indorse Russells definition of philosophy: Philosophy is something intermediate between theology and science. Like theology, it consists of speculations on matters as to which definite knowledge has, so far, been unascer
6、tainable; but like science, it appeals to human reason rather than to authority, whether that of tradition or that of revelation. All definite knowledge belongs to science; all dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology. But between theology and science there is a No Mans Land
7、（无人区）, exposed to attack from both sides; this No Mans Land is philosophy. As to the relation between philosophy and social life, we maintain that the former is subject to the latter. In other words, philosophy is an integral part of social and political life. This viewpoint is in conformity with hi
8、storical materialism of Marxism. For example, the great age of the scholastic philosophy was an outcome of the reforms of the 11th century, and these, in turn, were a reaction against previous corruption. Some figures in history are not philosophers in the academic sense of the word, but they produc
9、ed so great influences that it is impossible for us to ignore them if we are to study the past of philosophy. Rousseau and Byron are two cases in point. We cannot understand the development of philosophy after them if we know little or nothing about their thoughts. The relation of philosophy to its
10、history is not only interesting but also illuminating. Why the history of philosophy? Hegel says that philosophy is nothing but its history. That is to say, history shows how philosophy came to be what it is. The same is true to any person. To know someone is to know his past. But history has differ
11、ences in time. We have ancient history, modern history and contemporary history. One may ask: What is the use of learning ancient Greek philosophy? Well, the answer lies in the fact that the problems ancient Greeks once faced face us now. For example, they were perplexed for quite a long time with t
12、he issues of individual freedom and social cohesion, and the same is true to us. Another example, they could not ease the tension between passion and intellect, and the same is true to us. History is not something that has passed for ever. We are humans in history. Therefore learning history is lear
13、ning the present situation of the universe and of our life.3. Division of the history of Western philosophyWestern philosophy is broadly divided into four periods:Ancient Greek philosophy (5th B.C-3rd A.D.).Socrates, Plato,AristotleMedieval philosophy (4th-13th). Augustine, Aquinas.Modern philosophy
14、 (14th-18th). Francis Bacon, John Locke, Rene Descartes, Leibnitz, Kant, Hegel.Contemporary philosophy (the philosophy after Hegel, 18th-now). Marx, Sartre, Husserl, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Russell, PopperDifferent periods had different questions to answer and had contributed different answers. Let
15、s see a few examples. In the time of Plato, the question of truth is closely concerned with democracy. In the time of Augustine, philosophers were no longer interested in the life of this world, because it was too bleak a picture to look at. Mans eye turned to the kingdom of heaven for hope and cons
16、olation. But in modern times, his attention was directed from heaven back to earth, and secularization took the place of heaven. As a development of modern thought, contemporary philosophy turned back to examine itself, hoping to found philosophy on a basis as firm as that of science.We shall pay more attention to modern philosophy than to ancient philosophy, and shall stop with Hegel. Contemporary philosophy is somethin
