chapter-1-Philosophy-of-Western-Civilization

Chapter1PhilosophyofWesternCivilizationLecturer:ShiBoMarch.1,2011Learningobjectives:Tounderstandthedefinitionofphilosophy;ToknowthedifferencesbetweenChineseandWesternphilosophies;Togetthedevelopmentalprocessofwesternphilosophy;Tograspthemainideasofthekeyphilosophers.TheTeachingStagesI.Warming-upActivitiesII.thedifferencesbetweenChineseandWesternphilosophiesIII.thedevelopmentalprocessIV.HomeworkI.Warm-upquestions:Warm-upQuestions:whatisphilosophy?Whatisyourimpressionofphilosophyandphilosophers?WhatisthebiggestdifferencebetweenWesternandChinesephilosophyinyouropinion?AnswerstoWarm-upQuestions1.Philisthesystematicreflectivethinkingonlife.Philisloveofwisdomwithitsholymissionofenlighteningpeopleandelevatingpeople’sintelligence.Itstudiestheeternalquestionsofhumanlifeandlearningitcanbenefitusalotmentally.ThenatureofPhilcanbesummarizedas“acriticaltheoreticalthinkingandanultimateconcernabouttheworld”,sothefundamentalgoalistograspakindofcriticaltheoreticalmodeofthinkingandestablishanoblesentimentaboutultimateentity.哲学哲学的定义：哲学即智慧之学。哲学的特征在于追问本质，不断反思。哲学的基本问题──人与世界的关系。从理论上对人生意义的追问，对人类命运的关怀，对现实世界的批判和反思以及对理想世界的构建。构成了对人与世界关系的根本看法、根本态度和根本主张，它是人类理论化和系统化的世界观。Whatisyourimpressiononphilosophy?ImpracticalObscureInterestingBoringStrangeMysteriousSophisticatedBeneficialuselessIIDifferencebetweenWesternandChinesephilosophy1)philosophicalmindandreligioussentiment–thedifferenceoftranscendentalspirit.W:stressestheepistemologyofobjectiveexplanationoftheuniverseandreligiousviewsabouthumanlifewithsubjectivity;C:lackinginthiskindofepistemologicalinterestandreligiousbelief,putsemphasisontheintuitivewisdomintheunderstandingoftheuniverseandhumannature.IIDifferencebetweenWesternandChinesephilosophy2)viewpointstowardstheuniverseW:oppositesbetween:binaryoppositionC:harmonybetweenheavenandmanW:Theemphasisofputtingmanagainstnatureratherthanwithinnature,theconceptionofthelawofoppositesratherthantheunityofopposites,becamedistinctivefeaturesoftheWesterntraditionofthoughtandscholarship.Thisstereotypedfeaturecangoontoinclude“loveofformallogic”,“tendencytoquestionauthority”,“inclinationtoexploretheunknown”,“fondnessfordetailedquantitativeanalysis”,“interestinabstractthinking,inpostulationalreasoningandintheoreticalhypotheses”,etc.IIDifferencebetweenWesternandChinesephilosophy3)differentmethodsofphilosophicalspeculation–postulation假设vsintuition直觉中西哲学之差别因生存环境、社会状况、历史背景和文化传统的差异而不同。中国传统哲学以天人合一为主导,西方哲学以天人相分为前提。中国哲学以人生哲学为核心,以道德和艺术为精神,以直觉和领悟为方法,充满诗意境界,突出致善致美的价值功能。西方哲学以本体论和认识论为基本内容,以逻辑分析为主要方法,带有科学精神和宗教幻想,充满理性色彩,以求真求知为主旨。SimilaritiesbetweenWesternandChinesephilosophyThewesterntraditionofphilosophicalthinkingisasoldasitsChinesecounterpart.Infact,Plato(472-374B.C.)wasalmostacontemporaryofConfucius(551-479B.C.),andAristotle(384-322BC)livedinthesameeraasMencius(372-289BC).However,whileConfuciusteachingswereheavilytintedwithsocialethics,PlatoandAristotleweremoreconcernedwithlogicandaninquisitive好奇的interestinuniversalsintheobjectiveworld.III.TheDevelopmentalprocessⅠ(Briefintroduction)Itisgenerallyacceptedthatfromitsbirth,Westernphilosophyhasundergonetwo“turns”.ThefirstoneistheEpistemologicalturnfromtheontology;thesecondisLinguisticturn.Ontology:本体论Epistemology:认识论Theturnsbroadenpeople’shorizonofdealingwiththeworld,andthechangeinphilosophyaltersthemodeofunderstandingtheworld.Turnsenabledevelopment,changes,innovation.Philosophyshowsustheroadtothefuture.III.TheDevelopmentalprocessⅡStages1.GreekPhilosophy—Rationalism唯理论(fromThalestoAD529)2.theMiddleAges–scholasticism经院哲学3.theRenaissance文艺复兴4.ModernPhilosophy5.ModernPhilosophicalTrendsStudyQuestionsCharacterizethethreeagesofwesternphilosophy:theAgeofAntiquity,theMiddleAges,andtheModernAge.CompareandcontrastRationalismandEmpiricism.Whydowestudyphilosophy?HomeworkDefinitiondifferencesProcessGreekRationalismPreviousphilosophicalapproachesbeforetheGreeksreliedonmythologyanddivinebeingstodescribetheworld.AmajorGreekassumptionwasthatsomethinghasalwaysexisted.Aunityunderliesthediversityofpeople,animals,plantsandinanimate.TheGreekstheorizedabouttheunity.TheearlyGreeksdefinedthetruetaskofphilosophyassystembuilding.ThethreeperiodsofGreekphilosophy1.schoolbeforeSocrates2.Socrates,PlatoandAristotle3.philosophyafterAristotleGreekreligionisthematrix发源地ofitsphilosophy,andtheforerunnersarethepoetstermedbyAristotleas“mythologist”.神话学者1.schoolbeforeSocrates1)MelisianschoolRepresentatives:Thales,Anaximander2)HeraclitusandPythagoras3)Democritus4)SophistsMelisianschoolⅠ希腊城市米利都（Miletus）是一座富饶的港口和商业中心，产生了三位重要的思想家：泰勒斯、阿纳克西曼德和阿纳克西美尼，创立了米利都学派，时间大约在公元前6世纪。它是前苏格拉底哲学的一个学派，被誉为是西方哲学的开创者。米利都学派的观点是朴素的唯物主义，米利都学派开创了理性思维，试图用观测到的事实而不是用古代的希腊神话来解释世界。这或许与米利都是一个工商业发达的城邦、人们都比较务实有关。他们的思想观点排除了当时神造世界万物的迷信，激起了人们探索世界本源的强烈兴趣。MelisianschoolⅡ米利都学派的创始人是泰勒斯（Thales，约公元前624~公元前547年），希腊七贤中的名人，他认为万物之源为水，水生万物，万物又复归于水。这个观点看似简单却涵盖了万物最初皆诞生于水中这一真理。排除了当时流行的神造世界的臆想断说。另一代表人物阿那克西曼德（Anaximander，约公元前610~公元前546年）主张万物本源是“无限”，一切生于无限复归于无限，而无限本身既不能创造又不能消灭。ThalesⅠIneveryhistoryofphilosophy,thefirstthingmentionedisthatphilosophybeganwithTha