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History Of Western Philosophy was published in 1946. A dazzlingly ambitious project, it remains unchallenged to this day as the ultimate introduction to Western philosophy. 作者簡介
Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, Viscount Amberley, born in Wales, May 18, 1872. Educated at home and at Trinity College, Cambridge. During World War I, served four months in prison as a pacifist, where he wrote Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy. In 1910, published first volume of Principia Mathematica with Alfred Whitehead. Visited Russia and lectured on philosophy at the University of Peking in 1920. Returned to England and, with his wife, ran a progressive school for young children in Sussex from 1927-1932. Came to the United States, where he taught philosophy successively at the University of Chicago, University of California at Los Angeles, Harvard, and City College of New York. Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. Has been active in disarmament and anti-nuclear-testing movements while continuing to add to his large number of published books which include Philosophical Essays (1910); The ABC of Relativity (1925) Human Knowledge: Its Scope and Limits (1948); Why I Am Not a Christian (1957); and The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell (1967). For a chronological list of Russell's principal works see The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell (Simon and Schuster). --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. 精彩書評
'Remains unchallenged as the perfect introduction to its subject ... exactly the kind of philosophy that most people would like to read, but which only Russell could possibly have written.' - Ray Monk, University of Southampton, UK'Beautiful and luminous prose, not merely classically clear but scrupulously honest.' - Isaiah Berlin 'It is a witty bird's-eye view of the main figures in Western thought enlivened by references to the personalities and quirks of the thinkers themselves.' - The Week 'A great philosopher's lucid and magisterial look at the history of his own subject, wonderfully readable and enlightening.' - The Observer 精彩書摘
CHAPTER I The Rise of Greek Civilization In all history, nothing is so surprising or so difficult to account for as the sudden rise of civilization in Greece. Much of what makes civilization had already existed for thousands of years in Egypt and in Mesopotamia, and had spread thence to neighbouring countries. But certain elements had been lacking until the Greeks supplied them. What they achieved in art and literature is familiar to everybody, but what they did in the purely intellectual realm is even more exceptional. They invented mathematics and science and philosophy; they first wrote history as opposed to mere annals; they speculated freely about the nature of the world and the ends of life, without being bound in the fetters of any inherited orthodoxy. What occurred was so astonishing that, until very recent times, men were content to gape and talk mystically about the Greek genius. It is possible, however, to understand the development of Greece in scientific terms, and it is well worth while to do so. Philosophy begins with Thales, who, fortunately, can be dated by the fact that he predicted an eclipse which, according to the astronomers, occurred in the year 585 B.C. Philosophy and science -- which were not originally separate -- were therefore born together at the beginning of the sixth century. What had been happening in Greece and neighbouring countries before this time? Any answer must be in part conjectural, but archeology, during the present century, has given us much more knowledge than was possessed by our grandfathers. The art of writing was invented in Egypt about the year 4000 B.C., and in Babylonia not much later. In each country writing began with pictures of the objects intended. These pictures quickly became conventionalized, so that words were represented by ideograms, as they still are in China. In the course of thousands of years, this cumbrous system developed into alphabetic writing. The early development of civilization in Egypt and Mesopotamia was due to the Nile, the Tigris, and the Euphrates, which made agriculture very easy and very productive. The civilization was in many ways similar to that which the Spaniards found in Mexico and Peru. There was a divine king, with despotic powers; in Egypt, he owned all the land. There was a polytheistic religion, with a supreme god to whom the king had a specially intimate relation. There was a military aristocracy, and also a priestly aristocracy. The latter was often able to encroach on the royal power, if the king was weak or if he was engaged in a difficult war. The cultivators of the soil were serfs, belonging to the king, the aristocracy, or the priesthood. There was a considerable difference between Egyptian and Babylonian theology. The Egyptians were preoccupied with death, and believed that the souls of the dead descend into the underworld, where they are judged by Osiris according to the manner of their life on earth. They thought that the soul would ultimately return to the body; this led to mummification and to the construction of splendid tombs. The pyramids were built by various kings at the end of the fourth millennium B.C. and the beginning of the third. After this time, Egyptian civilization became more and more stereotyped, and religious conservatism made progress impossible. About 1800 B.C. Egypt was conquered by Semites named Hyksos, who ruled the country for about two centuries. They left no permanent mark on Egypt, but their presence there must have helped to spread Egyptian civilization in Syria and Palestine. Babylonia had a more warlike development than Egypt. At first, the ruling race were not Semites, but "Sumerians," whose origin is unknown. They invented cuneiform writing, which the conquering Semites took over from them. There was a period when there were various independent cities which fought with each other, but in the end Babylon became supreme and established an empire. The gods of other cities became subordinate, and Marduk, the god of Babylon, acquired a position like that later held by Zeus in the Greek pantheon. The same sort of thing had happened in Egypt, but at a much earlier time. The religions of Egypt and Babylonia, like other ancient religions, were originally fertility cults. The earth was female, the sun male. The bull was usually regarded as an embodiment of male fertility, and bull-gods were common. In Babylon, Ishtar, the earth-goddess, was supreme among female divinities. Throughout western Asia, the Great Mother was worshipped under various names. When Greek colonists in Asia Minor found temples to her, they named her Artemis and took over the existing cult. This is the origin of "Diana of the Ephesians." Christianity transformed her into the Virgin Mary, and it was a Council at Ephesus that legitimated the title "Mother of God" as applied to Our Lady. Where a religion was bound up with the government of an empire, political motives did much to transform its primitive features. A god or goddess became associated with the State, and had to give, not only an abundant harvest, but victory in war. A rich priestly caste elaborated the ritual and the theology, and fitted together into a pantheon the several divinities of the component parts of the empire. Through association with government, the gods also became associated with morality. Lawgivers received their codes from a god; thus a breach of the law became an impiety. The oldest legal code still known is that of Hammurabi, king of Babylon, about 2100 B.C.; this code was asserted by the king to have been delivered to him by Marduk. The connection between religion and morality became continually closer throughout ancient times. Babylonian religion, unlike that of Egypt, was more concerned with prosperity in this world than with happiness in the next. Magic, divination, and astrology, though not peculiar to Babylonia, were more developed there than elsewhere, and it was chiefly through Babylon that they acquired their hold on later antiquity. From Babylon come some things that belong to science: the division of the day into twenty-four hours, and of the circle into 360 degrees; also the discovery of a cycle in eclipses, which enabled lunar eclipses to be predicted with certainty, and solar eclipses with some probability. This Babylonian knowledge, as we shall see, was acquired by Thales. The civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia were agricultural, and those of surrounding nations, at first, were pastoral. A new element came with the development of commerce, which was at first almost entirely maritime. Weapons, until about 1000 B.C., were made of bronze, and nations which did not have the necessary metals on their own territory were obliged to obtain them by trade or piracy. Piracy was a temporary expedient, and where social and political conditions were fairly stable, commerce was found to be more profitable. In commerce, the island of Crete seems to have been the pioneer. For about eleven centuries, say from 2500 B.C. to 1400 B.C., an artistically advanced culture, called the Minoan, existed in Crete. What survives of Cretan art gives an impression of cheerfulness and almost decadent luxury, very different from the terrifying gloom of Egyptian temples. Of this important civilization almost nothing was known until the excavations of Sir Arthur Evans and others. It was a maritime civilization, in close touch with Egypt (except during the time of the Hyksos). From Egyptian pictures it is evident that the very considerable commerce between Egypt and Crete was carried on by Cretan sailors; this commerce reached its maximum about 1500 B.C. The Cretan religion appears to have had many affinities with the religions of Syria and Asia Minor, but in art there was more affinity with Egypt, though Cretan art was very original and amazingly full of life. The centre of the Cretan civilization was the so-called "palace of Minos" at Knossos, of which memories lingered in the traditions of classical Greece. The palaces of Crete were very magnificent, but were destroyed about the end of the fourteenth century B.C., probably by invaders from Greece. The chronology of Cretan history is derived from Egyptian objects found in Crete, and Cretan objects found in Egypt; throughout, our knowledge is dependent on archeological evidence. The Cretans worshipped a goddess, or perhaps several goddesses. The most indubitable goddess was the "Mistress of Animals," who was a huntress, and probably the source of the classical Artemis. She or another was also a mother; the only male deity, apart from the "Master of Animals," is her young son. There is some evidence of belief in an after life, in which, as in Egyptian belief, deeds on earth receive reward or retribution. But on the whole the Cretans appear, from their art, to have been cheerful people, not much oppressed by gloomy superstitions. They were fond of bull-fights, at which female as well as male toreadors performed amazing acrobatic feats. The bull-fights were religious celebrations, and Sir Arthur Evans thinks that the performers belonged to the highest nobility. The surviving pictures are full of movement and realism. The Cretans had a linear script, but it has not been deciphered. At home they were peaceful, and their cities were unwalled; no doubt they were defended by sea power. Before the destruction of the Minoan culture, it spread, about 1600 B.C., to the mainland of Greece, where it survived, through gradual stages of degeneration, until about 900 B.C. This mainland civilization is called the Mycenaean; it is known through the tombs of kings, and also through fortresses on hill- tops, which show more fear of war than had existed in Crete. Both tombs and fortresses remained to impress the imagination of classical Greece. The older art products in the palaces are either actually of Cretan workmanship, or closely akin to those of Crete. The Mycenaean civilization, seen through a haze of legend, is that which is depicted in Homer. There is much uncertainty concerning the Mycenaeans. Did they owe their civilization to being conquered by the ... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. 前言/序言
好的,這裏為您提供一份關於一本名為《西方哲學史》的圖書的詳細簡介,該簡介完全不涉及您提到的具體那本英文原版平裝書的內容,而是以一種獨立、深入且富有學術性的方式來描述一部涵蓋西方哲學宏大曆史的著作。 --- 書籍簡介:西方思想的恢弘史詩——西方哲學史(一部全新的考察) 導言:思想的邊界與迴響 人類對自身存在、知識的本質、以及宇宙秩序的探求,是文明演進中最深刻的驅動力。西方哲學,作為理性思辨的傳統,自古希臘的城邦興起到現代的數字時代,構成瞭一部波瀾壯闊的思想史。本書並非對既有經典的簡單羅列,而是一次雄心勃勃的嘗試,旨在重塑我們對西方哲學演進路徑的理解,深入剖析那些塑造瞭西方文明核心價值的根本性論辯與範式轉換。 本書將帶領讀者穿越時空,從米利都的自然哲學傢們對“本源”(Arche)的首次追問開始,抵達後現代主義對宏大敘事的解構浪潮。它聚焦於哲學思想在特定曆史、社會和科學背景下的生成與互動,力求揭示那些看似抽象的形而上學、認識論和社會政治哲學,如何與人類的日常生活、藝術創造乃至技術發展緊密交織。 第一部分:奠基與黃金時代——從自然到倫理的覺醒(公元前 6 世紀 – 公元 3 世紀) 本捲聚焦於西方哲學的“創世紀”。我們首先考察古希臘前蘇格拉底時期的自然哲學傢的突破性思維,他們如何從神話轉嚮對物質世界構成和變化的理性描述。畢達哥拉斯學派對數學的發現如何預示瞭理性的至高無上性;巴門尼德與赫拉剋利特關於“存在”與“變化”的辯證衝突,確立瞭形而上學的基本張力。 隨後,敘事轉嚮雅典城邦的黃金時代。蘇格拉底的“認識你自己”開啓瞭倫理學的轉嚮,他通過辯證法(Elenchus)對傳統價值的質疑,為整個西方倫理思想奠定瞭不可逾越的基礎。柏拉圖的“理念論”不僅是關於實在的理論,更是一種關於知識、政治、美與善的完整圖景。他構建的“洞穴寓言”至今仍是理解人與知識之間關係的經典隱喻。 亞裏士多德,作為柏拉圖最傑齣的學生,以其更為係統、經驗主義的風格,構建瞭邏輯學、形而上學、物理學、倫理學和政治學的宏大體係。他的“四因說”和“潛能與實現”的概念,為後世的科學與形而上學提供瞭工具箱。本部分還深入探討瞭希臘化時期的哲學流派,如斯多葛主義(強調德性與自然法則)、伊壁鳩魯主義(追求寜靜的快樂)和懷疑主義(對確定性的質疑),展示瞭哲學如何應對城邦解體後個體對意義的追尋。 第二部分:信仰與理性交織——中世紀的哲學整閤(公元 3 世紀 – 15 世紀) 當羅馬帝國衰落,基督教成為西方世界的主導力量時,哲學並未消亡,而是進入瞭一個與神學深度融閤的階段。本部分細緻梳理瞭教父哲學,特彆是奧古斯丁如何將柏拉圖主義(特彆是新柏拉圖主義)融入基督教神學框架,探討瞭自由意誌、罪惡和時間本質等深刻問題。 中世紀的哲學核心在於“信仰與理性”的關係調和。我們將考察經院哲學的興起,特彆是安塞姆關於上帝存在的本體論證明。隨後,全書的焦點將轉嚮托馬斯·阿奎那。他集大成地將亞裏士多德的哲學體係“基督教化”,構建瞭一個邏輯嚴密、結構宏大的經院哲學體係。阿奎那的“五路論”不僅是對上帝存在的證明,更是對整個宇宙等級秩序的精妙闡釋。本部分還將涵蓋奧卡姆的“如無必要,勿增實體”原則,探討其對後世經驗主義和名義主義的深遠影響。 第三部分:革命的黎明——近代哲學的興起與認識論的轉嚮(17 世紀 – 18 世紀) 文藝復興和科學革命徹底打破瞭中世紀的世界觀。笛卡爾的“我思故我在”標誌著哲學的焦點從“世界是什麼”轉嚮“我如何認識世界”,開啓瞭近代認識論的時代。 我們將詳細分析大陸理性主義的鼎盛時期:斯賓諾莎的泛神論體係和萊布尼茨的單子論,他們試圖用純粹的理性構建一個包羅萬象的實在結構。與之相對,英國經驗主義者如洛剋、貝剋萊和休謨,則堅持所有知識來源於感官經驗。休謨對因果律和自我同一性的徹底懷疑,將哲學推嚮瞭危機。 最終,康德橫空齣世,他以“哥白尼式的革命”調和瞭理性主義與經驗主義的對立。康德對人類認識能力的先驗限製的考察,以及對道德律令的建構,重塑瞭形而上學和倫理學的圖景。本部分也將涵蓋啓濛運動中的政治哲學,如霍布斯、洛剋和盧梭關於社會契約和自然權利的辯論,這些思想直接點燃瞭現代社會的革命火焰。 第四部分:宏大體係的黃昏與多元化的爆炸(19 世紀 – 20 世紀) 19 世紀是哲學體係的“巨人時代”。黑格爾的絕對精神辯證法,試圖將曆史、邏輯和實在統一在一個不斷自我展開的動態體係之中,達到瞭古典哲學的頂峰。 然而,隨後的哲學傢們開始係統性地瓦解黑格爾的宏大敘事。叔本華以意誌為本體,開創瞭深刻的悲觀主義。剋爾凱郭爾將關注點重新拉迴個體存在的焦慮與抉擇,成為存在主義的先驅。馬剋思則將辯證法轉嚮物質生産和社會結構,哲學開始深刻乾預社會實踐。尼采宣告“上帝已死”,對西方傳統道德和形而上學價值進行瞭徹底的“重估”,對人類意誌力的頌揚成為一股強大的反潮流力量。 20 世紀的哲學呈現齣驚人的多元化和專業化。分析哲學在英國和奧地利興起,專注於語言的邏輯分析,試圖通過精確的邏輯工具解決或消解傳統哲學問題(如弗雷格、羅素、維特根斯坦早期)。與此同時,歐陸哲學則延續瞭現象學(鬍塞爾)和存在主義(海德格爾、薩特)的路綫,深入探討“存在”、“在世”和“人道”的經驗本質。 本書的收尾部分將探討二戰後哲學思潮的分化:從結構主義、後結構主義(福柯對知識權力關係的解構)到當代心靈哲學、科學哲學和倫理學的新發展,展示瞭哲學如何持續地適應和批判一個日益復雜的現代世界。 結論:永恒的追問 本書旨在展示,西方哲學史並非一條單嚮的綫性進步,而是由一係列深刻的對話、激烈的衝突和範式斷裂所構成的復雜織錦。理解這些思想的來龍去脈,不僅是迴顧曆史,更是裝備我們批判性思維的工具,以便我們能更好地麵對當下和未來的挑戰。它是一部關於人類理性如何探索自身局限與無限可能性的永恒史詩。