Western philosophy has lasted for more than 2,6 years, originating in the Aegean region of Greece, extending to the periphery of the Mediterranean, and then to the whole of Europe, and finally to North America. In terms of the length of time and the breadth of space, western philosophy is not particularly eye-catching, but in terms of its rich and profound connotation and the intensity effect that affects human beings, it is far beyond our imagination. Just as we talk about modernization, we can't help but take "Westernization" as its main axis, and the significance of western philosophy to today's world still retains its main axis position.
in other cultural systems, philosophy is often mixed with religion, literature, history and art. In the west, it is not. Philosophy has opened up its own path, taking "love of wisdom" as the benchmark and fastening the principle of rational thinking, so as to examine the real life and lofty ideals of human beings. Even though such a philosophy may devote itself to exploring nature or assisting religious circles for a period of time, even for thousands of years, it will always preserve its "a little bit of brilliance" and return to human subjectivity again to construct a "people-centered" ideological building. It is appropriate to describe the world of western philosophy with the phrase "talented people come out from the Jiangshan generation, and a new generation replaces the old".
When beginners face such a vast world, they are inevitably afraid. When I was in college, a teacher solemnly reminded us: "If you want to study western philosophy well, you must learn five languages-Greek, Latin, French, German and English. However, even if you learn these five languages, it depends on whether you are interested in studying philosophy and understand the wisdom of philosophy. My learning method was the most stupid, but it turned out to be the most effective. Speaking the language first, I have studied everything except Greek, but only English is really good. I have been engaged in translation for a long time, translating English philosophical works into Chinese, with a total number of more than 2 million words. This is really stupid, but the effect is very good, because translation clearly expresses all the meanings of the original text in Chinese. After such self-training, many western philosophers have become my teachers and friends.
I teach in the Philosophy Department of National Taiwan University, and my research field in recent years is China's philosophy, but I have been teaching metaphysics and religious philosophy for the first twenty years, and then I have taught the History of Western Philosophy (Part I)-Greek and Middle Ages for three years. In the process of teaching, I gradually understand a truth, that is, we are not westerners, and we study western philosophy for two purposes: one is to understand the core concepts and fundamental concerns of western culture; The second is to learn the western way of thinking and system architecture. Only by explaining western philosophy from this angle can students really benefit.
Nowadays, western philosophy has aroused the interest of many people in society, and private foundations and learning institutions have also offered such courses. I talked about "the taste of the western mind" at the Hong Jianquan Foundation and introduced the outlook on life of 24 philosophers. Later, he talked about "the essence of western philosophy" for three consecutive years, with 72 lectures. In the process of teaching and learning from each other, I have learned another fact, that is, an idea or a famous saying of a western philosopher can often help people figure out some secret truth of life. The so-called "stones from other mountains can attack jade" is not empty talk. These philosophers are far away from us in culture and time and space, but it is precisely because of this distance that we realize that as long as we are human beings, we must face some eternal and universal problems, and the answers to these problems are nothing more than several possibilities. In this case, there is no need for us to be trapped in our current confused situation, and we have begun to have a clue to resolve these situations.
Nietzsche said, "Philosophers are doctors of culture." Doctors have the means to detect the trend of the disease and have the ability to grasp the clues of treatment. Isn't it an opportunity to turn the crisis into safety and turn the pain into joy? Most people don't have the patience to read philosophers' long arguments and complicated speculations, so I introduce the anecdotes and thoughts of western philosophers in the form of short articles, totaling 29 articles. In the process of compiling the book, Oriental Publishing House attached biographies to more than 7 philosophers, supplemented by photos, which made the book more complete and considerable. I think it's fun just to appreciate the looks of these philosophers. As for a few ideas in the book, it is a great pleasure for people to ponder and taste occasionally.