Self-awareness and Reflection: The Basic Questions of Modern Western Philosophy: The Basic Questions of Modern Western Philosophy

Author: Ni Liangkang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-02-01
Features: At the very beginning, it must be made clear to the readers that this is a philosophical book. When speaking of "philosophy," the author often feels two different emotions: to a large extent, the author agrees with an ancient tradition, such as the conviction of George Mead, that "the philosophy of a period is always an attempt to explain the most reliable knowledge of that period." However, the author also agrees with the current situation of philosophy, that is, the fact stated by Rudiger Bubner: "Philosophy seems to become more humble with age. The longer its history, the more hopes for its collapse, the more reserved philosophy appears." These two conflicting emotions run through the entire process of this research. Readers who are in tune with this will likely feel a sense of resonance while reading this book. Next, it must be explained that what is attempted here is a study of conceptual or problem history. It follows a dual phenomenological approach in terms of both methodology and content: in terms of research methodology, it responds to the requirement that "the history of documents should become the history of problems," which Martin Heidegger proposed as early as in Being and Time: here, a study is conducted on a philosophical problem, and specifically on the historical development of fundamental problems in modern European philosophy. In addition, in terms of the content of the topic, it fulfills an unfinished intention of Max Scheler, namely, to write a "history of the self-awareness of human beings themselves"; it should be a "history of the growth and rise of human self-awareness as it progresses through new leaps at key points in history." In this book, the author proposes that "self-awareness" and "reflection" are the defining issues of modern Western philosophy and one of the important distinctions between Western civilization and other civilizations. Following Heidegger's guidance that "the history of documents should become the history of problems," the author, while explaining the different views of the great masters of Western philosophy on these two issues, focuses on demonstrating the process of researching the problems rather than the final conclusions, enabling readers to experience the unique ways of thinking of these masters and gain beneficial inspiration.