History of Western Social Thought (Second Edition)

Author: Yu Hai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-02
Features: Since 1998, I have taught two courses annually for the Sociology Department at Fudan University—one titled "History of Western Social Thought" and the other "Modern Western Sociological Theory." In fact, in my teaching syllabus and practice, they have never been two separate series but rather different stages of a coherent and unified history of Western sociological thought. They have been discussed within the broader context of the great tradition of Western spirit and culture and the grand historical perspective of Western social change, leading to the present work—a history of social thought from ancient Greek city-state sociology to contemporary American post-industrial society theory. This book is not a simple concatenation of the aforementioned two parts. Such a combination would both mutilate history and sacrifice thought, which is the worst outcome for a work on the history of thought. Nor was it created out of a deliberate attempt to be novel or distinctive. In Hegel's Lectures on the Philosophy of History and Schumpeter's The Theory of Economic Development, we have already seen works of grand historical scope that combine broad historical vision, profound philosophical insight, and extensive specialized knowledge. Their analyses range "from the heavens to the earth," from the origins of Greek thought to contemporary schools of thought. Their work has set an undeniable model for the discipline of the history of the subject, and this book has greatly benefited from their writings, as well as from other works on the history of disciplines (such as Sakai's history of sociology, Sabin's history of political thought, Russell's history of philosophy, and Murphy's works on the history of psychology, among others).
My undergraduate major was history, and the Department of History at Beijing Normal University, where I studied, was home to a group of outstanding domestic historians, such as Bai Shouyi, He Ziquan, Gong Shuduo, and Liu Jiahe. Their mentorship cultivated my sensitivity and awareness of history, while the "History of Chinese Thought" course taught by Mr. Qiu Hansheng and Mr. Lin Ying was one of the most enriching courses I took in university.
My graduate major was the history of Western philosophy. The training I received from the philosophy faculty at Fudan University inspired and honed my philosophical nature and ultimately solidified my academic direction toward the study of the history of thought. My academic training and intellectual background have shaped my goal of making the study of the history of thought possess both "the rationality of thought and the rhythm of history." I am not entirely sure how much of this requirement is reflected in the present work, but I can confidently say that it falls far short of my subjective aspirations, which fills me with profound humility and regret.