Philosophy History Tutorial (Part 2) Fine

Author: [German] Windelband, translated by Luo Da-ren
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: The opening chapters of this book were published two years ago. After multiple unpleasant delays and interruptions, the book has finally been completed and presented to readers. Readers should not confuse this book with outlines or similar materials. Such books are sometimes compiled from lecture notes on general philosophy. What I now offer to readers is a serious textbook. In this book, I intend to describe the evolution of various European philosophical ideas in a comprehensive and concise manner, aiming to demonstrate: the principles and principles upon which our current scientific understanding and judgment of the universe and life are based, what motivations led people to grasp and develop them in the process of historical development. This purpose determines the entire form of the book. Accordingly, the historical and literary evidence, biographies, and documentary materials we use are necessarily limited to a small scope, and the selection is limited to opening the way for further research for readers who wish to delve deeper. The arguments of the philosophers themselves are only briefly cited when they provide arguments or fundamental principles of lasting value in thought. In addition, the author occasionally quotes passages from the original works to support a particular view. The selection is always focused on the novel and fruitful things proposed by individual thinkers; while personal inclinations, although academically acceptable, do not necessarily pique philosophical interest and are mostly only briefly mentioned. As even the external form of this exposition indicates, the focus is placed on the development of substantial things from a philosophical perspective, namely the history of problems and concepts. My main purpose is to understand this development as a coherent, interconnected whole. Our theories about the universe and life arise from various lines of thought, and the interweaving of these lines of thought in history is the specific object of my research. I am convinced that this issue cannot be resolved through innate logical structures but can only be achieved through comprehensive and unbiased investigation of the facts. If it seems that the ancient part occupies a considerable portion of this book in its exposition, this is based on the belief that, if we are to gain a historical understanding of the reality of human intellect, then the concepts obtained from the concrete reality of nature and life through the Greek spirit are more important than all the things people have thought about since then—except for Kantian philosophy. With this task determined, I had to make sacrifices; no one is more distressed about this than I am. A purely thematic treatment of the historical development of philosophy does not allow for a profound description of the character of the philosophers that is worthy of their true value. This can only be touched upon when their character can actively play a role as a factor in the combination and transformation of concepts. In order to better grasp the inherent necessity of the internal connections of the development of the mind, I had to sacrifice the artistic charm of the personal style of the great figures who propelled the development of philosophy, and the special skills that give academic lectures and broader expositions of the history of philosophy their artistic charm.