The Soul's Journey in the Heart of Modern European Academic Thought: On the Historical Possibility of the Intermediary Theory in the Three-Division of Western Learning

Author: Yu Wenjie
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Publishing Time: Not Available
Features: This book studies the history of the formation, development, and transformation of three major disciplines—philosophy, aesthetics, and ethics—within the humanities, which are shaped by human psychological elements—knowledge, emotion, and will. Through the research of this historical issue, it focuses on the intrinsic connection between the evolution of Western academic tripartite thought and the process of human civilization. It particularly explores the possibility of humans, starting as natural beings, becoming virtuous individuals through the mediation of aesthetics. It also delves into the cultural roots of the failure of the Enlightenment and the loss of virtue, seeking to uncover the historical mission and future prospects of modern academia in rebuilding the virtue of modern people. The full text is divided into four parts:
Part 1, The Footprints of Plato and Aristotle: The Intellectual Origins of the Academic Tripartite Theory. The article argues that ancient Greece was the earliest source of the academic tripartite theory. This period can be divided into the pre-Socratic era and the post-Socratic era. The pre-Socratic era was a time when Greek and Hebrew cultures coexisted harmoniously, representing an era of balanced development between reason and divinity. The arrival of Socrates, particularly Aristotle, brought the material world into sharper focus within human rationality. The psychological classification that emerged in Plato's thought took shape as a theory and ideological system in Aristotle's academic framework. It was also during this period that the trend of philosophy replacing religion began to take root. However, this philosophical approach, centered on reason, lacked the support of science and technology, leading to an era of mysterious, distorted, and alienated religion.
Part 2, The Fate of Hume and Kant's Philosophy: The Contemporary Status of the Academic Tripartite Theory. The article argues that after the Renaissance, the Reformation, and especially the Enlightenment, modern civilization, particularly the development of science and technology, added immense vitality to human reason. During this period, God was no longer considered divine, and humans became the center of modern civilization. Rousseau's humanistic thought, Diderot's Encyclopédie, and particularly Hume's theory of human nature transformed the theoretical, creative, and practical discipline ideas of the ancient Greek era into the knowledge forms of philosophy, aesthetics, and ethics. Kant, in turn, became the synthesizer of this theory and ideological system. However, it was also during Kant's time that a subjectivity philosophy centered on human beings replaced the religious philosophy centered on God, completing the era of philosophy replacing religion. Although Kant, in his later years, showed great fascination with Christianity and romantically expressed an endless pursuit of divinity, all of this could not resist the historical trend of Kantian humanistic philosophy as the main force and rational enlightenment as the core.
Part 3, Saying Goodbye to the Weber and Simmel Era: The Social Turn of the Academic Tripartite Thought. The rise of humanism, the flourishing of the rational spirit, and the formation of nation-states, along with the development of science and technology, provided the historical background and ideological sources for the birth of the social qualities of academic thought in the Weber and Simmel era. The demystification of the world, asceticism, and the pursuit of national politics constituted the fundamental qualities of Weber's academic thought. Although Weber also fully expressed his critique of technological reason and even paid attention to the significance of art and aesthetics for modern people, all of this was insignificant compared to the fundamental qualities of his academic thought. This is because, after the Reformation, while demystification emerged, so did re-mystification. Secularization, technologization, and powerification, among other alienated forms, were crazily eroding the sacred spirit of virtue. The academic tripartite theory had already transformed, and human civilization was facing an inescapable crisis! After the Weber and Simmel era, the academic tripartite thought underwent changes. As Bell said, the academic tripartite theory is technology-economy, politics, and culture, and it is also the main force of the contradictions of modern capitalist culture. During this period, the consequences of philosophy replacing religion became fully exposed. This is: the death of God and the death of humanity, which will become the inevitable fate of history!
Part 4, Why Can Humans Not Die: The Academic Tripartite Thought and the Fate of Humans. The article argues that modern enlightenment, although it began with humanism, in fact, increasingly leaned toward human rationality, or rather, narrow rational enlightenment. Under the background of the demystification of divinity and the rise of technology, this enlightenment gradually lost its emotional taste and moral concern. Therefore, we believe that enlightenment must first shift from intellect to the heart, to a holistic heart rooted in emotion and virtue. Second, in the era of the powerful empire of technological reason, aesthetics, like ethics, became a sacrifice to secularism, technology, and power, either as a slave or as an ornament, losing its pure and free mediating quality. Modern people cannot, through this, transform themselves from natural beings into virtuous individuals. Unless the era of secularism, technology, and power approaches death.
This book adheres to the basic views of Marxism, denying any religious elements that are superstition and ignorance, while affirming the legitimacy of religious theology as a cultural form and respecting its status as an independent discipline. It also focuses on the intrinsic connection between the divine qualities in religious ethics and the humanistic spirit in philosophical knowledge. Through historical research on the relationship between European modern academic thought and human civilization, it highlights the permeating and driving force of noble faith and pure hearts on the development of many humanities and the entire human civilization, seeking a path of hope for modern people to fulfill the mission of moving from necessity to freedom!