Chen Lemin's Fifteen Lectures on European Civilization was originally printed as a book, which was recorded by students according to the recording of lectures. Therefore, the writing is more colloquial, and some modal particles, parenthesis and personal feelings are more obvious in the writing, so it is particularly immersive to have class records, like an easy-going old man chatting with you, which is relatively easy to read. I especially like what the old man said in class, "Toynbee's historical research." You can have a look at it sometime. Don't look carefully. His book is a hammer in the East and a stick in the West. You don't see a clue. Another example is Bingler's The Decline of the West, which is very famous. The contents are actually unreadable. It is about the decline of the west, but it is actually "western centralism." "We haven't finished modernization, so what do you talk about" postmodernism "? When we still need' enlightenment', you will go to' anti-enlightenment'? " And "education should be a pure land, universities are the stage of laying a good foundation, and there should be no' industrialization'".
But then again, I don't recommend readers who lack the corresponding knowledge background of European history and western culture to choose this book as an introductory reading, although it looks easier to read. In the preface, Mr. Chen said: "The focus of my course is not on knowledge, and there is no need to talk about many problems and historical events involved in ABC." But what many readers lack is the content of ABC. In other words, this book can be said to have an outline, bones and spirit, but no meat and no hair. For example, it is only a conclusion that the civilization of ancient Rome is much worse than that of ancient Greece, and this comparative basis cannot be empty; To say that Rome is weaker than Greece in philosophy, you should at least know some knowledge background of ancient Greek philosophy, which is not given in this book, so you actually need to refer to a lot of extended materials when reading. It is natural for old people to casually mention priest philosophy and scholasticism, or empiricism and rationalism, but readers should not be vague. In this respect, I actually recommend reading Zhao Lin's Introduction to Western Culture, which is a very classic textbook. Not yet. Just look at the history of minimalism in Europe. To make matters worse, there is a "European history of hypergraphic minimalism".
This book will sum up the question of "why Europe became Europe", namely "democracy and freedom". This line has been buried since the Greek era, and has experienced Rome, feudal period, Renaissance, Reformation, Enlightenment, French Revolution and so on. Some chapters are very concise and clear, which helps to clarify the doubts that are too complicated and confusing. For example, the fourth lecture "From Roman Empire to Feudal Period", the sixth and seventh lectures on Renaissance and Religious Reform, and the eighth lecture "Talking about Enlightenment"-just like the eighth lecture directly quotes Kant's words, "Have the courage to use your own reason! This is the slogan of the Enlightenment. " "Enlightenment is that human beings get rid of their own immature state", these two sentences are incisive enough; At the same time, in comparison, the lectures of ancient Greek civilization can only be said to be unsatisfactory; The content of the eleventh to fifteenth lectures is relatively sloppy and random, which is closer to discussion and exchange; The influence of Christianity on European spiritual civilization is too short, which is not as good as Zhao Lin's introduction of western culture.
Because it is a lecture, this book has many obvious common-sense mistakes, such as being young for many years is common; Mistaking "prohibition" for "progress" is not new. There is "Hugo's' 94'", which is even more unavoidable ... The old man himself said in "Four Notes of the Fourth Reprint" that "Mr. Zhao Lin, the philosophy department of Wuhan University ... pointed out many' obvious intellectual errors'", so he revised his intellectual errors. However, my book, printed for the 22nd time in July 2009+2065438, is still full of mistakes, so it may have to wait for the second edition.
In fact, this book is very emotional about the record of questions and answers between teachers and students after class. Seeing the students' questions and the old gentleman's answers, I feel back in the university classroom. "I think you are still so young, and I feel very happy and excited. I will send a few words to my classmates, that is, when you have a good time, strong memory and good physical strength, you should study tirelessly and absorb knowledge like a sponge. What the teacher teaches you is the same thing. Whether you can absorb it or not is your business. There is a saying in Zhuangzi,' Life is limited and knowledge is limited'. No matter how old you are, no matter how old you are a scholar, even if you are an academician of the Academy of Sciences, what you don't know is always much more than what you know. Without this mind, it is impossible. "