Abstract: China began to see the world with his eyes open in modern Wei Yuan? Control foreigners like foreigners? The viewpoint holds that the west has undoubtedly been ahead of China in comprehensive national strength, population quality, ideology and culture, and in modern times, it is necessary to learn from the west in all directions in order to meet the needs of reform and opening up in the new period and China's economic development. Why did China, with a long history and culture, lag far behind the West in modern times? In my opinion, philosophy that provides people with the most basic world outlook and methodology for various activities accounts for many reasons. Since the origin of ancient Greece, western philosophy has been integrated into the blood of western civilization. Therefore, we should understand and study western philosophy and make a horizontal comparison with China's philosophy, so as to better guide practice.
First, the definition of philosophy
Philosophy is an ideological and cognitive activity with human practical activities as the direct object. It is an original thing that discovers, defines, highlights and produces people's ideological and cognitive activities from all things in the world, obtains knowledge about original and non-original things, establishes a unitary world outlook and methodology, improves people's ideological and cognitive ability, and meets people's needs for survival and development.
Second, the source of Western philosophy
Does philosophy come from Greek? Transformation, that is to say? Love wisdom? , or use less? Wise friend? . In Chinese? Zhe? This word means intelligence and wisdom. In ancient China, intelligent people were called philosophers. Therefore, in modern times, China called the knowledge about wisdom philosophy. Philosophy is difficult to define because many divergent ideas are regarded as philosophy. Pilkin's Dictionary of Philosophy defines philosophy as? The most basic and universal concepts of thought, behavior and reality. ? The difference between philosophy and science mentioned in Pilkin Encyclopedia is that the answers to philosophical questions cannot be obtained only through empirical evidence. In any case, these views are challenged by the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy: in the late 20th century ... it tended to regard philosophical thinking as the best practice of any kind of intellectual exploration? . Indeed, the observation of natural philosophy by many early philosophers eventually formed an important basis for many topics in modern science.
Greece has always been regarded as the cradle of European civilization and the hometown of European and even western philosophy. The earliest school of Greek philosophy, Miletus School, was formed in the 7th or 6th century BC. Before this, ancient Greek philosophy also had a long gestation period. In a sense, it can be said that the premise of ancient Greek philosophy is ancient Greek mythology. Ancient Greek mythology includes stories of gods and legends of heroes. In the oldest myths, it talks about the opening of heaven and earth, the birth of God, the origin of mankind and so on. In the imagination of the ancient Greeks, God had human image and feelings. The difference between God and man is that they are immortal, they are bigger and stronger than man, and they dominate the fate and destiny of the world. Olympus 12 God is actually the embodiment of natural forces. The wisdom of philosophy comes from human practice. Philosophy originates from people's questioning about practice and thinking about the world.
Ancient real philosophy can make us correctly view the changes and development of nature, society and life, view life and practice with wisdom, correctly treat social progress and personal development, correctly treat the relationship between collective interests and personal interests, and correctly treat advance and retreat, gain and loss, fame and fortune, thus providing positive and beneficial guidance for life and practice. Therefore, the task of philosophy is to find light, light a bright light on the road of human life, and guide people to correctly understand and transform the world.
Third, the philosophy of western philosophers.
Plato pointed out: SOMA? Surprise is the symbol of philosophers and the beginning of philosophy. Plato said meaningfully:? Iris. (Rainbow, goddess of rainbow, messenger of Zeus) What is it? SOMA? Daughter (surprise), there is no wrong trace of her lineage. ? Iris. (Rainbow) conveys God's will and gospel to people. Philosophy happens by accident. Under its attention, everything has taken off all kinds of secular masks and revealed its true colors. Therefore, it shows that it is a real liberation force.
Aristotle said in Metaphysics: Seeking knowledge is the nature of all people. People began to think philosophically because of surprise. At first, I am surprised at what I don't know, and then I move forward step by step and doubt more important things.
A confused and surprised person will realize his ignorance.
Hegel thinks that philosophy is a special thinking movement, and philosophy pursues absoluteness. ? Philosophy takes absolute as the object, which is a special way of thinking? Hegel's little logic.
Einstein talked about philosophy in this way: if philosophy is understood as the pursuit of knowledge in the most universal and extensive form, then philosophy can obviously be regarded as the mother of all sciences.
Novalis (1772? 180 1) Definition of philosophy: Philosophy is the mother of all sciences, and the essence of philosophical activities is the spiritual destination. Any activity of looking for spiritual home everywhere with homesickness impulse can be called philosophy.
Fourth, the eastward march of western philosophy.
1874, a Japanese scholar, the Western Zhou Dynasty, used Chinese in A Hundred New Theories. Philosophy? The English word philosophy was translated from the Greek word philosophia. Huang Zunxian and Kang Youwei introduced the translated names of the Western Zhou Dynasty to China around 1896, and it gradually became popular. There is no word "philosophy" in China's cultural classics before the Qing Dynasty, but it exists alone? Zhe? And then what? Study? These two verbs. ? Zhe? In Chinese, the basic meaning is wisdom and understanding, and the word "zhe" refers to such a thing that people show the hidden wisdom and truth through their thinking and cognitive activities. ? Study? The basic meaning in Chinese is imitation, practice and reproduction. The word learning means that individuals acquire knowledge and ability by imitating, learning and copying things. The word "philosophy", which consists of two words "philosophy" and "learning", is a verb in part of speech, and its meaning refers to people's learning and cognitive activities in order to be wise and rational and improve their thinking and cognitive ability.
After the introduction of western philosophy into China, there has been a debate about whether there is philosophy in China's local culture. People who think that China has philosophy define philosophy as: the basic ideas about the universe and life. Hu Shi pointed out in the Outline of China's Philosophical History:? Who studies the important problems in life, fundamentally speaking, should seek an important solution? Such knowledge is called philosophy.
In the west, the word philosophy is usually used to describe a person's certain view of life (such as someone's? Philosophy of life? ) and basic principles (such as values, thoughts and behaviors). Academic philosophy is to question and reflect on the rational basis of these basic principles and try to reconstruct them rationally.
The earliest philosophy covered all levels of knowledge. It has always been the most abstract knowledge research of mankind. The word philosophy was originally introduced from Pythagoras, a Greek thinker.
From the perspective of western academic history, science is a derivative of philosophy. Later, science became an independent discipline parallel to philosophy. There is interaction between science and philosophy. Science produces knowledge and philosophy produces ideas. Marxism holds that philosophy is also a social ideology. There is philosophy of science in modern western philosophy, which is a theory specializing in science. This theory studies the history of science and summarizes many theoretical models for science, but it only explains science and cannot guide it. Philosophy is a special way for human beings to know the world and a noble science.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) Differences between Chinese and Western Philosophy
Some people say that an apple, the oriental thought lies in understanding the whole, while the west analyzes it layer by layer.
In the last article, the origin of western philosophy has been expounded. It can be said that ancient Greek philosophy is the source of western philosophy, and in its long-term development process, the philosophical issues concerned by western philosophy are constantly changing. Although western philosophers after ancient Greece
The development of science is different, but it still inherits the spirit of ancient Greek philosophy, which is manifested in the concern for the reasons behind various phenomena and the pursuit of certainty; Unlike western philosophy, the emergence of China's philosophy did not find a clear starting point, nor did the early philosophers of ancient Greece try to completely break away from tradition or create new traditions. Most scholars believe that China's philosophy began in the Book of Changes, and can even be traced back to earlier concepts, such as Yin-Yang and Five Elements. Since then, the development and theoretical basis of China's philosophy and science often come from these traditional ideas. Throughout China's philosophy, the inheritance of various theories is obvious. Although the issues discussed by various schools are different, they mainly focus on political ethics, that is, they all show concern and norms for people. Generally speaking, there are great differences between Chinese and western philosophy in direction and method. From the starting point and the end point, the different nodes of the two philosophies are also inconsistent. Western philosophy advocates freedom of soul and emphasizes process; China's philosophy is more utilitarian and results-oriented. The former is for individuals, while the latter is for society. Western philosophy pays more attention to the process of thinking. ? I value the process of seeking the truth more than discovering the truth itself? Lessing's sentence is the best summary of ancient Greek philosophers. Because of this, Greek philosophers are called philosophers of science, while China philosophers are called social philosophers.
In Hegel's view, Confucius' theory is not speculative, but a moral and ethical sermon. Black once commented on Confucius in the Lecture Notes on the History of Philosophy: In order to maintain Confucius' reputation, it is best not to introduce Confucius' books to the West. ? It's a pity that Hegel read all the books of Confucius, so Confucius became the target of public criticism.
Ancient Greek philosophers loved science as much as they loved the essence of life. Thales celebrated by killing cows because he drew a right triangle in a circle, and Pythagoras held a big sacrifice of hundreds of cows because he discovered Pythagoras theorem. In the 3rd century BC, when Roman chariots drove into Syracuse, they saw an old man studying a geometric figure in the sand (almost all Greek philosophers have this hobby). The soldiers wanted to take the old man to the Roman commander, and the old man motioned not to interrupt his thinking. The soldier drew his sword and killed the old man. When the sword came, the old man had just finished his last sentence. Don't step on my picture? This old man is Archimedes. It can be seen that the ancient Greek philosophers had a strong enthusiasm for the process of seeking knowledge.
China's ancient philosophy paid more attention to the guidance of philosophy to others and emphasized the sociality of philosophy. From Liezi? Two children argue for a day? , very telling. When Confucius traveled eastward, he met two children arguing. One said that the sun is near and far at sunrise, because the sun is big at sunrise and small during the day. Another child thinks that the sun is far away and near at sunrise, because the sun is cool at sunrise and hot at noon. The child asked Confucius, who couldn't explain it. The two children scoffed. Who says you are a knowledgeable person? Who says you are a knowledgeable person? )。 Obviously, according to the wisdom of Confucius, this should not be a problem. The problem is that he has no interest in natural phenomena at all.
Oriental philosophers have also proposed what the origin is. As for the process, you can understand it yourself! One? Enlightenment? Words dilute the speculative process of exploring the true meaning of life. Lao Tzu said:? Heaven and earth, heaven and nature; One life two, two lives three, three lives everything? As for how the earth teaches heaven, how heaven teaches Tao, how Tao teaches nature, and how everything lives? Feel for yourself. Liezi said, am I riding the wind or is the wind riding me? So is Zhuangzi. Did I become a butterfly, or did the butterfly become me? As far as literature is concerned, sincerity is a very high romantic feeling; As far as philosophy is concerned, it is really a strange circle of agnosticism. Strange is strange. So it is easy to get rid of the cognition of specific things.
In the eyes of Greek philosophers, knowledge is human nature. As a person who loves wisdom, he should study the origin of the universe and explore everything.
Root, ask the purpose of life. Through constant exploration and questioning, I have learned knowledge, gained freedom of mind, and enjoyed real happiness. With a strong sense of responsibility and mission, the sages of China are keen to explore and transform society, and regard the pursuit of building an ideal society as the highest realm of their lives.
Sixth, the value of philosophy and its reference to contemporary China.
Philosophy should be studied, not because it can provide any definite answer to the question, but because of the question itself; The reason is that these questions can expand our concept of all possible things, enrich our imagination and reduce dogmatic self-confidence, which may imprison the thinking function of the mind. In addition, especially through philosophical meditation, the mind will become great, so it can be combined with the universe that makes it the best.
Philosophy can also be said to be the study of faith by reason and the summary of the law between man and nature by reason.
Philosophy is the interpretation of the ultimate meaning of the world, which makes us understand and rationalize the world in our consciousness, thus providing us with spiritual comfort.
Philosophy is also a tool to locate human self.
Philosophy is not equal to bread, but philosophy is equivalent to honey when eating bread. The task of philosophy is to better guide people to correctly understand and transform the world.
As mentioned earlier, China's traditional culture pays more attention to results, that is, the theory of results only. This has more or less influenced the thinking of contemporary people in China. However, in today's world, whenever the world develops to a new stage, the technologies needed are often those that seemed useless when they were discovered that year. According to China's result-oriented view, these technologies will undoubtedly be ignored. Today, China is in a brand-new historical opportunity. If this idea continues to prevail, China will undoubtedly miss many opportunities. Therefore, the view that western philosophy attaches importance to the process of pursuing truth is worth learning from China. In order to achieve a new leap, the integration of Chinese and Western cultures and the revival of Chinese culture, China must combine the inherent characteristics of China's philosophy, study, analyze and draw lessons from Western philosophy at the same time, and form a philosophical system with China characteristics to guide practice, guide China to build a well-off society in an all-round way and realize socialist modernization.
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