Philosophy begins with questions about the nature of reality and how we should live. These were the concerns of Socrates, who spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions, disconcerting the people he met by showing them how little they genuinely understood. This engaging book introduces the great thinkers in Western philosophy and explores their m...
Philosophy begins with questions about the nature of reality and how we should live. These were the concerns of Socrates, who spent his days in the ancient Athenian marketplace asking awkward questions, disconcerting the people he met by showing them how little they genuinely understood. This engaging book introduces the great thinkers in Western philosophy and explores their most compelling ideas about the world and how best to live in it. In forty brief chapters, Nigel Warburton guides us on a chronological tour of the major ideas in the history of philosophy. He provides interesting and often quirky stories of the lives and deaths of thought-provoking philosophers from Socrates, who chose to die by hemlock poisoning rather than live on without the freedom to think for himself, to Peter Singer, who asks the disquieting philosophical and ethical questions that haunt our own times. Warburton not only makes philosophy accessible, he offers inspiration to think, argue, reason, and ask in the tradition of Socrates. "A Little History of Philosophy" presents the grand sweep of humanity's search for philosophical understanding and invites all to join in the discussion.
作者简介
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Nigel Warburton is senior lecturer in philosophy, The Open University. He is the author of several popular introductions to philosophy and is the interviewer on the Philosophy Bites podcast. He lives in Oxford.
他最重要的著作《作为意志和表象的世界》（The Worldas Will and Representation）于1818年首次出版，但他接着又花了多年时间修改，在1844年出版了一个更长的版本。其核心思想相当简单：现实有两个层面，意志（W）和表象（Representation）。意志是一种盲目的驱动力，存在于所有事物之中。正是这种驱动力使动植物生长，使磁针指向北方，使晶体在化合物中生成，它存在于自然界的每一个角落。在另一个层面，作为表象的世界（World as Representation）就是我们所感知的世界。
作为表象的世界是我们在头脑中对现实的建构，这就是康说的现象世界。看看你的周围，也许可以透过窗户看到树木、人或汽车，或者看到面前的这本书；也许你可以听到鸟鸣、车流声或者其他房间的噪音。通过感官所感知到的就是作为表象的世界，这是我们理解发生在周围世界中所有事物的方式，需要意识来建构，通过大脑将感知到的东西组合起来，构成一个符合逻辑的世界，这个作为表象的世界就是我们生活的世界。但是跟康德一样，叔本华也认为在感知之外，也就是在作为表象的世界之外，还存在着一个更深层次的现实。康德称之为本体世界，我们无法直接进人。叔本华所说的“作为意志的世界”（World as Will）有点像康德的本体世界，但是有重要的区别。
康德在讨论本体世界时，用的是本体的复数形式（moumena），因为他认为现实可能分成多个部分。我们不清楚康德是如何知道这一点的，因为根据他的理论，人类无法进人或了解本体世界。叔本华的看法则相反，他认为不能假设本体有多个部分，因为那样就需要涉及空间和时间，而根据康德的理论，空间和时间在现实中并不存在，只是构建在每个人的头脑之中。叔本华认为作为意志的世界是一种单包揽全部、无方向的力量，驱动着一切事物，我们可以通过自已的行为以及对艺术的体验来窥见作为意志... (查看原文)
Plato thought that letting the people vote was like letting the passengers steer a ship --- far better to let people who knew what they were doing take charge. (查看原文)
THE LITTLE HISTORIES(共22册)，
这套丛书还有
《A Little History of Philosophy》《A Little History of the United States》《A Little History of Poetry》《A Little History of the United States》《A Little History of Art》
等
。
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去年四月我在纽约度过了短暂的两周，算是半上课半休假吧；有天去大都会美术馆听讲座不小心到得早了点儿，就在美术馆的书店溜达了一圈儿，随手买了两本儿书——结果，其中一本儿成为了近一两年来我最频繁地向别人推荐的书。 这本儿书叫做 A Little History of Philosophy；中文...
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