[MUSIC PLAYING]
WANG XIAO CHAO: Hello, everybody.
Welcome.
You choose the course, "The Exploration to the Original Spirit
of Western Philosophy" I am the main teacher of this course, Wang Xiao Chao.
Why we titled this course "The Exploration
to the Original Spirit of Western Philosophy"-- let
me explain a little first.
Western philosophy is one kind of philosophy
which has more than 2,600 years history.
In this course, we will explore the primitive part of Western philosophy.
In other words, we will talk about the original part of it.
That is, ancient Greek and Roman philosophy.
Through this kind of exploration and study,
we try to make the students grasp the philosophical spirit in a way.
So I sincerely hope, during the process of the course, you may come with me,
stepping into the palace of Greek philosophy
to explore the origin of the philosophical spirit.
Now, let us begin the first lecture of the course.
This lecture is an introduction to the whole course.
I will explain three basic concepts-- philosophy, religion, and culture--
supplying the definitions and meanings of them,
elaborating to the relationship between the three.
The contemporary Western philosopher Bertrand Russell
said that, strictly speaking, all the Western philosophy is Greek philosophy.
This sentence is very helpful for us to understand the purpose of this course.
The purpose of this course is, by using the method of classroom teaching
and extracurricular reading, to grasp the rich thoughts
of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers; to explore
the origin of the philosophical spirit; to reveal
the spiritual orientation of Western, ancient, ethnic groups;
to clarify the characteristics of Western people;
to help students grasp the basic spirit of philosophy;
to cultivate ability of theoretical thinking;
to nourish the lofty sentiments; to improve the humanistic nature.
In addition to listening my lecture in classroom,
I would like to recommend some reference books for your reading after class.
The first, Bertrand Russell's Wisdom of the West.
The second, written by Professor He Zhao Wu of Tsinghua University--
The Spirit of the Western Philosophy.
The other two books are written by me.
One is A Concise History of Greek Philosophy, from Homer to Augustine.
Another is The Cultural Transformation of the Roman Empire.
I would like to make some requirements to you.
First, listen carefully in classroom and take time to read the reference books.
Second, take part in the discussion actively.
Third, use the network and related internet web-site to exchange
and communicate your ideas among yourself.
Several years ago, I went to Lu Shan Botanical Garden
to pay respects to Mr. Chen Yin Que's tomb, who is the predecessor
scholar of our Tsinghua University.
On Mr. Chen's gravestone, it etched, the spirit of independence
and the thought of freedom, the 10 Chinese characters.
As for the real meaning of Chen's famous words,
we may discuss it in detail in the future, if we have opportunity.
But I would like send those words to you as a gift.
Hope you may use them when you take this course.
Implement, comprehend, and develop a spirit which Mr. Chen advocated.
OK, now, we will start the first lecture--
"Philosophy, Religion, Culture."
Firstly, I will trace the word [CHINESE], "philosophy," to its origin.
In Western language, in the ancient Greek language,
this word is written as--
its Latin form is like this, "philosophia."
Actually, this is a compound word.
It's first part, "philo" means love.
The second part is "sophia."
"Sophia" means "wisdom."
Then, why are love and wisdom put together?
Become "philosophy."
It is said like this.
There was a Greek philosopher on 5 century BC.
His name is Pythagoras.
When he was asked what he did, he answered that I am a philosopher.
That is, I am a person who love wisdom.
I am a philosopher.
Philosophy is a kind of learning or discipline.
Since it is born till now, it has been a history of 2,600 years.
Because we are Chinese, our native language is Chinese.
So we should understand further that, in our Chinese language, what's
the meaning of [CHINESE]?
[CHINESE], as a verb, it means "to know," "to understand," "to grasp."
It, as a noun, means "wisdom."
So very co-incidentally, the most basic meaning
of the philosophy in the West, or its primary meaning,
is the pursuit of wisdom.
While in Chinese, the meaning of [CHINESE] is to grasp the wisdom.
The philosophy in the West, along with the Western culture's transmission,
also spread into the East in 1970s.
The earliest Japanese philosopher, Xi Zhou,
who introduced Western philosophy into Japan, translated "philosophia"
by the Chinese characters [CHINESE].
After that, Chinese scholars thought this translated name was quite good.
Therefore, when the Western philosophy spread into China,
Chinese people adopted this translated name
to translate the Western word "philosophia."