[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."
