Daniel Dinn Bulsting's masterpiece, as he himself puts it, "has no intention of examining the history of philosophy or religion, but rather aims to use the great philosophers and religious leaders of the West to demonstrate ways of exploration." It's a history book about exploration, not discovery. I chose the explorers whom I still consider the most indisputable, who explored the meaning of our lives and histories, and who still lead us on our own quest today. ”
The author believes that Western culture has gone through three major eras of exploration.
The first is the prophets and philosophers (such as Moses, Job, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Ruth, Calvin, etc.) who, in a heroic way, searched for salvation or truth from God or inner reason. Their answers may have been replaced, but the questions they asked remained. Westerners inherit and benefit from the way they ask questions.
What follows is an era of common exploration, the pursuit of civilization in a free spirit. What marks the resilience of the modern spirit is a great turning point in the direction of exploration towards experience. This is what the Hebrew prophets looked up, the Greek philosophers looked inward, turned outward to everything around them. The expanded experience always reveals such discoveries, possibilities beyond imagination. At the same time, the explorer's quest for meaning and purpose remains vibrant.
Finally, in the era of social sciences, people look to the future but seem to be dominated by history. The most prominent figures of this era were Marx, Toynbee, Emerson, Malraux, Bergson, and Einstein. Their spirit inspires people to go forward and continue to explore.
Professor Miao Litian, a philosopher of the older generation on the mainland, has always regarded the history of philosophy as a mountain ridge where thousands of years of wisdom have accumulated, and each philosophical form is one of the unique peaks. For posterity, it is a "watchtower" and "observation deck". One can rely on it foresight, not as a "toolbox" and expect to find something usable directly from it.
When we read this book, we should also look at it this way.
Teacher Cai You recommended a good book: "The Explorer", by Daniel Ding Boursting, published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House