The History of Western Philosophy
3 Courses Taught at Christ College
Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen
I.ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL
A.Introduction.
Philosophy.
2.What is Philosophy?
a)How it arises.
b)Marks of a philosophical question.
c)The task of philosophy.
d)Key concerns (divisions) of philosophy.
3.When did philosophy begin?
4.Meaning of History.
a)The Biblical worldview.
b)Where is meaning found?
c)Biblical principles for interpreting history.
5.The Enduring Questions.
a)Ideas have consequences.
b)Antithesis (in principle).
c)Unregenerate answers lead to dialectical tension.
d)The major questions.
B.Ancient Cultures.
1.Egypt.
2.Mediterranean Powers.
3.Assyria and Babylon.
4.Persia.
5.Greece.
6.Rome.
C.Greek Poets and History.
1.Homer.
2.Hesiod.
3.Aeschylus.
4.Sophocles.
5.Peloponnesian War.
6.Euripides.
D.Milesian Problem of Matter.
1.Thales.
2.Anaximander.
3.Anaximenes.
E.Pythagoreans and the Wonder of Order.
F.Heraclitus vs. the Eleatics: the Problem of Identity and Change
1.Heraclitus.
2.Xenophanes.
3.Parmenides.
4.Zeno.
G.Pluralists (Atomism): The Philosophy of the Natural World
1.Empedocles.
2.Anaxagoras.
3.Democritus and Atomism (Materialism).
4.Anticipation of Modern Physics.
H.Philosophies of Life (Attitude/Ethics).
1.Sophism.
2.Cynicism.
3.Skepticism.
4.Hedonism.
5.Epicureanism.
6.Stoicism.
7.Eclecticism
I.Plato.
1.Troubled context.
2.Life and relation to Socrates.
3.Idealistic Metaphysics and Rational Epistemology.
4.Normative Ethics and Utopian Politics.
J.Aristotle.
1.Life and relation to Plato.
2.Metaphysic of nature.
3.Empirical Epistemology.
4.Teleological Ethics and Politics of Moderation.
K.The Roman Period.
1.Evaluation of Plato and Aristotle.
2.Five Major Schools of Philosophy.
3.Christian Commentary.
4.Rise of the Roman Empire.
5.Review of Stoicism.
6.Review of Epicureanism.
7.Review of Skepticism.
L.The Advent of Christ.
1.Jesus the Messiah: the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
2.Philosophical Antithesis.
3.Political Antithesis.
4.Interaction with the Roman Empire.
M.Early Christian Era
1.Gnosticism and Mystery Cults
2.Neo Platonism and Plotinus
3.Ante Nicene Fathers (Patristics)
N.Augustine
1.Life and Two fold Struggle with Evil.
2.Correcting Plato’s Dualism.
3.God’s Providence and Rationale for Science.
4.Man’s Free Will and Necessity of Grace (vs. Pelagius).
5.Philosophy of History.
6.Faith and Reason.
7.Ethical Observations.
8.Assessment and retractions.
史东鹏O.Medieval Periodlg mp3
1.The Culture of the Middle Ages.
2.Philosophical Overview of Periods and Problems.
3.Boethius.
4.Erigena.
5.Avicenna.
6.Anselm.
7.Roscellinus.
8.Abelard.
9.Averroes.
10.Bernard.
P.Aquinas and After
1.Thomas Aquinas.
2.Robert Bacon.
3.Duns Scotus.
4.William of Occam.
5.Nicholas of Cusa.
6.Apologetical Assessment.
7.Key Characteristic: Synthesis.
II.RENAISSANCE AND ENLIGHTENMENT (1400-1800)
A.Recap and Review.
1.The ancient period.
2.Paganism—antithesis—synthesis.
3.The medieval period.
4.End of Middles ages and seeds of the Renaissance.
B.The Renaissance of Humanism.
农业生产合作社示范章程草案1.Revival of Classical man-centeredness.
2.Cultural characteristics.
3.Political theorizing.
4.The scientific spirit.
5.Assessment and summary.
C.The Reformation of Christianity.
1.Contrast between renaissance and reformation.
2.Revival of N.T. faith & reaction against humanism.
3.Cultural effects.
4.Scientific advance.
5.Political reform.
D.Two Kinds of Enlightenment.
1.Calvin: revelation and regeneration.
2.Hobbes: materialism.
E.Continental Rationalism.
1.Descartes and dualism.
2.Spinoza and monism.
3.Leibniz and atomism.
F.British Empiricism.
1.Locke and psychologism.
2.Berkeley and idealism.
3.Hume and skepticism.
G.Enlightenment Movements.
1.English Deism.
2.Reid and Scottish common-sense realism.
3.The French Englightenment.
a)Voltaire.
b)Encyclopedists.
c)Sensationalists and materialists.
d)Rousseau and Romanticism.
4.German Aufklarung.
H.Loss of Optimism Regarding Reason.
1.Enlightenment optimism regarding rationality of the universe and man.
2.Collapse of confidence.
3.Recap and synopsis.
4.From confidence to despair regarding rationality.
5.Kant to the rescue.
I.Kant’s Critical Philosophy.
1.Two realms.
2.Transcendental epistemology.
3.Values and ethics.
III.NINETEENTH & TWENTIETH CENTURIES
(Lecture Outline and Reading Map).
A.Review: Rousseau & Kant (Johnson 1).
B.Hegel’s Absolute Idealism (Sahakina 10.4 5; Brown 3.2).
C.Schopenhauer’s Voluntarism and Mysticism (Sahakian 10.6).
D.Romanticism & Subjectivism (Johnson 2; Sahakian 10.3; 22.1; Brown 3.1,3,5).
E.Nietzsche’s Nihilism (Sahakian 12.4; Brown 3.4).
F.British Utilitarianism (Sahakian 11; Brown 3.4).
G.Materialism, Positivism, & Evolutionary Naturalism (Sahakian 12.1 3,5,7; 13; Brown 3.4).
H.Marxism (Johnson 3; Sahakian 14; Brown 3.4).
I.Retrospect and Prospect at Century’s End.
J.Process Philosophy: Bergson, Whitehead (Sahakian 12.6; 17.3.c).
K.Idealism (Sahakian 16.1,3).
L.Personalism (Sahakian 16.2).
M.Realism (Sahakian 17.1 3.b).
N.Phenomenology (Sahakian 21).
O.Existentialism (Johnson 9; Sahakian 22.2 3).
P.Pragmatism (Sahakian 15; Brown 3.4).
Q.Developments in Logic & Language: Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Logical Positivism (Johnson 8; Sahakian 17.2 3; 18; Brown 4.1,4).
R.Ordinary Language Analysis: Wittgenstein, Austin, Searl (Sahakian 19).
S.The Crisis of our Culture (Johnson 11 or 12; 13; Brown 4.2 3; Schaeffer 9 13).
T.Current Trends.
U.Concluding Assessment.
Philosophical Vocabulary
GENERAL
Reason: man’s intellectual or mental capacity.
Presupposition: an elementary assumption or basic commitment or foundational perspective.
Worldview: a network of presuppositions which is not verified by the procedures of natural science but in terms of which every aspect of man’s knowledge and experience is interpreted and interrelated.
Dualism: the general perspective that reality or man’s experience is properly interpreted by two different kinds of explanation, the one religious and the other non-religious; thus the endorsement of a sacred/secular distinction. [This should be distinguished from the specific metaphysical doctrine given the same name.]
Autonomous: characterized by self-sufficiency or independence from outside authority
(especially a transcendent authority); being a law unto oneself.
大路孙瑜
Transcendent: the quality of originating beyond man’s temporal experience or exceeding it.
Objective: the quality of having a public nature, independent of our thoughts.
横隔板Absolute: unconditioned by qualifications or limitations.
Relativism: all judgments are conditioned by factors like cultural milieu and individual bias; thus there is no objective, absolute truth.
Humanism: (secularism), the view that man is the highest value and authority in terms of
knowledge or behavior, rather than any transcendent reality or revelation.
Rationalism: the general attitude that man’s autonomous reason is his final authority, in which case divine revelation may be denied or ignored. [This should be distinguished from the specific epistemological school given the same name.]
Rational: an adjective used for either: (1) whatever pertains to man’s intellect (cf. “reason”), (2) whatever is based on the authority of man’s mind (cf. general attitude called “rationalism”), (3) whatever is known apart from experience or observation (cf. the epistemological school of “rationalism”)
LOGIC: the study of principles for distinguishing correct reasoning from incorrect reasoning.
Judgment: a movement in thought which asserts a predicate (quality or relation) of a subject.
Inference: a movement in thought which draws a conclusion from premises.
Fallacy: an error in reasoning or a mistaken inference.
Deduction: inferring with necessity a particular conclusion from general premises.
Induction: inferring with probability a general conclusion from particular premises.
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