蘇格蘭啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)
18世紀(jì)40年代法國(guó)哲學(xué)家伏爾泰曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)：“蘇格蘭匯集了我們所要尋找的所有文明”。這對(duì)一個(gè)國(guó)家來(lái)說(shuō)無(wú)疑是不錯(cuò)的廣告，尤其可以吸引那些正在尋求一流教育的人。
然而有些人認(rèn)為還不僅如此。據(jù)美國(guó)作家阿瑟?赫爾曼所說(shuō)，是蘇格蘭人創(chuàng)造了現(xiàn)代社會(huì)的一切。他認(rèn)為蘇格蘭思想家和知識(shí)分子提出了很多現(xiàn)代生活弓[以為據(jù)的思想，涵蓋科學(xué)理論到市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)等多個(gè)領(lǐng)域。他們的思想不僅在學(xué)術(shù)界廣為流傳，那些構(gòu)建西方世界的商人，政府官員及科學(xué)家等也深受他們的影響。
各種思潮的蓬勃開(kāi)始于1740年到1800年之間發(fā)生的蘇格蘭啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)。當(dāng)時(shí)蘇格蘭聚集了一大批使西方哲學(xué)產(chǎn)生巨大轉(zhuǎn)變的思想家。在這之前，哲學(xué)以宗教作為它的主要研究對(duì)象。而蘇格蘭啟蒙思想家則認(rèn)為人類(lèi)應(yīng)以人本身作為研究對(duì)象。
啟蒙思想家們主張分析的實(shí)用性。哲學(xué)家大衛(wèi)?休謨認(rèn)為哲學(xué)應(yīng)把人類(lèi)作為研究對(duì)象，因?yàn)檫@樣我們可以審視人的行為從而求證人類(lèi)究竟是如何思考和感知的。在此基礎(chǔ)上我們就可以對(duì)我們居住的社會(huì)作出評(píng)價(jià)，進(jìn)而提出具體的改進(jìn)意見(jiàn)，造福全人類(lèi)。
休謨本身不是科學(xué)家，但他對(duì)知識(shí)性質(zhì)的研究為從經(jīng)驗(yàn)中尋求真理的科學(xué)理論奠定了思想基礎(chǔ)。他的好友也是他在愛(ài)丁堡時(shí)的室友，亞當(dāng)?斯密以將人類(lèi)學(xué)研究應(yīng)用于經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)而著稱(chēng)。亞當(dāng)斯密曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)貿(mào)易是一種信息。金錢(qián)是人們相互告知自己需求的一種方式，而人們的消費(fèi)金額使我們了解一個(gè)人對(duì)某種商品的需求程度的途徑。人們?cè)谑袌?chǎng)貿(mào)易中尋求自身利益的過(guò)程是互利互惠的。
亞當(dāng)斯密的啟蒙性的 “自身利益”的觀點(diǎn)不僅已成為現(xiàn)代經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的主流，它在其他方面還有更廣的應(yīng)用。他是第一個(gè)提出世界各國(guó)可以通過(guò)和平、貿(mào)易和創(chuàng)造發(fā)明而不是通過(guò)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)和掠奪來(lái)變得富裕、自由、強(qiáng)大的哲學(xué)家。
最初的蘇格蘭啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)隨著亞當(dāng)斯密，休謨等在蘇格蘭居住的思想家們的去世而衰落了。但是我們?nèi)钥梢钥吹絾⒚蛇\(yùn)動(dòng)的痕跡，那時(shí)產(chǎn)生的思想仍是我們當(dāng)今很多理論的基礎(chǔ)。在今天的蘇格蘭，其教育傳統(tǒng)仍是將學(xué)術(shù)精湛和實(shí)用目的相結(jié)合的。
系統(tǒng)水平整合研究所就是一個(gè)很好的例子。該所1998年由四所蘇格蘭大學(xué)創(chuàng)建，以計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)，電子工程和信息學(xué)為學(xué)術(shù)專(zhuān)長(zhǎng)。雖然他的許多學(xué)科都走在科學(xué)前沿，其最終教學(xué)目的還是基于現(xiàn)實(shí)社會(huì)的需求，即為當(dāng)今全球多變的半導(dǎo)體工業(yè)培養(yǎng)高水平的設(shè)計(jì)工程師和研究者。
雖然這只是蘇格蘭眾多教育機(jī)構(gòu)中的一個(gè)，但是該研究所的教育理念證實(shí)了蘇格蘭啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)思想在今天仍有體現(xiàn)。蘇格蘭仍然在創(chuàng)造，發(fā)展，并努力地傳播著它的啟蒙思想。
Finding Enlightenment in Scotland
In the 1740s, the famous French philosophy Voltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization." That's not a bad advertisement for any country, especially when it comes to attracting people in search of a first class education.
Yet some people go even further than that. According to the American author Arthur Herman, the Scots invented the modem world itself. He argues that Scottish thinkers and intellectuals worked out many of the most important ideas on which modem life depends - everything from the scientific method to market economics. Their ideas did not just spread amongst intellectuals, but to those people in business, government and the sciences who actually shaped the Western world.
It all started during the period that historians call the Scottish Enlightenment, which is usually seen as taking place between the years 1740 and 1800, At this time, Scotland was home to a number of thinkers who made an important shift in the course of Western philosophy. Before that, philosophy was mainly concerned with religion. For the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, the proper study of humanity was mankind itself.
Their reasoning was practical. For the philosopher David Hume, humanity was the right subject for philosophy because we can examine human behavior and so find real evidence of how people think and feel. And from that we can make judgments about the societies we live in and make concrete suggestions about how they can be improved, for universal benefit.
Hume was not a scientist himself, but his enquiry into the nature of knowledge laid the foundations for the scientific method - the pursuit of truth through experiment. His friend and fellow resident of Edinburgh, Adam Smith, famously applied the study of mankind to the ways in which mankind does business. Trade, he argued, was a form of information. Money is the way in which people tell each other what they want, and how much people pay is the best way we have of knowing how much somebody wants something. In pursuing our own interests through trading in markets, we all come to benefit each other.
18世紀(jì)40年代法國(guó)哲學(xué)家伏爾泰曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)：“蘇格蘭匯集了我們所要尋找的所有文明”。這對(duì)一個(gè)國(guó)家來(lái)說(shuō)無(wú)疑是不錯(cuò)的廣告，尤其可以吸引那些正在尋求一流教育的人。
然而有些人認(rèn)為還不僅如此。據(jù)美國(guó)作家阿瑟?赫爾曼所說(shuō)，是蘇格蘭人創(chuàng)造了現(xiàn)代社會(huì)的一切。他認(rèn)為蘇格蘭思想家和知識(shí)分子提出了很多現(xiàn)代生活弓[以為據(jù)的思想，涵蓋科學(xué)理論到市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)等多個(gè)領(lǐng)域。他們的思想不僅在學(xué)術(shù)界廣為流傳，那些構(gòu)建西方世界的商人，政府官員及科學(xué)家等也深受他們的影響。
各種思潮的蓬勃開(kāi)始于1740年到1800年之間發(fā)生的蘇格蘭啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)。當(dāng)時(shí)蘇格蘭聚集了一大批使西方哲學(xué)產(chǎn)生巨大轉(zhuǎn)變的思想家。在這之前，哲學(xué)以宗教作為它的主要研究對(duì)象。而蘇格蘭啟蒙思想家則認(rèn)為人類(lèi)應(yīng)以人本身作為研究對(duì)象。
啟蒙思想家們主張分析的實(shí)用性。哲學(xué)家大衛(wèi)?休謨認(rèn)為哲學(xué)應(yīng)把人類(lèi)作為研究對(duì)象，因?yàn)檫@樣我們可以審視人的行為從而求證人類(lèi)究竟是如何思考和感知的。在此基礎(chǔ)上我們就可以對(duì)我們居住的社會(huì)作出評(píng)價(jià)，進(jìn)而提出具體的改進(jìn)意見(jiàn)，造福全人類(lèi)。
休謨本身不是科學(xué)家，但他對(duì)知識(shí)性質(zhì)的研究為從經(jīng)驗(yàn)中尋求真理的科學(xué)理論奠定了思想基礎(chǔ)。他的好友也是他在愛(ài)丁堡時(shí)的室友，亞當(dāng)?斯密以將人類(lèi)學(xué)研究應(yīng)用于經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)而著稱(chēng)。亞當(dāng)斯密曾經(jīng)說(shuō)過(guò)貿(mào)易是一種信息。金錢(qián)是人們相互告知自己需求的一種方式，而人們的消費(fèi)金額使我們了解一個(gè)人對(duì)某種商品的需求程度的途徑。人們?cè)谑袌?chǎng)貿(mào)易中尋求自身利益的過(guò)程是互利互惠的。
亞當(dāng)斯密的啟蒙性的 “自身利益”的觀點(diǎn)不僅已成為現(xiàn)代經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)的主流，它在其他方面還有更廣的應(yīng)用。他是第一個(gè)提出世界各國(guó)可以通過(guò)和平、貿(mào)易和創(chuàng)造發(fā)明而不是通過(guò)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)和掠奪來(lái)變得富裕、自由、強(qiáng)大的哲學(xué)家。
最初的蘇格蘭啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)隨著亞當(dāng)斯密，休謨等在蘇格蘭居住的思想家們的去世而衰落了。但是我們?nèi)钥梢钥吹絾⒚蛇\(yùn)動(dòng)的痕跡，那時(shí)產(chǎn)生的思想仍是我們當(dāng)今很多理論的基礎(chǔ)。在今天的蘇格蘭，其教育傳統(tǒng)仍是將學(xué)術(shù)精湛和實(shí)用目的相結(jié)合的。
系統(tǒng)水平整合研究所就是一個(gè)很好的例子。該所1998年由四所蘇格蘭大學(xué)創(chuàng)建，以計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)，電子工程和信息學(xué)為學(xué)術(shù)專(zhuān)長(zhǎng)。雖然他的許多學(xué)科都走在科學(xué)前沿，其最終教學(xué)目的還是基于現(xiàn)實(shí)社會(huì)的需求，即為當(dāng)今全球多變的半導(dǎo)體工業(yè)培養(yǎng)高水平的設(shè)計(jì)工程師和研究者。
雖然這只是蘇格蘭眾多教育機(jī)構(gòu)中的一個(gè)，但是該研究所的教育理念證實(shí)了蘇格蘭啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)思想在今天仍有體現(xiàn)。蘇格蘭仍然在創(chuàng)造，發(fā)展，并努力地傳播著它的啟蒙思想。
Finding Enlightenment in Scotland
In the 1740s, the famous French philosophy Voltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization." That's not a bad advertisement for any country, especially when it comes to attracting people in search of a first class education.
Yet some people go even further than that. According to the American author Arthur Herman, the Scots invented the modem world itself. He argues that Scottish thinkers and intellectuals worked out many of the most important ideas on which modem life depends - everything from the scientific method to market economics. Their ideas did not just spread amongst intellectuals, but to those people in business, government and the sciences who actually shaped the Western world.
It all started during the period that historians call the Scottish Enlightenment, which is usually seen as taking place between the years 1740 and 1800, At this time, Scotland was home to a number of thinkers who made an important shift in the course of Western philosophy. Before that, philosophy was mainly concerned with religion. For the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, the proper study of humanity was mankind itself.
Their reasoning was practical. For the philosopher David Hume, humanity was the right subject for philosophy because we can examine human behavior and so find real evidence of how people think and feel. And from that we can make judgments about the societies we live in and make concrete suggestions about how they can be improved, for universal benefit.
Hume was not a scientist himself, but his enquiry into the nature of knowledge laid the foundations for the scientific method - the pursuit of truth through experiment. His friend and fellow resident of Edinburgh, Adam Smith, famously applied the study of mankind to the ways in which mankind does business. Trade, he argued, was a form of information. Money is the way in which people tell each other what they want, and how much people pay is the best way we have of knowing how much somebody wants something. In pursuing our own interests through trading in markets, we all come to benefit each other.