William James Durant (November 5, 1875 – November 7, 1981) was a prolific American writer, historian, and philosopher. He is best known for The Story of Civilization, 11 volumes written in collaboration with his wife Ariel Durant and published between 1935 and 1975. He was earlier noted for The Story of Philosophy, written in 1926, which one observer described as "a groundbreaking work that helped to popularize philosophy."[1]
He conceived of philosophy as total perspective, or, seeing things "sub specie totius," a phrase derived from Spinoza's "sub specie aeternitatis."[2] He sought to unify and humanize the great body of historical knowledge, which had grown too voluminous and become fragmented into esoteric specialties, and to vitalize it for contemporary application.[3] Durant was a gifted prose stylist and storyteller who won a large readership in great part because of the nature and excellence of his writing, which, in contrast to formal academic language, is lively, witty, ornate and often epigrammatic.
Will and Ariel Durant were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1968 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.
发表于2025-01-27
The Lessons of History 2025 pdf epub mobi 电子书
威尔·杜兰特跟胡适是同学,都是大哲学家杜威的学生,威尔·杜兰特是美国著名学者、终身哲学教授,《历史的教训》是他与夫人合著的一本书。 在写《历史的教训》之前,从上世纪20年代末期开始,威尔·杜兰特用了50年的时间写出了11卷的《世界文明史》,内容涵盖政治、经济、军...
评分其实,看到书名,我就产生了偏见。 这两天,我翻了一遍此书,虽说依然对其有偏见,但我对作者核心思想的认知已有所改变,觉得这本书不应该被理解为“物竞天择”的鼓吹书。我认为应该这样理解——这本书的书名叫“历史的教训”,而杜兰特在P172说了“历史是如此的丰富多彩,以至...
评分正如这本书中的前言所说的,这只是杜兰特在写作《世界文明史》的间隙里留下的随笔,书中所举的例子跨度非常大,也没有什么体系可言,能被攻讦的地方多只有多。 也正如杜兰特在序言里所说的:没人该期待一本小册子能解释历史的含义。 然而为什么这本小册子在三十年后依旧被人推...
评分阅读原文点我必看 作者简介 威尔·杜兰特,美国著名学者,终身哲学教授,普利策奖(1968年)和自由勋章(1977年)获得者。 他先后在美国圣彼得学院和哥伦比亚大学接受高等教育。后来进入哥伦比亚大学研究生物学,并在美国著名哲学家杜威的指导下攻读哲学,1917年获哥大博士学位...
评分阅读原文点我必看 作者简介 威尔·杜兰特,美国著名学者,终身哲学教授,普利策奖(1968年)和自由勋章(1977年)获得者。 他先后在美国圣彼得学院和哥伦比亚大学接受高等教育。后来进入哥伦比亚大学研究生物学,并在美国著名哲学家杜威的指导下攻读哲学,1917年获哥大博士学位...
图书标签: 历史 history 哲学 英文原版 原版 英文 will-durant 经典
The Lessons of History is a book by historians Will Durant and Ariel Durant.
In The Lessons of History the authors provided a summary of periods and trends in history they had noted upon completion of their momentous eleven volume The Story of Civilization. Will Durant stated that he and Ariel "made note of events and comments that might illuminate present affairs, future probabilities, the nature of man, and the conduct of states."
The book thus presents an overview of the themes and lessons observed from 5000 years of world history examined from 13 perspectives such as geography, biology, race, character, morals, religion, economics, socialism, government, war, growth and decay and progress.
文笔优美 适合大声朗读 真正的宏观历史学 十年后再读一遍
评分"History can only be an industry, an art, and a philosophy"。宏观地看待/总结历史,内容不长,文笔极好,流畅精准。一些观点并不难理解(比如革命起源于经济原因,但发展取决于其他因素),也学到一些新的观点:宗教的周期性、年轻人和老人的对垒、社会财富分配的发展规律等等。作者推崇个人发展和心智启蒙。最后对历史是否在前进写了非常棒的一段话。
评分2018-10 读了太久……
评分"History can only be an industry, an art, and a philosophy"。宏观地看待/总结历史,内容不长,文笔极好,流畅精准。一些观点并不难理解(比如革命起源于经济原因,但发展取决于其他因素),也学到一些新的观点:宗教的周期性、年轻人和老人的对垒、社会财富分配的发展规律等等。作者推崇个人发展和心智启蒙。最后对历史是否在前进写了非常棒的一段话。
评分语句考究,总体来说是充满智慧的书,值得细读。
The Lessons of History 2025 pdf epub mobi 电子书