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2024-11-24
The Lessons of History 2024 pdf epub mobi 电子书
无法终结的历史及其常识 ——简评《历史的教训》 《历史的教训》是十一卷“世界文明史”的摘要,这本不厚的书,将作者在编纂煌煌巨著中的精华和思想托盘而出,从而塑造了全新的历史常识。与作者杜兰特几乎同时代的哲学家乔治·桑塔亚那曾说,“那些不能铭记过去的人注定要重...
评分历史的第一个教训就是要学会谦逊,人类历史只是宇宙的一瞬,一颗小行星的撞击就可能让人类全体灭绝。 飞机的发展会让地理上的限制变小,制空权在新形势下要比制海权更为重要。 弱肉强食,适者生存,生命即是竞争,竞争养分,粮食,阳光,土地和配偶,乃至上升到国与国的层次。...
评分 评分威尔·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...
评分研究历史,究竟有什么用处?这是作者在本书开头自问的问题。这一问,显示了作者的野心,表明他并不想“只是从自己的工作中找点乐子,讲讲国家与观念的兴衰,侃侃‘国王殒命的悲剧’”。除了表明野心,作者还自曝历史学研究的短处:“我们对于过去发生的认识,总是不完整的,很...
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.
"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
评分这是王岐山从哪个犄角旮旯里找出来的奇行种?本书一边定性“宗教是社会对贫穷问题的解决方案”,一边明说同性恋是罪恶(sin);还有类似于"only the man who is below the average in economic ability desires equality" 这样让人很恼火的言论。我兔腹黑!
评分视角牛逼,读完有一种此生何用的感觉。
评分文笔很棒,虽说好像没什么新观点(毕竟是在1968年)。最后说历史的意义就在于把愈来愈丰富的文化传承下去,怎么说呢,总比没有意义要好。
The Lessons of History 2024 pdf epub mobi 电子书