论西方科学的人文背景

自文艺复兴到现代的人文文化,对西方科学的产生、成长和发展做出了巨大贡献。文艺复兴的文学人文主义,让人以独立于上帝的视角来自由地审视自然现象,而科学人文主义建构了人作为自然感应者的形象,极大地唤醒了人们研究自然的兴趣,并激发了数学方法与实验方法的灵感。近代人文文化建构了人作为自然旁观者的形象,将超自然力量和神秘实体从科学研究中清除出去,有力地推动了自然科学成长为独立而成熟的知识体系。现代人文文化建构了人作为自然的积极观察者和参与者的形象,并根据人类理性有限性思想和视角主义的观点,有力地驳斥了“神目观”的形而上学教条,从科学语言、科学方法的角度推动了现代科学的全面发展。从某种意义上可以说,没有自文艺复兴到现代的人文文化,就没有近现代西方科学。

Humanistic Context of Western Science

Humanities from Renaissance to late modern made great contribution to the birth,growth and development of Western Science.In Renaissance,Literary Humanism helped man freely perceive the natural phenomena independent of God,while Scientific Humanism constructed the image of man as the homologue to nature,greatly provoked people's interest in natural study,and inspired the scientific methods of math and experiment.The early modern humanities constructed the image of man as the spectator of nature,eliminated the super power and mystical entities from the domain of science,vigorously promoted growth of science into the independent and mature system of human knowledge.The late modern humanities constructed the image of man as positive observer and participant of nature,convincingly refuted the metaphysic dogma of God's-Eye-View on the ground of limitation of human reason and perspectivism,and promoted the comprehensive development of late modern science from the perspective of language and method.To a certain sense,there would be no Western Science without western humanities from Renaissance to late modern.