希腊精神与科学

希腊文明发展的历史告诉我们,希腊精神是理性沉思与热情相结合,代表希腊理性科学特点的数学在其产生之初就是与宗教感情融合在一起的,希腊科学与这种宗教感情密不可分,正是这种宗教感情推动科学家作理性的沉思。科学与伦理相结合的基本思想在基督教的原始教义中也占有重要地位,中世纪经院哲学的特点之一是企图把基督教的信仰提升到科学理性知识的地位。科学虽然沦为神学的婢女,但神学也起着保存科学和希腊科学精神的作用。当前的重要问题是,重实验方法的近现代科学需要恢复希腊的自由精神,为符合道德要求的效益而从事科学探索是希腊“自由精神”的表现,我们现在要大声疾呼恢复希腊科学的“自由精神”,要着力反对为谋个人私利而科学,特别是要反对那种违反人类道德和灭绝理性的科学活动。西方科学用数学的方式来解释现象,这既是其优点,也是其缺点,缺点是把一切事物都片面地加以量化;中国传统主导思维方式的特点和优点正在于对事物作整体的把握。如果说西方近代科学的缺点在于割裂、分离,那么中国传统思维方式的缺点则在于笼统。中国科学的发展应该走一个“之”字形的道路:从原始的整体思维,经过推理和实验的剖析,达到更高一级的整体把握。

Greek Spirit and Science

Greek spirit is a combination of rational contemplation with passion. From the beginning, mathematics, well reflecting Greek rational science, integrated smoothly into religious sentiments, which spurred scientific rational contemplation. It has been much expected that Greek spirit should be restored in today's method-centered science. Western science appeals to mathematics in its explanation of nature. However strong it may be, it only measures whatever quantitatively. In the traditional Chinese thinking mode, the universe is taken as a whole. While the western science is idiosyncratic, its Chinese counterpart is rather nomothetic. It is good for Chinese science to develop from a barbarous global thinking to the inductive and deductive thinking and to be synthesized into a global thinking at a higher level.