Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek-speaking world in ancient times. It refers not only to the territory of the present Greek state, but also to those areas settled by Greeks: Cyprus, the Aegean coast of Turkey (then known as Ionia), Sicily and southern Italy (known as Great Greece), and the scattered Greek settlements on the coasts of what are now Albania, Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Libya, Romania, Spain, and Ukraine.
Traditionally, the Ancient Greek period was taken to begin with the date of the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C., but most historians now extend the term back to about 1000 B.C. The traditional date for the end of the Ancient Greek period is the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. The following period is classed Hellenistic, which lasted until the annexation of the Greek peninsula and islands by Rome in 146 B.C. 经过五年的教学实践,“西方思想经典导读”已正式确立为北京外国语大学英语专业必修课,在三年级上学期开设,深受学生欢迎。据了解,这门课程或类似课程正在进入越来越多的国内高校英语专业课程设置,成为英语专业人文通识教育的重要组成部分。另外,国内众多综合性大学也已把西方思想经典阅读之类的课程纳入全校通识课程或文科相关专业核心课程体系。本教材同时满足上述两方面的教学之需。
“西方思想经典导读”课程探讨西方文化史上的价值观念演变、重要思想家及思想流派、主要文学与艺术成就、宗教传统以及社会历史变迁,旨在通过对西方文化史的纵向考察和对西方思想经典文献的深度阅读,帮助学生拓宽知识面,提高人文素养,培养思辨能力。
该课程在历史、美学和哲学三个层面同时展开。在历史层面,该课程为学生勾勒西方文明史的宏观演进路径,尤其关注对西方文明发展曾产生重大影响的社会与文化事件,使学生认识西方思想产生的历史背景。在美学层面,该课程为学生提供欣赏西方**艺术与文学作品的机会,感受西方思想和价值观念在西方文艺作品中的生动表现。在哲学层面,该课程引导学生进入西方思想大家的**,阅读和分析西方政治、经济、社会、伦理、法律、科学、文艺和宗教思想史上具有里程碑意义的名篇,掌握批判性阅读的技巧,学会运用证据和逻辑有效组织和陈述自己的观点。