A Study of George Sarton's New Humanism from the Perspective of Philosophy of History
George Sarton always tries to explain the significance and value of the history of science in a larger system.This system is what many thinkers have been trying to construct since the age of Enlightenment,mainly in the form of progressive idea.The progressive idea encountered a strong crisis in Sarton's time,and pessimism gradually came to the stage.The optimism or pessimism in the view of history is usually based on the beautiful imagination and expectation of science,or on the one-sided denial and rejection of science.How to understand the relationship between scientific progress and histor-ical process has always been a question that has not been systematically answered.The new humanism advocated by Sarton aims to bridge the gap between science and humanities,and also lays a good foundation for a new view of history.When Sarton makes the claim that the history of science is the only dis-cernable and unmistakable progress in human history,he distances himself from both optimism and pessimism.On the one hand,he has no doubt about the progress of science itself,and regards the history of science as a major part of the history of civilization.On the other hand,he reminds that scientific progress is"unique"in human history,and in addition to science's pursuit of truth,human history also has the content of seeking goodness and beauty,and there are multiple threads in historical development.We can further broaden our understanding of the relationship between man and nature,between man and others,and between man and himself by applying Sarton's thoughts of seeking truth,seeking goodness and seeking beauty in his view of history.The true integration of the new humanism is not reflected in specific disciplines or specific researchers,but in the new understanding of history.
George Sartonhistory of sciencenew humanismhuman historymultiple threads
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