一、人文領域的課程目標：在於啟發學生美的鑑賞與願意為善的藝術涵養。
二、本課程目標：探討西方近五百年掘起的過程：《現代西方的興起》一書。西方如何在近五百年趕上東方成為主宰世界的霸權。課程核心思考重點立基於三個面向：（一）現代西方做為「興起」或「主宰」典範的時代背景；（二）現代西方做「興起」或「主宰」典範的特色：（三）現代西方「興起」或「主宰」的典範何以經得起歷史考驗。
西元一千年，甚至一千五百年前，西方相較於東方文明的繁華富麗、璀璨輝煌，仍顯的得破敗貧瘠，落後不前。其後五百年，西方卻以驚人速度崛起，在物質技術、軍事武器、政治制度、經濟擴展和思想觀念上，躍升而為世界強權，成為支配世界的文明，進而形成殖民掠奪性質的「文明的帝國」。
如何解釋西方的崛起和西方支配論，其關鍵要素、歷史條件為何，自來是文明比較的關注課題。為深入課程，瞭解這一議題背景、脈絡，先透過當代幾位知名史家對這議題的討論和觀點以為學習基礎：
（一）尼爾˙弗格森(Neil Ferguson)的《文明》一書，探討東方文明與西方文明的興起與衰落，西方何以支配現代世界超過500年？他提出的答案是：西方發展出六大利器：競爭、科學、財產權、醫學、消費社會與工作倫理，而正是世界其他地區所缺乏的。
（二）伊安˙摩里士(Ian Morris)的《西方憑什麼》關注亦是西方文明何以支配全世界？其關鍵要素是什麼？他指出西方征服新大陸靠的是「槍炮、病菌與鋼鐵」，而槍炮、鋼鐵都源自中國，鄭和航海和造艦技術都遠勝哥倫布，為何沒橫越太平洋，征服新大陸的卻是西方？摩里士以全球史的觀照上溯遠古，一直追到二十一世紀。他更以中國史和西方史相互對照比較，試圖找出西方何以支配世界的歷史因素。
（三）另一位探討西方興起的知名世界史家麥克尼爾(William H.McNeill)，在《西方的興起：人類共同體史》一書則將人類歷史分為三個階段：中東統治的時代、歐亞文明均勢的時代和西方統治的時代。不同時期的文明雖有興衰之勢，但麥克尼爾並不特別突顯文明的霸權支配地位，他更強調不同文明間的互動過程，視全球文明為不斷互動互變的整體，並展示各個文明交融涵化、興衰演變的歷史圖貌。其目的在說明人類社會在不同程度上都是相互聯結的；各個文明之間的互動交融是文明演化、歷史變革的動力來源。
（四）巴特利特(Robert Bartlett)的《歐洲的創生：950-1350年的征服、殖民與文化變遷》，則是一本觀點相當別緻的歐洲如何形成的歷史分析著作，作者從歐洲中世紀內部殖民的角度切入，探討歐洲在當時如何發生了一股內部征服、殖民和經濟增長的浪潮，由此歐洲從一個由各自獨立分裂的小王國組成的世界變成了一個由各具獨特文化，且強大統一的王國所構成的帝國。這種內部殖民征服現象，既塑造歐洲大陸也影響當今世界文明。
上述各家觀點除麥克尼爾較宏觀全面外，既各有所專，也各有所偏，展現西方文明興起強盛的諸多面向和繁複的要素。本課程則將以戴利(Jonathan Daly)，《現代西方的興起》(The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization)一書，切入西方興起的探源，回答「為什麼是西方」的問題，此書以不同的分析面向，試圖解釋摩里士和弗格森分別提出的「西方憑什麼」以及西方何以成為強權西方(the West)，其它文明何以成為西方的其餘(the Rest)的發展過程和歷史條件的問題。此書透過文明比較的方法，以議題分析的方式，全面性的爬梳西方文明發展脈絡和興盛的複雜理路。透過教皇革命、軍事革命、探索世界、文字印刷大爆炸、宗教改革、科學革命、商業革命、政治革命、工業革命、技術革命、社會革命等歷史事件和關鍵議題，指出西方進步的主要力量在於變革和創新，在四分五裂、紛爭激烈的歐洲社會中，高度的社會互動與利益競爭，不斷的刺激創新的生成，這股競爭動力成為西方興起的龐大能量。西方近代的崛起史就是物質、技術、制度、觀念創變的歷史，也帶來現代科學、自由、民主與法治的成就。此書同時也反思西方興起過程中出現的危機和災難，如奴隸貿易、世界大戰與種族滅絕等。此外也討論其他文明對西方興起的貢獻，並指出這些文明在近代遲滯不前的原因。
1. The course objectives of the humanities field: to develop students' appreciation of beauty and artistic cultivation that is willing to be good.
2. The goal of this course: Exploring the process of digging out in the West in the past five hundred years: "The Rise of the Modern West". How did the West become the hegemony that dominates the world for nearly five hundred years? The core thinking of the course is based on three aspects: (1) The contemporary background of modern West as the "singing" or "dominate" classic; (2) The characteristics of modern West as the "singing" or "dominate" classic: (3) Modern How can Western classics "rise" or "dominate" afford historical examination?
One thousand years ago, or even one thousand five hundred years ago, the prosperity and glory of the West, which was more prosperous and brilliant than the Eastern civilization, was still obvious, and was barren, and left behind. In the next five hundred years, the West rose at an amazing speed. In terms of material technology, military weapons, political systems, economic expansion and ideological concepts, it rose to power the world, became a civilization that dominated the world, and thus formed a "civilization with colonial and plundering nature. The Empire”.
How to explain the rise of the West and the Western domination, the key elements and historical conditions, is a topic of focus for civilizations. To understand the background and context of this question in depth, we will first use the discussion and viewpoints of this question by several well-known contemporary historians to base their learning:
(I) Neil Ferguson's book "Civilization", explores the rise and decline of Eastern civilization and Western civilization. Why has the West dominated the modern world for more than 500 years? The answer he proposed is: the West has developed six powerful tools: competition, science, property rights, medicine, consumer society and work ethics, which are lacking in other parts of the world.
(II) Ian Morris's "What the West Is Coming" also focuses on why Western civilization controls the whole world? What are its key elements? He pointed out that the West relied on "guns, germs and steel wires" to conquer the New Mainland, and guns and steel wires all originated from China, and they were far away from Columbus, why didn't they cross the Pacific Ocean? The West conquered the New Mainland ? Moris went back to the past with his global history and followed until the twenty-first century. He also compared Chinese history and Western history to try to find out the historical factors of how the West dominated the world.
(III) Another well-known world historian William H. McNeill, who explored the rise of the West, divided human history into three stages: the era of the Central Eastern rule, An era of equal civilizations and an era of Western rule. Although civilizations at different times have declined, McNell does not particularly highlight the dominance of civilizations. He also emphasizes the interaction process between different civilizations, sees the global civilization as a continuous interactive and changing whole, and shows the integration of various civilizations. The historical picture of the evolution of inclusion and anxiety. Its purpose is to show that human society is interconnected to varying degrees; the interaction and integration between various civilizations is the source of power for the evolution of civilization and the transformation of history.
(IV) Robert Bartlett's "The Creation of Europe: Conquest, Colonial and Cultural Changes in 950-1350", is a historical analysis book about how Europe was formed, with a relatively different view of the author from Europe. From the perspective of internal colonization in the century, we explored how Europe had a wave of internal conquest, colonization and economic growth at that time, thus Europe transformed from a world composed of a small kingdom that was independently divided into a unique culture. And an empire formed by a powerful and unified kingdom. This phenomenon of internal colonial conquest not only shapes the European mainland but also affects the current world civilization.
In addition to McNell's comprehensive and comprehensive viewing, the above-mentioned views have both specialties and biases, demonstrating the multi-faceted and complex elements of the prosperity of Western civilization. This course will use Jonathan Daly, The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization, to explore the source of Western Xing and answer the question of "Why is it the West" in the book "The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization" to answer the question "Why is the West" This book uses different analysis aspects to illustrate the "what the West is swayed" proposed by Morris and Ferguson respectively, and why the West becomes the West (the West), and why other civilizations become the West (the West) and why other civilizations become the rest of the West (the Rest) development process and historical conditions problems. This book comprehensively composes the complex and complex paths of Western civilization development through the method of comparative civilization and the analysis of topics. Through historical events and key topics such as the Pope Revolution, Military Revolution, Exploration of the World, the Big Bang of Text Printing, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Business Revolution, Political Revolution, Industrial Revolution, Technical Revolution, Social Revolution, etc., it is pointed out that the main force of Western progress lies in the transformation In the fragmented and fierce European society, the high social interaction and competition for interests continue to stimulate the generation of innovation. This competitive force has become a huge energy for the West to rise. The history of the rise of modern Western countries is the history of the creation of material, technology, system, and concepts, and it also brings the achievements of modern science, freedom, democracy and the rule of law. This book also reflects on the crisis and disasters that occurred during the Western rise, such as slave trade, world wars and ethnic dynasty. In addition, we also discussed the contributions of other civilizations to the West and pointed out the reasons why these civilizations were stagnant in modern times.
Daly, Jonathan，《現代西方的興起》(The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization)（上海：文匯出版社，2021）
Daly, Jonathan, The Rise of Western Power: A Comparative History of Western Civilization (Shanghai: Wenhua Publishing House, 2021)
| 評分項目 Grading Method | 配分比例 Grading percentage | 說明 Description |
|---|---|---|
| 課堂報告和出席課堂報告和出席 Class Reports and Attendance |
30 | 課程以講授和討論方式進行，每週安排同學負責閱讀材料之摘要報告，和閱讀心得，並提出問題。每週點名，出席率列入平時成績計算。 |
| 平時作業 平時作業 Normal operation |
25 | 每位同學需就各週之指定教材，任選四篇撰寫閱讀心得，期中考前和期末考前各繳二篇，每篇A4一頁左右書面繳交。切勿缺繳。 |
| 彈性學習彈性學習 Flexibility Learning |
5 | 自主學習 |
| 期中/期末考試期中/期末考試 Midterm/final exam |
40 | (分數各佔20%)申論題，非開放考試 |
