Social Sciences in China Review

No.4, 2018

The Compatibility of the Horizons in the Study of History Ideas of Ethics: The Case of Ancient Greece and Rome (Abstract)

Wang Xiaochao

The issue of horizons is the premise and basis of methodology. Researchers in different disciplines have different viewpoints regarding the same research subject. The research on the history of ideas of Western ethics in Chinese academia is mainly carried out in the horizons of history of ideas of ethics and the history of philosophy, and many excellent achievements have been gained both in terms of grand narrative and specific studies. In academic development, for latter scholars, the grand narrative in previous research will often fade into an intellectual background and finding the drawbacks of their predecessors in the fields of view can serve as a new starting point in academic innovation. Chinese academia needs to combine the two horizons of grand narrative and specific studies. They should have a clear direction, so as to make historical interpretation about classic texts of ethics in genealogical means.