The Two Greatest Ideas

Two simple yet tremendously powerful ideas that shaped virtually every aspect of civilization

This book is a breathtaking examination of the two greatest ideas in human history. The first is the idea that the human mind can grasp the universe. The second is the idea that the human mind can grasp itself. Acclaimed philosopher Linda Zagzebski shows how the first unleashed a cultural awakening that swept across the world in the first millennium BCE, giving birth to philosophy, mathematics, science, and virtually all the major world religions. It dominated until the Renaissance, when the discovery of subjectivity profoundly transformed the arts and sciences. This second great idea governed our perception of reality up until the dawn of the twenty-first century.

Zagzebski explores how the interplay of the two ideas led to conflicts that have left us ambivalent about the relationship between the mind and the universe, and have given rise to a host of moral and political rifts over the deepest questions human beings face. Should we organize civil society around the ideal of living in harmony with the world or that of individual autonomy? Zagzebski explains how the two greatest ideas continue to divide us today over issues such as abortion, the environment, free speech, and racial and gender identity.

This panoramic book reveals what is missing in our conception of ourselves and the world, and imagines a not-too-distant future when a third great idea, the idea that human minds can grasp each other, will help us gain an idea of the whole of reality.

作者|琳达·扎格泽博斯基（Linda Zagzebski）

美国哲学家，俄克拉荷马大学教授，研究兴趣包括德性伦理学、美德伦理学、道德认知理论、信念和知识的本质等。她的著作Virtues of the Mind被广泛认为是关于美德伦理学和认识论的重要贡献。2022年当选为美国艺术与科学院院士。

译者|孙天

北京外国语大学英语语言文学学士、硕士，中国翻译协会会员。从事翻译工作近二十年，出版《世界观：现代人必须要懂的科学哲学和科学史》等译著数十种，累计近百万字，并曾长期为《环球时报》《华夏地理》《第一财经周刊》等报纸杂志翻译专栏文章，翻译作品体裁丰富，语言流畅，风格多样，近年来深耕科普和哲学领域。