Siwen Lei 雷思温

Beijing: Sanlian (SDX & Harvard-Yenching Academic Library), January 2026

About the book: This book offers insightful new perspectives for Descartes scholarship and broadens our approaches to understanding the transition between ancient and modern thought as well as the origins of modern ideas. It constitutes a careful examination of this pivotal turning point in Western philosophy, and a philosophical inquiry into the destiny of the modern world. The author demonstrates comprehensive and rigorous command of Descartes’ works, including Rules for the Direction of the Mind, Discourse on the Method, Meditations on First Philosophy, Principles of Philosophy, The Passions of the Soul and his writings on natural science. Stretching from late medieval theology (represented by Duns Scotus, Thomas Aquinas, Henry of Ghent and others) to German Classical Philosophy, French phenomenology and contemporary philosophical theology (such as Jean-Luc Marion and Emmanuel Levinas), the analysis showcases remarkable breadth in the history of philosophy and profound theoretical insight.

本书不仅为笛卡尔研究提供了富有洞见的新视角，也拓展了我们理解“古今之变”与现代思想起源的路径，既是对西方哲学这一关键转折点的悉心省察，也是对现代世界命运的哲学探索。作者对笛卡尔的哲学文本掌握全面且扎实，涵盖《规则》《谈谈方法》《第一哲学沉思》《哲学原理》《灵魂的激情》乃至自然科学相关著作，分析视野从中世纪晚期神学（如司各脱、托马斯、根特的亨利等）延伸至德国古典哲学、法国现象学、当代神学哲学（如马里翁、列维纳斯），展现出兼具哲学史广度与理论深度的研究能力。

About the series: The SDX and HYI Academic Series 三联·哈佛燕京学术丛书 began in 1994. It is edited by Feng Jinhong, Yang Le, and Zhong Yun, and is expected to publish 6 titles per year.