In dealing with this period, as with others, I have aimed at giving only so much general history as I thought necessary for the sympathetic comprehension of philosophers in relation to the times that formed them and the times that they helped to form.

• 在处理这段时期中，我想，描述一定的一般历史对于同情地理解那些和时代联系在一起的，并且为时代所塑造或有助于塑造的哲学家，是有必要的。