在《基地》（Foundation）系列中，以撒．艾西莫夫（Isaac Asimov）採用愛德華．吉朋（Edward Gibbon）的《羅馬帝國衰亡史》（The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire）作為架構，加以將其歷史以未來敘事之方法呈現出社會發展與個人行為之衝突。本文主要以分析《基地三部曲》（the Foundation trilogy）及《基地後傳》（the Foundation sequels）來探討艾西莫夫對於影響歷史進程的主要條件及其基地史觀。首先，我以烏托邦架構分析心理史學（psychohistory），並闡述其為何為意識形態形式（form of ideology）；進而探究在歷史進程中自由意志與決定論（free will and determinism）之衝突。在《基地》系列中，讀者可以看到，當科學在歷史進程上扮演著重要角色時，個人行為與情感同樣地也在歷史發展史中有著不可忽視的地位。本文旨在分析文本中不同層級的衝突與張力，試圖從中闡明艾西莫夫的歷史理念，並探究出影響《基地》歷史進程的最終條件。

In the Foundation series, Asimov adopts the framework from Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and maneuvers history to a futuristic narration with the confrontations between social phenomena and individual behaviors. This thesis explores Asimov’s idea of history by discovering the major conditions that govern historical process in his fictional universe, mostly from the Foundation trilogy and the sequels. I begin with the analysis of psychohistory under a utopian framework, and I see psychohistory as a form of ideology. Then, I examine the struggles between free will and determinism in the course of Foundation history. While science plays a crucial role in determining the process of history, individual behaviors, emotions and sentience also represent powerful forces within historical development. This thesis follows Asimov’s linear historical process and attempts to divulge the major stimulation within the Foundation history.

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