前蘇格拉底哲學 第七講 德謨克利特

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前蘇格拉底哲學 第七講 德謨克利特

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the pre-socratics lecture 7 Democritus.

前蘇格拉底哲學 第7講 德謨克利特

we have reached the final lecture in our exploration through the ideas of the earliest known philosophers of Western civilization the pre-socratics.

我們已經通過西方文明最早的哲學家，即前蘇格拉底哲學的思想，以完成我們探索的最後一節課。

in this final lecture we will direct our attention to Democritus who is most famous for being one of the founders of the philosophical doctrine known as atomism.

在最後一講中，我們將關注德謨克利特，他是最著名的哲學家之一，他創立了原子論。

as a quick side note a philosopher known as Leucippus is often heralded as the founder of atomism and the teacher of Democritus.

作為一個簡短的補充說明，一位被稱為Leucippus的哲學家經常被譽為原子論的創始人和德謨克利特的老師。

however nothing is known of Leucippus and some ancient philosophers denied that he even existed.

然而，人們對Leucippus一無所知，一些古代哲學家甚至否認他的存在。

thus for our lecture we will proceed with attributing the ideas of atomism to Democritus alone.

因此，在我們的演講中，我們將繼續把原子論的思想單獨歸因於德謨克利特。

the pre-socratics influence on Plato and Aristotle is well known.

前蘇格拉底哲學對柏拉圖和亞里斯多德的影響是眾所周知的。

however the ideas of Democritus are somewhat unique among the pre-socratics in that his atomism,

然而，德謨克利特的原子論思想在前蘇格拉底哲學中有一些獨特之處

along with playing a formative role in shaping the thought of Plato and Aristotle influenced the mechanical philosophy,

在形成柏拉圖和亞里斯多德的思想過程中起著重要作用的同時，也影響了機械論哲學

a view which was to become dominant during the Scientific Revolution.

這一觀點在科學革命期間成為主流。

the mechanical philosophy was developed by thinkers such as Rene Descartes Pierre Gassendi Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton,

機械哲學是由勒內·笛卡爾、皮埃爾·伽桑狄、伽利略和艾薩克·牛頓等思想家發展起來的

while many of the ideas of the mechanical philosophers have been abandoned,

而機械哲學家的許多觀點都被拋棄了

the idea that the universe is composed of tiny building blocks called atoms remained influential up until the 20th century

直到20世紀，宇宙是由被稱為原子的微小構件組成的觀點仍然具有影響力

and as we will see the idea of atoms was first put forth by Democritus over 2,000 years ago.

我們會看到原子的概念是由德謨克利特在2000多年前提出的。

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the great 20th century physicist Richard Feynman once said that if in some Cataclysm all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed

20世紀偉大的物理學家理察·費曼曾經說過，如果在一場大災難中，所有的科學知識都將被摧毀

and only one sentence passed on to the next generation of creatures,

並且只有一句話能被傳遞給下一代生物，

what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words?

什麼陳述能使用最少的單詞包含最多的信息呢？

I believe that it is the atomic hypothesis that all things are made of atoms little particles that move around in perpetual motion.

我相信那是原子的假設，所有的東西都是由原子--小粒子在不停地運動--組成的。

so who was this man who first put forth the scientific statement which according to Feynman contains the most information in the words

那麼，誰是第一個提出科學論斷的人呢?根據費曼的說法，這一論斷包含了最多的信息

Democritus was born in approximately 460 BC in Abdera a town in northern Greece,

德謨克利特大約於公元前460年出生在希臘北部的小鎮Abdera

perhaps more than any other pre-socratic philosopher Democritus deserves the epithet genius.

也許比任何其他前蘇格拉底哲學家德謨克利特更值得被稱為天才。

he is said to have written over 60 works on topics ranging from ethics physics astronomy medicine and musical theory to name but a few of his subjects of interest.

據說他寫了60多部作品，主題遍布倫理學、物理學、天文學、醫學和音樂理論以及其他感興趣的學科。

unfortunately none of these works survive and for knowledge of him we must rely on a few fragments of his works,

不幸的是，這些作品都沒有流傳下來，要了解他，我們必須依靠他作品的一些殘篇

which remain and on the reports of other ancient philosophers.

這些殘篇在其他古代哲學家的報告中得以保留。

although Democritus was interested in a wide range of subjects,

儘管德謨克利特對廣泛的主題感興趣

he is most famous for the claim that the universe is composed of atoms and void,

他最著名的主張是宇宙是由原子和虛無組成的

an idea which as we mentioned was to have a profound influence on future philosophers and scientists.

正如我們提到的，這個想法對未來的哲學家和科學家產生了深遠的影響。

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the word atom comes from the greek word atomos which combines the private of A indicating absence with the verb Tomos,

atom這個詞來自希臘語atomos，它是由一個單獨的字母A和表示缺席的動詞Tomos組成

which means to split so the word atomos or Adam means unsplitabel

Tomos的意思是分裂，所以atomos或者Adam的意思是不可再分的

Democritus is atoms were to him the fundamental building blocks of everything in the universe and were indivisible solid and indestructible.

德謨克利特認為原子是宇宙萬物的基本組成部分，是不可分割的和不可摧毀的固體。

these atoms exist in the void which Democritus conceived of as empty space or nothingness,

這些原子存在於德謨克利特所設想的真空或虛無之中

and all things in this world are created when atoms collide and become entangled with each other along with positing the existence of void,

這個世界上所有的東西都是在原子碰撞時產生的，它們相互纏繞在一起，同時也假設了真空的存在

something which earlier pre-socratics such as Parmenides had denied as a possibility,

在其之前的蘇格拉底哲學家，如巴門尼德，曾否認這種可能性

Democritus was groundbreaking for his explanation regarding the nature of qualities such as hot cold sweet or wet in Parmenides from a previous lecture claimed that

德謨克利特對巴門尼德的熱，冷，甜，溼等性質的解釋是開創性的他，這在之前的課上說過

the basic constituents of the universe are particles of water earth air and fire.

宇宙的基本成分是水、土、空氣和火的粒子。

a fire particle for example is hot,

例如，火粒子是熱的

while a water particle has the quality of wetness Democritus asserted that atoms are not hot or wet.

而水粒子具有溼潤的性質，德謨克利特卻斷言原子既不熱也不溼。

in fact he claimed that they have no qualities what's ever to understand this idea,

事實上，他聲稱他們沒有任何品質去理解這個觀點

it will be helpful to invoke a concept commonly used today in the discipline of philosophy of mind qualia are the phenomenal qualities that make up our subjective experience.

它將有助於調用一個概念，通常使用在今天的心理哲學學科的精神資格是現象的性質，組成我們的主觀經驗。

our experience of the redness of a rose the sound of a beautiful song or the sweetness of honey are all examples of qualia

我們對玫瑰的紅色、美妙的歌聲或蜂蜜的甜蜜的體驗都是這種感質的例子

Democritus proposed that the qualia are not to be found in the atoms as they exist in reality,

德謨克利特提出，在實際存在的原子中，不能發現這種感質

in other words the objective character of atoms is that they are completely devoid of all qualities being devoid of all qualities.

換句話說，原子的客觀特徵是它們完全沒有所有的性質。

Democritus thought that atoms are defined solely by three different quantitative measures.

德謨克利特認為，原子僅由三種不同的定量標準來定義。

more specifically he believed that atoms differ from one another according to their shape arrangement and position if atoms are defined solely by quantitative characteristics and are wholly devoid of qualities.

更具體地說，他認為，如果原子僅僅由數量特徵來定義，並且完全沒有質量，那麼原子之間就會根據它們的形狀排列和位置而有所不同。

then how is it that our experience is always an experience of qualia to take a concrete example,

那麼為什麼我們的經驗總是一種經驗的資格來舉一個這種感質的例子

if a rose is nothing but a collection of atoms that are devoid of color,

如果一朵玫瑰只是一堆沒有顏色的原子

then how is it that we experience a rose as being red to understand how Democritus answered this,

那麼我們是如何體驗到玫瑰是紅色的，德謨克利特是如何回答這個問題的呢

we must familiarize ourselves with a distinction which was present in the mind of every ancient Greek thinker of the fifth century BC,

我們必須熟悉公元前五世紀每一位古希臘思想家心中都有的一種區別

that being the distinction between things that exist by nature and things that exist by convention or custom to use the Greek words thinkers in this ancient period,

這就是自然存在的事物和傳統或習俗存在的事物之間的區別用古希臘思想家的話來說

distinguished between that which exists by physis and that which exists by Nomos.

區分由physis存在的和Nomos存在的

what exists by nature or by fizzes is something that is objective and written into the fabric of nature or reality,

自然或泡沫所存在的東西是客觀的，寫進了自然或現實的結構中

so that even if human beings were wiped from this earth that which exists by nature would remain in existence.

人類從地球上被抹殺了，自然界存在的東西將繼續存在。

what exists by custom or Nomos is something which is an artificial human construction and dependent on the human mind for its existence.

習慣或Nomos所存在的是一種人為的人類構造，它的存在依賴於人類的思維。

if human beings were wiped from the earth that which exists by convention would also disappear ever now,

如果人類從地球上消失，那麼按慣例存在的一切也將永遠消失

Democritus thought that the qualia we experienced do not exist by nature or in reality but exist by convention or Nomos.

德謨克利特認為，我們所經歷的資格並不存在於自然或現實中，而是存在於慣例或Nomos中。

our experience of sweet bitter cold and red arise when the atoms of the world contact the atoms in our body

當世界上的原子與我們身體裡的原子接觸時，我們就產生了甜、苦、冷、紅的體驗

and thus are artificial constructions wholly dependent on human beings qualities to put it another way arise from the physical interaction of the atoms of the world.

因此，人造建構完全依賴於人類的素質，換句話說，來自世界原子間的物理相互作用。

with the atoms of our body in reality sweet bitter cold red and all other qualities do not exist and have no objective basis within the nature of things.

在現實中，我們身體的原子是甜的、苦的、冷的、紅的，所有其他性質都不存在，在事物的本質中沒有客觀的基礎。

Democritus is most famous fragment conveys this notion.

德謨克利特最著名的殘篇表達了這個概念。

he wrote by convention sweet by convention bitter by convention hot by convention cold by convention color,

德謨克利特說，按慣例甜，按慣例苦，按慣例熱，按慣例冷，按慣例顏色

but in reality atoms and void in the 17th century Galileo who as we mentioned at the onset of this lecture was influenced by atomism echoed this exact idea of democritus's.

但實際上，在17世紀伽利略的《原子與虛空》中我們在這節課開始時提到過他受到原子論的影響，這與德謨克利特的觀點相呼應。

I think therefore that these tastes odors colors etc so far as their objective existence is concerned are nothing but mere names for something

因此，我認為這些味道、氣味、顏色等等，就它們的客觀存在而言，只不過是一些東西的名稱而已

which resides exclusively in our sensitive body so that if the perceiving creatures were removed,

它只存在於我們可感知的身體中，一旦這些感知的創造物被移除

all these qualities would be annihilated and abolished from existence.

所有這些品質都將被消滅。

Democritus is doctrine of atomism also put forth some intriguing epistemological insights or in other words insights into the nature of knowledge.

德謨克利特的原子主義學說也提出了一些有趣的認識論見解或者說對知識本質的見解。

the truth according to Democritus is that in reality there exists atoms and void.

德謨克利特認為，事實是存在原子和真空之間的。

however this truth lies hidden from our senses just as we cannot see from the surface what lies at the depths of the ocean.

然而，這個真理隱藏在我們的感官之外，就像我們不能從表面看到海洋深處的東西一樣。

we cannot through our senses perceive and come to obtain knowledge of atoms which are too small to be perceived in reality wrote Democritus.

德謨克利特寫道，我們不能通過我們的感官來感知和獲得原子的知識，因為原子太小了，在現實中是無法被感知的。

we know nothing for truth is in the depths.

因為真理在深處，所以我們一無所知。

our experience of the world does not convey the truth regarding the nature of things,

我們對世界的體驗並不能傳達關於事物本質的真理

there are no colors sounds tastes or smells in reality what we perceive with our senses is only apparent knowledge.

沒有顏色，沒有聲音，沒有味道，沒有氣味，在現實中，我們用我們的感官感知到的只是表面上的知識。

real knowledge or truth lies hidden within the depths of the universe.

真正的知識或真理隱藏在宇宙的深處。

a person must know that he is separated from reality wrote Democritus,

德謨克利特寫道，一個人必須知道他與現實是分離的

although according to Democritus the truth lies concealed within the depths of reality.

儘管按照德謨克利特的說法，真理隱藏在現實的深處。

it is not impossible to arrive at truths.

但獲得真理並非不可能。

Democritus himself thought he had arrived at a truth with his postulation.

德謨克利特自己認為他的假設已經得出了一個真理。

that objective reality is constituted solely by atoms and void to arrive at the truth.

那客觀實在完全是由原子和虛空構成的，以達到真理。

Democritus like Parmenides before him thought that one must rely on the mind or reason,

德謨克利特和他之前的巴門尼德一樣，認為人必須依靠思想或理性

a view which in the philosophy has come to be known as rationalism,

這一觀點在哲學中已被稱為理性主義

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while Democritus was similar to Parmenides,

而德謨克利特與巴門尼德很相似

in that he thought it was only through the use of our reason that we could obtain legitimate knowledge or truth.

因為他認為只有通過運用我們的理性，我們才能獲得合法的知識或真理。

he was unlike Parmenides and that he thought we must not disregard our senses altogether,

他不像巴門尼德，他認為我們不能完全忽視我們的感官

but instead utilized them as a starting point on the road to truth.

而是把它們作為通往真理之路的起點。

before we leave Democritus and conclude this final lecture on the pre-socratics we must briefly attend to his ethical ideas.

在我們離開德謨克利特，並結束關於前蘇格拉底的最後一講之前，我們必須簡要回顧一下他的倫理思想。

Diogenes in his lives of eminent philosophers had this to say about democritus's thoughts on the good life.

第歐根尼在其著名哲學家的一生中對德謨克利特關於美好生活的思想有過這樣的論述。

the end of action is tranquility which is not identical with pleasure,

行動的目的是平靜，而平靜並不等同於快樂

as some by a false interpretation have understood,

正如有些人通過錯誤的解釋所理解的那樣

but a state in which the soul continues calm and strong undisturbed by any fear or superstition or any other emotion.

而是一種靈魂繼續保持平靜和強大的狀態，不受任何恐懼、迷信或其他情緒的幹擾。

this he calls well-being and many other names in order to achieve tranquility and peace of mind.

為了達到內心的平靜和安寧，他把幸福和許多其他的名字叫做幸福。

Democritus thought it was necessary that one develop self-discipline and become the master of one's passions.

德謨克利特認為，一個人有必要發展自律，成為自己激情的主人。

the courageous man is he who overcomes not only the enemy but pleasures also but some are masters of cities yet slaves to women.

有膽量的人，不但能戰勝仇敵，也能戰勝快樂。有人作了城邑的主人，有人卻作了婦女的奴僕。

he wrote however Democritus did not preach asceticism or a total renunciation of pleasures altogether.

但他寫道，德謨克利特並沒有宣揚禁欲主義或完全放棄享樂。

instead indulging in pleasures in a controlled manner is necessary for tranquillity and peace of mind.

相反，以一種克制的方式沉溺於快樂對平靜和心靈的平靜是必要的。

self-control increases the lights and makes pleasures greater.

自我控制增加了光明，使快樂更多。

he wrote it is likely that Democritus saw the masses of men as slaves to their passions and desires chasing blindly after money fame honor sexual gratification and social acceptance and concluded that such a slavish life is not a life worth living.

他寫道，德謨克利特很可能把大多數人看作是他們的激情和欲望的奴隸，盲目地追逐金錢、名譽、性滿足和社會接受，並得出結論，這樣的奴隸生活不值得過下去。

one must become the master of oneself,

一個人必須成為自己的主人

the maker of one's destiny and the sculptor of one's character.

命運的創造者，性格的雕刻家。

such a life is the only life appropriate to the human being.

這樣的生活是唯一適合人類的生活。

as the third century neoplatonist porphyry wrote Democritus said that to live badly and not with prudence and self-control and holiness was not to live badly,

正如三世紀新柏拉圖主義者波菲利所寫的那樣，德謨克利特說過，生活得不好，而沒有謹慎，自控和聖潔，並不意味著生活得不好

but to be a long time in dying.

而是要在漫長的時間裡死去。

we will conclude our final lecture of the pre-socratic series with a quote from Democritus,

我們將引用德謨克利特的話來結束前蘇格拉底系列的最後一講

which is eerily similar to one of the more famous quotes by Shakespeare

與莎士比亞的一句名言驚人地相似

Democritus unlike the other pre-socratics was not merely a natural philosopher,

與其他前蘇格拉底哲學家不同，德謨克利特不僅僅是一位自然哲學家

he was a polymath and a genius with profound insights into the human condition.

他是個博學多才的天才，對人類的處境有著深刻的見解。

the world is a stage he wrote life an entrance you came you saw you went away,

德謨克利特寫道，世界是一個舞臺，人生的一個入口，你來了，你看見了，你走了