《the value of philosophy》Russell《哲学的价值》罗素.docx

1、the value of philosophyRussell哲学的价值罗素The Value of Philosophy正文及翻译：【1】Having now come to the end of our brief and very incomplete review of the problems of philosophy, it will be well to consider, in conclusion, what is the value of philosophy and why it ought to be studied. It is the more necessary

2、to consider this question, in view of the fact that many men, under the influence of science or of practical affairs, are inclined to doubt whether philosophy is anything better than innocent but useless trifling /trafl/, hair-splitting distinctions, and controversies /kntrvrsis/ on matters concerni

3、ng which knowledge is impossible.我们对哲学问题所作的简短而又很不完整的回顾，现在就结束了。最后，不妨考虑一下哲学的价值是什么，以及为什么应该研究哲学。更有必要考虑这个问题许多人在科学或实际事务的影响下，倾向于怀疑哲学是否比单纯而无用的琐事，吹毛求疵的区别，以及关于知识是不可能的这一问题的争论更好。【2】This view of philosophy appears to result, partly from a wrong conception of the ends of life, partly from a wrong conception of th

4、e kind of goods which philosophy strives to achieve. Physical science, through the medium /midim/ of inventions, is useful to innumerable /numrbl/ people who are wholly /holli/ ignorant of it; thus, the study of physical science is to be recommended, not only, or primarily /pramerli/, because of the

5、 effect on the student, but rather because of the effect on mankind in general. Thus, utility does not belong to philosophy. If the study of philosophy has any value at all for others than students of philosophy, it must be only indirectly, through its effects upon the lives of those who study it. I

6、t is in these effects, therefore, if anywhere, that the value of philosophy must be primarily sought.这种哲学观，一方面是由于对生命的目的有错误的认识，一方面是由于对哲学所要努力达到的一些东西的认识。通过各种发明手段，自然科学对无数完全忽视它的人是有用的；因此，应该推荐学习自然科学，不仅仅是因为或主要是因为它对学生的影响，而是因为它对整个人类的影响。因此，效用不属于哲学。如果哲学研究对其他人而不是哲学学生有任何价值的话，那也只能是间接的地通过它对那些研究哲学的人的生活的影响（来了解这些）。因此，

7、哲学的价值，如果要在任何地方寻求的话，就必须首先在这些效果中寻求。【3】But further, if we are not to fail in our endeavor to determine the value of philosophy, we must first free our minds from the prejudices /preduds/ of what are wrongly called practical men. The practical man, as this word is often used, is one who recognizes only

8、material needs, who realizes that men must have food for the body, but is oblivious /blvis/ of the necessity of providing food for the mind. If all men were well off, if poverty and disease had been reduced to their lowest possible point, there would still remain much to be done to produce a valuabl

9、e society; and even in the existing world the goods of the mind are at least as important as the goods of the body. It is exclusively /ksklusvli/ among the goods of the mind that the value of philosophy is to be found; and only those who are not indifferent to these goods can be persuaded that the s

10、tudy of philosophy is not a waste of time.此外，我们要（想）在努力确定哲学的价值的过程中不失败的话，就必须首先使我们的思想摆脱那些被错误地称为实用主义者的偏见。实际的人，正如这个词经常被使用的那样，只认识到物质的需要，知道必须有食物供给身体，却忘了供给精神的需要。如果所有的人都很富裕，如果贫穷和疾病已经减少到他们可能的最低点，仍然有许多工作要做去产生一个有价值的社会；甚至在现存的世界里，心灵里的东西至少和肉体上的东西一样重要。哲学的价值，仅仅在精神的货物中才能发现；只有那些对这些好处并不是漠不关心的人才能被说服学习哲学不是浪费时间。【4】Philoso

11、phy /flsfi/, like all other studies, aims primarily /pramerli/ at knowledge. The knowledge it aims at is the kind of knowledge which gives unity and system to the body of the sciences, and the kind which results from a critical examination of the grounds of our convictions, prejudices, and beliefs.

12、But it cannot be maintained that philosophy has had any very great measure of success in its attempts to provide definite /defnt/ answers to its questions. If you ask a mathematician /mmtn/, a mineralogist /mnrldst/, a historian /hstrin/, or any other man of learning, what definite body of truths ha

13、s been ascertained /steind/ by his science, his answer will last as long as you are willing to listen.哲学和其他所有的研究一样，主要是为了知识。它所追求的知识，是那种使科学具有统一性和系统性的知识，是那种通过对我们的信念、偏见和信仰的理由进行批判性的考察而产生的知识。但是，不能说哲学在试图为自己的问题提供明确的答案这一方面取得了很大的成功。如果你问数学家、矿物学家、历史学家或其他任何有学问的人：他的科学已经确定了什么样的真理只要你愿意听，他的回答就会一直持续下去。But if you put

14、the same question to a philosopher, he will, if he is candid /kndd/, have to confess /knfes/ that his study has not achieved positive results such as have been achieved by other sciences. It is true that this is partly accounted for by the fact that, as soon as definite knowledge concerning any subj

15、ect becomes possible, this subject ceases to be called philosophy, and becomes a separate science. The whole study of the heavens, which now belongs to astronomy /strnmi/, was once included in philosophy; Newtons great work was called the mathematical principles of natural /ntrl/ philosophy. 但是，如果你向

16、一个哲学家提出同样的问题，如果他是坦率的，他将不得不承认，他的研究没有取得其他科学所取得的积极成果。诚然，这部分是由于这样一种事实：一旦对某一学科有了明确的认识这件事成为可能，这一学科便不再被称为哲学，而成为一门独立的科学。现在属于天文学的对天空的全部研究，曾经包括在哲学之中；牛顿的伟大著作被称为“自然哲学的数学原理”。Similarly, the study of the human mind, which was a part of philosophy, has now been separated from philosophy and has become the science o

17、f psychology /sakldi/. Thus, to a great extent, the uncertainty of philosophy is more apparent than real: those questions which are already capable of definite answers are placed in the sciences, while those only to which, at present, no definite answer can be given, remain to form the residue /rezd

18、u/ which is called philosophy.同样，对人类心理的研究，曾经是哲学的一部分，现在已经从哲学中分离出来，成为心理学的科学。因此，哲学的不确定性在很大程度上是明显的，而非真实的：那些已经能够确定答案的问题，就放在科学里，而那些目前还不能确定答案的问题，就剩下了，这就是所谓的哲学。【5】This is, however, only a part of the truth concerning the uncertainty of philosophy. There are many questionsand among them those that are of the

19、 profoundest /prfand/ interest to our spiritual /sprtul/ lifewhich, so far as we can see, must remain insoluble /nsljbl/ to the human intellect unless its powers become of quite a different order from what they are now. Has the universe any unity of plan or purpose, or is it a fortuitous /ftjuts/ co

20、ncourse /knkrs/ of atoms /tmz/？ Is consciousness a permanent part of the universe, giving hope of indefinite growth in wisdom, or is it a transitory /trnztri/ accident on a small planet on which life must ultimately /ltmtli/ become impossible？ Are good and evil of importance to the universe or only

21、to man？ 然而，关于哲学的不确定性，这只是真理的一部分。有许多问题其中一些问题对我们的精神生活有着深远的意义据我们所知，这些问题对于人类的智力来说是无法解决的，除非它的力量变得与现在完全不同。宇宙有任何统一的计划或目的吗？还是原子的偶然相遇？意识是宇宙永久的一部分，给了智慧无限增长的希望，还是一个小星球上的短暂的意外（这种生命最终将成为不可能）？善与恶是对宇宙重要还是只对人类重要？Such questions are asked by philosophy, and variously answered by various philosophers. But it would seem

22、 that, whether answers be otherwise discoverable or not, the answers suggested by philosophy are none of them demonstrably /dmnstrbli/ true. Yet, however slight may be the hope of discovering an answer, it is part of the business of philosophy to continue the consideration of such questions, to make

23、 us aware of their importance, to examine all the approaches /protz/ to them, and to keep alive that speculative /spekjltv/ interest in the universe which is apt /pt/ to be killed by confining /knfan/ ourselves to definitely ascertainable /srtenbl/ knowledge.这些问题由哲学提出，并由不同的哲学家作出不同的回答。但似乎，无论答案是否可以被发现

24、，哲学所提出的答案都没有一个能证明是正确的。然而，无论找到答案的希望多么渺茫，继续研究这些问题是哲学工作的一部分，使我们认识到它们的重要性，去考察所有解决这些问题的方法，要使我们对宇宙的思辨兴趣继续存在下去，这种兴趣很容易因我们局限于确知的知识而被扼杀。【补充】Many philosophers, it is true, have held that philosophy could establish /stbl/ the truth of certain answers to such fundamental questions. They have supposed that what

25、is of most importance in religious beliefs could be proved by strict demonstration /demnstren/ to be true. In order to judge of such attempts, it is necessary to take a survey of human knowledge, and to form an opinion as to its methods and its limitations. On such a subject it would be unwise to pr

26、onounce /prnans/ dogmatically /dmtkli/; but if the investigations of our previous chapters have not led us astray /stre/, we shall be compelled to renounce /rnans/ the hope of finding philosophical /flsfkl/ proofs of religious beliefs. We cannot, therefore, include as part of the value of philosophy

27、 any definite set of answers to such questions. Hence, once more, the value of philosophy must not depend upon any supposed body of definitely ascertainable /srtenbl/ knowledge to be acquired by those who study it.的确，许多哲学家都认为，哲学可以为这些基本问题的某些答案确立真理。他们认为宗教信仰中最重要的东西可以通过严格的论证来证明是正确的。为了对这种尝试作出判断，有必要对人类知识进

28、行一次考察，并对其方法和局限性形成一种看法。在这样一个问题上，武断地发表意见是不明智的；但是，如果前面几章的考察还没有把我们引入歧途的话，我们就不得不放弃寻找宗教信仰的哲学证据的希望了。因此，我们不能把对这类问题的一套明确答案作为哲学的价值的一部分。因此，再一次地，哲学的价值不应依赖于研究它的人所获得的任何假定的可确定的知识。【6】The value of philosophy is, in fact, to be sought largely in its very uncertainty. The man who has no tincture /tktr/ of philosophy g

29、oes through life imprisoned /mprznd/ in the prejudices derived /dravd/ from common sense, from the habitual /hbtul/ beliefs of his age or his nation, and from convictions which have grown up in his mind without the co-operation or consent of his deliberate reason. To such a man the world tends to be

30、come definite /defnt/, finite /fanat/, obvious; common objects rouse /raz/ no questions, and unfamiliar possibilities are contemptuously /kntemptusli/ rejected. As soon as we begin to philosophize /flsfaz/, on the contrary /kntreri/, we find, as we saw in our opening chapters, that even the most eve

31、ryday things lead to problems to which only very incomplete answers can be given. 事实上，哲学的价值很大程度上在于它的不确定性。一个不懂哲学的人，他的一生都被囚禁在偏见中（这些偏见来自于常识，来自于他那个时代或国家的习惯性信仰，来自于他头脑中未经其深思熟虑的理性的合作或同意而形成的信念）。对这样的人来说，世界往往是明确的、有限的、明显的；普通的事物不会引起质疑，不熟悉的可能性会被轻蔑地拒绝。相反，我们一开始进行哲学思考，就会发现，就像我们在开篇几章所看到的那样，即使是最日常的事物，也会引起一些只有很不完整的答案才

32、能解决的问题。Philosophy, though unable to tell us with certainty what is the true answer to the doubts which it raises, is able to suggest many possibilities /psbltis/ which enlarge our thoughts and free them from the tyranny /trni/ of custom. Thus, while diminishing /dmn/ our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it