太子爷小说网 > 英语电子书 > the ethics(part iv) >

第14节

the ethics(part iv)-第14节

小说: the ethics(part iv) 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!









Proof。… If it be asked: What should a man's conduct be in a case where 



he could by breaking faith free himself from the danger of present death? 



Would not his plan of self…preservation completely persuade him to deceive? 



This may be answered by pointing out that; if reason persuaded him to act 



thus; it would persuade all men to act in a similar manner; in which case 



reason would persuade men not to agree in good faith to unite their forces; 



or to have laws in common; that is; not to。 have any general laws; which is 



absurd。















Prop。 LXXIII。 The man; who is guided by reason; 



is more free in a State; where he lives under 



a general system of law; than in 



solitude; where he is independent。







Proof。… The man; who is guided by reason; does not obey through fear 



(IV:Ixiii。): but; in so far as he endeavours to preserve his being 



according to the dictates of reason; that is (IV:lxvi。Note); in so far 



as he endeavours to live in freedom; he desires to order his life 



according to the general good (IV:xxxvii。); and; consequently (as we 



showed in IV:xxxvii。Note。ii。); to live according to the laws of his 



country。 Therefore the free man; in order to enjoy greater freedom; 



desires to possess the general rights of citizenship。 Q。E。D。







Note。… These and similar observations; which we have made on man's true 



freedom; may be referred to strength; that is; to courage and nobility 



of character (III:lix。Note)。 I do not think it worth while to prove 



separately all the properties of strength; much less need I show; that he 



that is strong hates no man; is angry with no man; envies no man; is 



indignant with no man; despises no man; and least of all things is proud。 



These propositions; and all that relate to the true way of life and 



religion; are easily proved from IV:xxxvii。 and IV:xlvi。; namely; that 



hatred should be overcome with love; and that every man should desire for 



others the good which he seeks for himself。 We may also repeat what 



we drew attention to in the note to IV:I。; and in other places; namely; 



that the strong man has ever first in his thoughts; that all things 



follow from the necessity of the divine nature; so that whatsoever he 



deems to be hurtful and evil; and whatsoever; accordingly; seems to him 



impious; horrible; unjust; and base; assumes that appearance owing to his 



own disordered; fragmentary; and confused view of the universe。 Wherefore 



he strives before all things to conceive things as they really are; and 



to remove the hindrances to true knowledge; such as are hatred; anger; 



envy; derision; pride; and similar emotions; which I have mentioned above。 



Thus he endeavours; as we said before; as far as in him lies; to do good; 



and to go on his way rejoicing。 How far human virtue is capable of 



attaining to such a condition; and what its powers may be; I will prove 



in the following Part。















APPENDIX。



What have said in this Part concerning the right way of life has not been 



arranged; so as to admit of being seen at one view; but has been set forth 



piece…meal; according as I thought each Proposition could most readily be 



deduced from what preceded it。 I propose; therefore; to rearrange my 



remarks and to bring them under leading heads。







I。 All our endeavours or desires so follow from the necessity of our 



nature; that they can be understood either through it alone; as their 



proximate cause; or by virtue of our being a part of nature; which cannot 



be adequately conceived through itself without other individuals。







II。 Desires; which follow from our nature in such a manner; that they can 



be understood through it alone; are those which are referred to the mind; 



in so far as the latter is conceived to consist of adequate ideas: the 



remaining desires are only referred to the mind; in so far as it conceives 



things inadequately; and their force and increase are generally defined 



not by the power of man; but by the power of things external to us: 



wherefore the former are rightly called actions; the latter passions; for 



the former always indicate our power; the latter; on the other hand; show 



our infirmity and fragmentary knowledge。







III。 Our actions; that is; those desires which are defined by man's power 



or reason; are always good。 The rest maybe either good or bad。







IV。 Thus in life it is before all things useful to perfect the 



understanding or reason; as far as we can; and in this alone man's 



highest happiness or blessedness consists; indeed blessedness is nothing 



else but the contentment of spirit; which arises from the intuitive 



knowledge of God: now; to perfect the understanding is nothing else 



but to understand God; God's attributes; and the actions which follow 



from the necessity of his nature。 Wherefore of a man; who is led by reason; 



the ultimate aim or highest desire; whereby he seeks to govern all his 



fellows; is that whereby he is brought to the adequate conception of 



himself and of all things within the scope of his intelligence。







V。 Therefore; without intelligence there is not rational life: and things 



are only good; in so far as they aid man in his enjoyment of the 



intellectual life; which is defined by intelligence。 Contrariwise; 



whatsoever things hinder man's perfecting of his reason; and capability 



to enjoy the rational life; are alone called evil。







VI。 As all things whereof man is the efficient cause are necessarily good; 



no evil can befall man except through external causes; namely; by virtue



of man being a part of universal nature; whose laws human nature is 



compelled to; obey; and to conform to in almost infinite ways。







VII。 It is impossible; that man should not be a part of nature; or that 



he should not follow her general order; but if he be thrown among 



individuals whose nature is in harmony with his own; his power of action 



will thereby be aided and fostered; whereas; if he be thrown among such as 



are but very little in harmony with his nature; he will hardly be able to 



accommodate himself to them without undergoing a great change himself。







VIII。 Whatsoever in nature we deem to be evil; or to be capable of 



injuring our faculty for existing and enjoying the rational life; we may 



endeavour to remove in whatever way seems safest to us; on the other hand; 



whatsoever we deem to be good or useful for preserving our being; and 



enabling us to enjoy the rational life; we may appropriate to our use and 



employ as we think best。 Everyone without exception may; by sovereign 



right of nature; do whatsoever he thinks will advance his own interest。







IX。 Nothing can be in more harmony with the nature of any given thing 



than other individuals of the same species; therefore (cf。 vii。) for man 



in the preservation of his being and the enjoyment of the rational life 



there is nothing more useful than his fellow…man who is led by reason。 



Further; as we know not anything among individual things which is more 



excellent than a man led by reason; no man can better display the power of 



his skill and disposition; than in so training men; that they come at last 



to live under the dominion of their own reason。







X。 In so far as men are influenced by envy or any kind of hatred; one 



towards another; they are at variance; and are therefore to be feared in 



proportion; as they are more powerful than their fellows。







XI。 Yet minds are not conquered by force; but by love and high…mindedness。







XII。 It is before all things useful to men to associate their ways of life; 



to bind themselves together with such bonds as they think most fitted to 



gather them all into unity; and generally to do whatsoever serves to 



strengthen friendship。







XIII。 But for this there is need of skill and watchfulness。 For men are 



diverse (seeing that those who live under the guidance of reason are few); 



yet are they generally envious and more prone to revenge than to sympathy。 



No small force of character is therefore required to take everyone as he 



is; and to restrain one's self from imitating the emotions of others。 But 



those who carp at mankind; and are more skilled in railing at vice than 



in instilling virtue; and who break rather than strengthen men's 



dispositions; are hurtful both to themselves and others。 Thus many from 



too great impatience of spirit; or from misguided religious zeal; have 



preferred to live among brutes rather than among men; as boys or youths; 



who cannot peaceably endure the chidings of their parents; will enlist as 



soldiers and choose the hardships of war and the despotic discipline in 



preference to the comforts of home and the admonitions of their father: 



返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0

你可能喜欢的