书城工具书老外最想和你聊的101个英语话题——流行名人篇
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第24章 The Ideological Giants 思想巨人(4)

Aristotle’s views on the physical sciences profoundly shaped medieval scholarship, and their influence extended well into the Renaissance, although they were ultimately replaced by Newtonian physics。 In the zoological sciences, some of his observations were confirmed to be accurate only in the 19th century。 His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, which was incorporated in the late 19th century into modern formal logic。 In metaphysics, Aristotelianism had a profound influence on philosophical and theological thinking in the Islamic and Jewish traditions in the Middle Ages, and it continues to influence Christian theology, especially the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church。 His ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics。 All aspects of Aristotle’s philosophy continue to be the object of active academic study today。 Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues (Cicero described his literary style as “a river of gold”), it is thought that the majority of his writings are now lost and only about one-third of the original works have survived。

亚里士多德对世界的贡献之大,令人震惊。他至少撰写了170种著作。亚里士多德的著作所表述的观点是,人类生活及社会的每个方面,都是思考与分析的客体;宇宙万物不被神、机会和幻术所控制,而是遵循着一定的规律运行;人类对自然界进行系统而深入的研究是值得的;我们应当通过实验和逻辑分析,得出自己的结论。亚里士多德的这种反传统、反对迷信与神秘主义的主张,对西方文化产生了深远的影响。

作为一位最伟大的、百科全书式的科学家,亚里士多德对世界的贡献无人可比。但他的成就远不止于此。他还是一位真正哲学家,对哲学的几乎每个学科都作出了贡献。他的写作涉及伦理学、形而上学、心理学、经济学、神学、政治学、修辞学、自然科学、教育学、诗歌、风俗以及雅典宪法。他的研究课题之一搜集各国的宪法,并依此进行比较研究。亚里士多德集中古代知识于一身,在他死后几百年中,没有一个人像他那样对知识有过系统考察和全面掌握。他的著作是古代的百科全书,他的思想曾经统治过全欧洲,他的思想改变了几乎全西方的哲学家。恩格斯称他是“最博学的人”。

Key words & Sentences

关键词句全知道

In his Poetics, Aristotle first mentioned the concept of “finding”。

亚里士多德在《诗学》中提出了“发现”的概念。

Aristotle said that the essence of life is the pursuit of happiness。

亚里士多德说,生命的本质在于追求快乐。

Aristotle noted that when he released most objects, they would drop downward。

亚里士多德注意到,松开多数物体时,它们就会往下掉。

Aristotle’s static world view was not challenged until the sixteenth century。

亚里士多德的静态世界观在十六世纪以前一直没有受到怀疑。

Aristotle’s knowledge on logic can be acquired through learning, has guidelines to follow。

亚里士多德的逻辑学问是可以学习的,是有规律可以遵循的。

Since he could detect no star’s shift, Aristotle concluded that the earth must be stationary。

亚里士多德因为没有测出恒星的位移,于是就断定地球一定是静止不动的。

What does Aristotle means when he says that the essence of literary making is the making of plots·

当亚里士多德说,文学构造的本质是对情节的构造,他要表达什么意思·

They believed consciousness resided in the heart, a view shared by Aristotle and a legacy of medieval thinkers。

他们认为知觉是存在于心脏里的,亚里士多德和中世纪的思想家也持相同的观点。

Aristotle, the greatest of the ancient Greek writers, had written a work containing all the knowledge of his time。

亚里士多德是最伟大的古希腊作家,曾写过一部囊括同时代所有知识的著作。

The Master had quoted Aristotle: “In the quest of truth, it would seem better and indeed necessary to give up what is dearest to us”。

大师引用亚里士多德的话:“追求真理时放弃对自己最珍贵的东西似乎更好些,的确是必须的。”

Aristotle says virtue is that way too。

亚里士多德说美德也是那种方式。

And so, Aristotle writes in Book One of the Politics。

而且,亚里士多德在《政治学》第一卷中写到。

There lived in Greece a great thinker named Aristotle。

希腊有一个名叫亚里士多德的伟大思想家。

What, in Aristotle’s view, is wrong with these proposals·

在亚里士多德的观点中,这些建议有何错误·

This sentence is said by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle。

这句话是古希腊哲学家亚里士多德说的。

Aristotle agrees that virtuous people do not simply emerge as such。 They are taught by examples, by stories, and by exemplary models。

亚里士多德同意品德好的人并不是生来如此,他们是被事例、故事和可资借鉴的模范人物所教化的。

Before Galileo, learned men believed that large bodies fell more rapidly towards the earth than small ones, because Aristotle said so。

在伽利略之前,学者们认为大的物体比小的物体下落得更快,因为亚里士多德曾经这么说过。

The incidents of the plot, declared Aristotle, must be so closely connected that to remove or change the order of any one of them will dislocate the whole。

亚里士多德宣称,情节中的所有事件都必须紧密关联,以至于只要其中一个事件的位置或顺序稍作变动便会扰乱整个剧情。

Aristotle’s position became dangerous as a result of his Macedonian links。

因与马其顿间的关系,亚里士多德处境十分危急。

Aristotle fled from Athens to Chalcis in the Island of Euboea where he died in 322 BC。

亚里士多德只好逃离雅典,来到埃维亚岛的查尔基斯,一直生活至公元前322年去世。

Aristotle’s scientific writings are now interesting largely from a historical point of view, but he did achieve a balance of the empirical and the deductive which we get in modern science。

人们对亚里士多德的科学著作感兴趣,主要是出于其历史意义,但他的确取得了我们现代科学中所得到的经验和推理之间的平衡。

It is an old concept originated from Aristotle。

这是一个来自亚里士多德的古老概念。

The field was held by the modified two-sphere universe which was taken over by Aristotle and integrated into his complex synthesis of ideas covering cosmology, the natural world and philosophy。

亚里士多德继承了修改过的双球面学说并将其融合到他的涉及宇宙、自然界和哲学的复杂的综合理论中。

It could not have been done without rejecting some of Aristotle’s assumptions。

如果不是对于亚里士多德的某些假定的拒斥,这一切就无法做到。

Let’s Talk!

开始交流吧!

Mike: That’s a statue of Aristotle。

麦克:那是一尊亚里士多德的雕像。

Daisy: He looks very knowable。

黛西:他看起来就很博学。

Mike: Yes, he is amazing; he knows everything。

麦克:是的,他太伟大了,他什么都知道。

Daisy: Like Confucius in the eastern culture。

黛西:和东方文化里的孔子一样。

Mike: Is he the teacher of Plato·

麦克:他是柏拉图的老师吗·

Daisy: No, he is the disciple of Plato。

黛西:不,他是柏拉图的学生。

Mike: But he is more famous than Plato。

麦克:但他比柏拉图更出名。

Daisy: Yes, the pupil outdoes the master。

黛西:对的,青出于蓝而胜于蓝。

Mike: I remember Aristotle and Plato hold different philosophical views。

麦克:我记得亚里士多德和柏拉图的哲学观点不同。

Daisy: Yes, that shows Aristotle has independent thinking。

黛西:是,这说明亚里士多德具有独立的思想。

Mike: We should have it too。

麦克:我们也需要这样。

Daisy: I agree, don’t worship the book。

黛西:我同意,不要尽信书。

David Hume

大卫·休谟

休谟的哲学是近代欧洲哲学史上第一个不可知论的哲学体系。休谟和康德一样,在哲学的发展上起过很重要的作用。休谟的怀疑论为19世纪英国非宗教的哲学思想提供了理论。休谟的不可知论观点为实证主义者、马赫主义者和新实证主义者所继承,对现代西方资产阶级哲学产生了广泛的影响。

About Hume

关于休谟

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism。 He is regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment。 Hume is often grouped with John Locke, George Berkeley, and a handful of others as a British Empiricist。