社会学 - 马克斯·韦伯：英语精读讲义

Max Weber is one of the philosophers best able to explain to us the peculiar economic system we live within called capitalism. 語法

马克斯·韦伯是最能向我们解释我们所生活的这个名为资本主义的奇特经济体系的哲学家之一。

Born Erfurt in Germany in 1864,

1864年出生于德国埃尔福特，

Weber grew up to see his country convulsed by the dramatic changes of the Industrial Revolution. 講解

韦伯在成长过程中目睹了他的国家因工业革命的剧变而动荡。

Cities were exploding in size,

城市规模呈爆炸式增长，

vast companies were forming,

庞大的公司正在形成，

a new managerial elite was replacing the old aristocracy. 用詞

新的管理精英正在取代旧的贵族。

Weber spent his life analyzing these changes,

韦伯倾其一生分析这些变化，

and he developed some key ideas

并提出了一些关键思想

with which we can better understand the workings and future of capitalism. 語法

借此我们可以更好地理解资本主义的运作和未来。

The standard view is that capitalism began as a result of developments in technology, 表達脈絡

标准观点认为，资本主义的起源是技术发展的结果，

especially steam power.

尤其是蒸汽动力。

But Weber proposed something more interesting,

但韦伯提出了更有趣的观点，

that what actually made capitalism possible was a set of ideas, 語法

即真正使资本主义成为可能的是一套思想，

and in particular religious ideas.

尤其是宗教思想。

And not just any religious ideas. 短語搭配

而且不是随便什么宗教思想。

Capitalism was created by Protestantism,

资本主义是由新教创造的，

specifically Calvinism.

具体来说是加尔文教派。

In his great work,

在他的伟大著作

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,

《新教伦理与资本主义精神》中，

published in 1905,

于1905年出版，

Weber laid out some of the reasons 短語動詞

韦伯列出了一些原因

why he believed Protestant Christianity had been so crucial to capitalism.

解释了为什么他认为新教基督教对资本主义如此关键。

In Weber's analysis,

在韦伯的分析中，

Catholics have it relatively easy. 習語

天主教徒相对轻松。

They're able to confess their transgressions at regular intervals

他们能够定期忏悔自己的过失

and can be cleansed by priests.

并通过牧师得到净化。

But no such purifications are available to Protestants

但新教徒没有这种净化方式，

who believe that only God is able to forgive anyone,

他们相信只有上帝才能宽恕任何人，

and he won't make his intentions known until the day of judgment. 短語搭配

而上帝直到审判日才会公布他的意图。

Until then,

在那之前，

Weber alleged,

韦伯宣称，

Protestants are left with heightened feelings of anxiety, 短語動詞

新教徒只能怀揣着日益加剧的焦虑感，

as well as lifelong guilty desires

以及伴随一生的因负罪感而生的渴望

to prove their virtue to a severe,

去向一位严厉、

all-seeing, but silent God.

全知却沉默的上帝证明他们的美德。

In Weber's eyes,

在韦伯看来，

Protestant feelings of guilt were diverted into an obsession with hard work. 短語搭配

新教徒的内疚感被转移到了对努力工作的痴迷上。

This was what he called the Protestant work ethic. 文化背景

这就是他所说的“新教工作伦理”。

The sins of Adam could only be expunged through constant toil. 文化背景

亚当的罪孽只能通过不断的辛劳来消除。

Not coincidentally, 表達脈絡

并非巧合的是，

there were far fewer festivals and days of rest in Protestantism.

新教中的节日和休息日要少得多。

God didn't like time off.

上帝不喜欢休息。

Catholics had limited their conception of holy work to the activities of priests, 短語搭配

天主教徒将神圣工作的概念局限于牧师、

monks, and nuns.

僧侣和修女的活动。

But now,

但现在，

Protestants declared that work of any kind could be done in the name of God, 短語搭配

新教徒宣称任何种类的工作都可以以上帝的名义进行，

even jobs like being a baker or an accountant.

即使是面包师或会计师这样的工作。

This lent new moral energy and earnestness to all branches of professional life. 短語搭配

这给所有职业分支注入了新的道德力量和认真的态度。

In Catholic countries,

在天主教国家，

the family was,

家庭过去是，

and often still is,

并且往往现在也是，

everything.

一切。

But Protestants took a less benevolent view of family. 短語搭配

但新教徒对家庭的看法没有那么宽容。

The family could be a haven for selfish and egoistic motives. 習語

家庭可能是自私和利己动机的避风港。

For early Protestants,

对于早期新教徒来说，

one was meant to direct one's selfless energies to the community as a whole, 短語搭配

一个人应该将无私的精力投入到整个社区，

the public realm, 用詞

也就是公共领域，

where everyone deserved fairness and dignity.

在那里每个人都应该得到公平和尊严。

Protestantism,

新教，

and eventually scientific capitalism,

以及最终的科学资本主义，

turned its back on miracles. 習語

背弃了奇迹。

Weber called this the disenchantment of the world. 文化背景

韦伯称之为世界的祛魅。

So prosperity wasn't to be thought of as something mysteriously ordained by God, 語法

所以繁荣不应被认为是上帝神秘注定的东西，

it could only be the result of thinking methodically,

它只能是多年来有条理地思考、

acting honestly,

诚实地行动，

and working industriously and sensibly over many years.

勤奋且理智地工作的结果。

Without a belief in miracles,

没有了对奇迹的信仰，

people turned to science for explanations and changes,

人们转向科学寻求解释和改变，

which encouraged scientific investigation and discovery,

这鼓励了科学调查和发现，

and eventually technological booms.

并最终导致了技术的繁荣。

Taken together, 表達脈絡

综合来看，

these five factors created in Weber's eyes

这五个因素在韦伯眼中

the crucial catalytic ingredients for capitalism to take hold. 講解

构成了资本主义扎根的关键催化剂。

Marx had argued that religion was the opium of the masses, 文化背景

马克思曾争辩说宗教是人民的鸦片，

a drug that induced passive acceptance of the horrors of capitalism.

是一种诱导人们被动接受资本主义恐怖的毒药。

But Weber turned this dictum on its head. 習語

但韦伯颠覆了这句名言。

People didn't tolerate capitalism because of religion, 表達脈絡

人们并不是因为宗教而容忍资本主义，

they only became capitalists as a result of their religion.

他们只是因为自己的宗教信仰才成为了资本家。

There are about 35 countries where capitalism is now well developed.

现在大约有35个国家的资本主义高度发达。

It probably works best in Germany,

它可能在德国运作得最好，

where Weber first observed it.

这也是韦伯最初观察到它的地方。

But in the remaining 161 nations,

但在其余的161个国家中，

it arguably isn't working very well at all.

它可以说根本运作得不好。

This is a source of much puzzlement and distress.

这是一个令人大感困惑和苦恼的根源。

Billions of dollars in aid are transferred every year from the rich to the poor parts of the world.

每年有数十亿美元的援助从富裕地区转移到世界的贫困地区。

But a Weberian analysis tells us that these materialist interventions will never work, 用詞

但韦伯式的分析告诉我们，这些唯物主义的干预永远不会奏效，

because the problem isn't really a material one to begin with.

因为从一开始问题就并非物质上的。

Instead,

相反，

certain countries for Weber fail to succeed at capitalism

对韦伯而言，某些国家未能在资本主义上取得成功，

because they don't feel anxious and guilty enough.

是因为他们感到不够焦虑和内疚。

They trust too much in miracles.

他们过于相信奇迹。

They like to celebrate now rather than invest in tomorrow,

他们喜欢现在庆祝而不是投资明天，

and their members feel it's acceptable to steal from the community

并且他们的成员觉得可以从社区中偷窃

in order to enrich their families,

以中饱私囊，

favoring the clan over the nation.

认为宗族高于国家。

Today,

如今，

Weber would counsel those who wish to spread capitalism

韦伯会建议那些希望传播资本主义的人

to concentrate on our equivalent of religion,

去关注与宗教相当的东西，

culture.

也就是文化。

It's a nation's attitudes,

是一个国家的态度、

hopes,

希望

and a sense of what life is about

和对生活意义的认知

that produces an economy that either flourishes or flounders. 表達脈絡

造就了经济的繁荣或是挣扎。

To reduce poverty,

为了减少贫困，

Weber would say,

韦伯会说，

one has to start at the level of ideas. 短語搭配

我们必须从思想层面开始。

What the World Bank and the IMF should be giving sub-Saharan Africa 文化背景

世界银行和国际货币基金组织应该提供给撒哈拉以南非洲的，

is not,

并不是，

in a Weberian analysis,

从韦伯的分析来看，

money and technology,

金钱和技术，

but a new outlook.

而是一种新的视野。

The decisive question for an economy

对一个经济体而言，决定性的问题

should not be what the rate of inflation is, 表達脈絡

不应该是通货膨胀率是多少，

but what's on TV tonight.

而是今晚电视上播什么。

Weber was writing in an age of revolution.

韦伯在一个革命的时代写作。

He too wanted things to change,

他也希望事物发生改变，

but he believed that one first had to work out 短語動詞

但他相信人们首先必须弄清楚

how political power operated.

政治权力是如何运作的。

Weber believed that humanity had gone through three distinct types of power.

韦伯认为人类经历了三种不同类型的权力。

The older societies operated according to what he called traditional authority, 文化背景

古老的社会依照他所称的传统权威运作，

where kings relied on folklore and divinity to justify their power. 短語搭配

国王依靠民间传说和神性来证明其权力的正当性。

Then came the age of charismatic authority, 文化背景

然后是魅力型权威的时代，

where a heroic individual,

在这个时代，一个英雄式的人物，

most famously Napoleon,

最著名的是拿破仑，

could rise to power with a magnetic personality 講解

能够凭借极具吸引力的个性掌权，

and change everything through passion and will.

并通过激情和意志改变一切。

However,

然而，

Weber explained that we had now entered a third age of bureaucratic authority. 文化背景

韦伯解释说我们现在进入了第三个时代，即官僚权威时代。

Bureaucracy achieves its power via knowledge.

官僚机构通过知识获得权力。

Only the bureaucrats know how stuff works,

只有官僚们知道事情是如何运作的，

and it will take an outsider years to work it out. 語法

而局外人要花数年时间才能弄明白。

Most of us simply give up,

我们大多数人干脆放弃了，

usefully,

方便了

for the powers that be. 習語

现存的当权者。

The dominance of bureaucracy has major implications for anyone trying to change a nation. 短語搭配

官僚机构的主导地位对任何试图改变国家的人都有着重大影响。

There is often an understandable but misguided desire to think that one just has to change the leader, 表達脈絡

人们通常有一种可以理解但却被误导的愿望，认为只要更换领导人就行了，

but in fact removing a leader almost never has the degree of impact that is hoped for.

但事实上，罢免领导人几乎从未达到所期望的非凡影响。

If we're to get things to go better, 語法

如果我们想让事情变得更好，

much of it will have to come through outwardly, 短語動詞

很大程度上必须通过表面上

rather undramatic,

并不引人注目的、

bureaucratic processes.

官僚程序来实现。

It will come through the marshalling of statistical evidence, 用詞

它将通过整理统计证据、

patient briefings to ministers, 用詞

向部长们耐心做简报、

testimonies to committee hearings, 文化背景

在委员会听证会上作证，

and a minute study of budgets. 用詞

以及对预算的细致研究来实现。

Weber tells us how power works now,

韦伯告诉我们现在的权力是如何运作的，

and reminds us that ideas may be far more important 語法

并提醒我们在改变国家时，思想可能

than tools or money in changing nations.

比工具或金钱重要得多。

It's a hugely significant thesis.

这是一个具有重大意义的论点。

With Weber's guidance,

在韦伯的指引下，

we learn that so much which we associate with vast, 表達脈絡

我们了解到我们常常联想到的那些巨大、

impersonal,

毫无感情的

external forces is,

外部力量，

in fact,

事实上，

dependent upon something utterly intimate,

依赖于一些极其私密，

and perhaps more malleable,

也许更具可塑性的东西，

the thoughts in our own heads.

也就是我们头脑中的想法。