为什么斯多葛主义如此重要：英语精读讲义

Stoicism is a philosophical school that began in ancient Greece and was later dominant in ancient Rome 文化背景

斯多葛学派是一个发源于古希腊、后来在古罗马盛行的哲学流派，

and which continues to have hugely urgent and important things to teach us

它至今依然能在一些极其紧迫和重要的事情上给我们启发，

about calm, resilience, and emotional stability.

教我们如何保持平静、坚韧和情绪稳定。

Its ideas should be at the heart of any attempt to remain serene 習語

它的理念应该成为任何想要保持内心宁静的人的核心指导，

in the face of a turbulent, 短語搭配

尤其在面对这个动荡不安、

unpredictable,

难以预测，

and often mean-minded world.

且时常心怀恶意的世界时。

Arguably, the greatest and certainly the most prolific Stoic philosopher 文化背景

可以说，最伟大、且无疑最多产的斯多葛派哲学家，

was the Roman author and statesman Seneca,

就是罗马作家兼政治家塞内加，

who was born in 4 BC in Spain

他于公元前4年出生在西班牙，

and died in 65 AD in Rome.

并于公元65年在罗马逝世。

A lot of Seneca's thought is known to us from the letters he wrote to his friends,

我们对塞内加思想的许多了解，源于他写给朋友的信件，

giving them counsel at times of trouble.

他在朋友遇到麻烦时给予他们忠告。

Seneca had a friend called Lucilius,

塞内加有一位名叫卢西利乌斯的朋友，

a civil servant working in Sicily.

是一名在西西里岛工作的公务员。

One day,

有一天，

Lucilius learned of a lawsuit against him,

卢西利乌斯得知自己被卷入了一场诉讼，

which threatened to end his career

这可能会终结他的职业生涯，

and disgrace his good name.

并且败坏他的好名声。

He wrote to Seneca in a panic.

他惊慌失措地写信给塞内加。

"You may expect that I'm going to advise you to picture a happy outcome

“你或许指望我会建议你设想一个美好的结局，

and to rest in the allurements of hope," 習語

并让你沉浸在希望的诱惑中，”

replied the philosopher.

这位哲学家回答道。

"But I'm going to conduct you to peace of mind 習語

“但我打算引导你通向内心的平静，

through another route,

通过另一条路线，”

which culminated in the advice, 短語搭配

这最终化为了这样一条建议：

"If you wish to put off all worry, 短語動詞

“如果你想抛开所有的担忧，

assume that what you fear may happen 語法

就假设你所害怕发生的事情，

is certainly going to happen."

一定会发生。”

This is an essential Stoic idea.

这是一个核心的斯多葛派理念。

We must always try to picture the worst that could happen

我们必须总是尝试设想可能发生的最坏情况，

and then remind ourselves that the worst is survivable.

然后提醒自己，最坏的情况也是可以挺过去的。

The goal is not to imagine that bad things don't unfold, 語法

我们的目标不是去幻想坏事不会发生，

it's to see that we are far more capable of enduring them 語法

而是要看清我们承受这些坏事的能力，

than we currently think.

远比我们目前认为的要强得多。

To calm Lucilius down, 短語動詞

为了让卢西利乌斯冷静下来，

Seneca advised him to make himself entirely at home 習語

塞内加建议他让自己完全习惯

with the idea of humiliation, poverty, and ongoing unemployment,

遭受屈辱、陷入贫困和持续失业的念头，

but to learn to see that these were,

但要学着从正确的视角来看待：这些，

from the right perspective,

并非

not the end of everything.

一切的终结。

"If you lose this case,

“如果你输掉这场官司，

can anything more severe happen to you 語法

还能有什么比被流放或被关进监狱

than being sent into exile or led to prison?"

更严重的事发生在你身上呢？”

asked the philosopher,

这位哲学家问道，

who had himself survived bankruptcy

他自己曾经历过破产，

and 8 years of exile in Corsica.

还在科西嘉岛度过了8年的流放生涯。

"Hope for that which is utterly just 語法

“怀抱最公正的希望，

and prepare yourself for that which is utterly unjust."

同时为最不公正的结果做好准备。”

Seneca gave Lucilius a meditation

塞内加给了卢西利乌斯一段冥想的启示，

to mull over in the luxury of his home 短語動詞

让他在舒适的家中细细思量，

that he was now in danger of losing. 短語搭配

而他现在正面临着失去这个家的危险。

"I may become a poor man.

“我可能会变成一个穷人。

I shall then be one among many.

那我也只不过是众多穷人中的一个。

I may be exiled.

我可能会被流放。

I shall then regard myself as born in the place 短語搭配

那我将把我被送往的地方

to which I shall be sent.

视作我的出生地。

They may put me in chains.

他们可能会给我戴上镣铐。

What then?

那又怎样？

Am I free from bonds now?

难道我现在就没有被束缚吗？

Behold this clogging burden of a body 習語

看看这具成为我沉重负担的肉体，

to which nature has fettered me."

是大自然将我禁锢于此。”

Seneca tells us

塞内加告诉我们，

that we must grow familiar with and hold before us at all times, 講解

我们必须时刻熟悉并直面，

not just the sort of events we like to plan for, 語法

不仅仅是我们乐于去计划的、

that are recorded in living memory

在人们记忆中存在过的、

or are common in our age group and class,

或者是我们这个年龄段和阶层中常见的事件，

but the entire range of possibilities,

还要面对所有可能发生的情况，

a longer and inevitably far less agreeable list,

那是一份更长、也必然远不那么让人愉快的清单，

which finds space for cataclysmic fires, 習語

其中包含了毁灭性的火灾、

sackings, and untimely deaths.

掠夺以及英年早逝。

He wrote,

他写道，

"Nothing ought to be unexpected by us. 語法

“对于我们来说，没有什么应该出乎意料。

Let us place before our eyes in its entirety 習語

让我们完整地将

the nature of man's lot, 用詞

人类命运的本质呈现在眼前，

not the kind of evil that often happens, 語法

不是常常发生的那种不幸，

but the very greatest evil that can possibly happen.

而是可能发生的最大不幸。

We must reflect upon fortune fully and completely."

我们必须全面而彻底地反思命运。”

At one point,

曾经有一次，

a friend of Seneca's lost a son,

塞内加的一位朋友失去了儿子，

and the consoling thoughts ran in a similar direction. 習語

他的安慰思路也沿着类似的方向进行。

Marcia,

玛西娅，

a lady of a senatorial family,

一位出身元老院家族的女士，

was devastated by the death of her son Metilius,

因儿子梅蒂利乌斯的去世而悲痛欲绝，

not yet 25.

他还不到25岁。

She fell into a period of mourning 短語搭配

她陷入了一段

that seemed to have no end.

似乎没有尽头的哀悼期。

3 years after the death,

儿子去世3年后，

her sorrow had not abated one bit. 用詞

她的悲伤没有丝毫减退。

Indeed, it was growing stronger every day.

事实上，这种悲伤每天都在加深。

So Seneca sent her an essay

于是塞内加寄给她一篇文章，

in which he expressed the hope that,

在文章中他表达了一个愿望，

given the length of time that had elapsed since Metilius' death, 語法

考虑到梅蒂利乌斯去世已经过了这么长时间，

she would forgive him for going beyond the usual condolences 短語搭配

她或许会原谅他超越寻常的哀悼之词，

to deliver something darker,

传达一些更黑暗、

but perhaps more effective.

但也许更有效的东西。

To lose a son was surely the greatest grief

失去儿子无疑是降临在母亲身上

that could befall a mother. 用詞

最大的悲痛。

But given the vulnerability of the human frame, 習語

但考虑到人类肉体的脆弱性，

Metilius' early death had its place in a merciless natural order, 習語

梅蒂利乌斯的早夭在无情的自然秩序中也有其必然性，

which daily offered examples of its handiwork.

这个秩序每天都在展现它的杰作。

He wrote,

他写道，

"We never anticipate evils before they actually arrive.

“我们从不在灾祸真正降临之前预见它们。

So many funerals pass our doors, 表達脈絡

这么多场葬礼从我们门前经过，

yet we never dwell on death. 短語動詞

我们却从未深思过死亡。

So many deaths are untimely,

这么多人英年早逝，

yet we make plans for our own infants,

我们却还在为自己的婴儿做规划，

how they will don the toga, 文化背景

规划他们将如何穿上长袍，

serve in the army,

如何在军队服役，

and succeed to their father's property."

以及如何继承父亲的财产。”

They might end up doing such things, 短語動詞

他们最终可能会做这些事，

but how mad to love them

但如果不去铭记：没有人向我们保证过

without remembering that no one had offered us a guarantee

他们能长大成人，

they would grow to maturity,

更不用说能活到吃晚饭的时候，

let alone make it to dinnertime. 語法

就对他们倾注如此狂热的爱，该有多么疯狂。

If Metilius' death had been unexpected for Marcia,

如果梅蒂利乌斯的死对玛西娅来说是个意外，

it was only on the basis of a wishful assessment of probabilities. 短語搭配

那仅仅是基于一种一厢情愿的概率评估。

"You say,

“你说，

"I didn't think it would happen."

‘我没想过这会发生。’

Do you think there is anything that will not happen

你怎么会认为有什么事情是不会发生的呢？

when you know that it is possible to happen,

当你知道它是可能发生的时候，

when you see that it has already happened to many?"

当你看到它已经发生在许多人身上的时候？”

Seneca imagined meeting Marcia before her birth

塞内加想象在玛西娅出生前与她相遇，

and inviting her on a tour of the troubled Earth,

并邀请她在这苦难的地球上游历一番，

so she could weigh up the terms of life, 短語動詞

这样她就能权衡生命的条件，

then choose whether or not to accept them. 語法

然后选择是否接受它们。

On the one hand, 表達脈絡

一方面，

Marcia would see a planet of awe-inspiring beauty and occasional goodness.

玛西娅会看到一个令人敬畏的美丽星球和偶尔的善良。

On the other,

另一方面，

a place of intermittent unspeakable horror.

这里也是一个时常充满难以言表的恐怖的地方。

Would Marcia choose to step into such a world?

玛西娅会选择踏入这样一个世界吗？

Her existence suggested her answer.

她的存在暗示了她的答案。

Importantly,

重要的是，

the Stoics and Seneca did add that if things were truly unendurable, 語法

斯多葛学派和塞内加确实补充道，如果事情真的无法忍受，

we had no obligation to continue forever. 短語搭配

我们没有义务永远继续下去。

Here is another letter from Seneca.

这是塞内加的另一封信。

"The wise man will live as long as he ought, 語法

“智者会活到他应该活的年岁，

not as long as he can.

而不是活到他能活的极限。

He always reflects concerning the quality 語法

他总是反思生命的质量，

and not the quantity of his life.

而不是生命的长度。

As soon as there are numerous events in his life 語法

一旦生活中发生许多

that give him trouble and disturb his peace of mind,

给他带来麻烦、打扰他内心平静的事件，

he sets himself free.

他就会让自己解脱。

And this privilege is his,

这是他拥有的特权，

not only when the crisis is upon him, 語法

不仅在危机降临于他身上时，

but as soon as fortune seems to be maltreating him. 習語

也在命运似乎开始虐待他时。

Then he looks about carefully

然后他会仔细审视，

and sees whether he ought or ought not to end his life on that account.

看看他是否应该因此而结束自己的生命。

He holds that it makes no difference to him 語法

他认为，对他来说，

whether his taking off be natural or self-inflicted. 用詞

他的离去是自然发生的还是自己决定的，都没有区别。

He does not regard it with fear,

他不带着恐惧看待这件事，

as if it were a great loss, 語法

仿佛这是一个巨大的损失，

for no man can lose very much

因为当生命只剩下一点点时，

when but a driblet remains. 用詞

没有人会失去太多。

It's not a question of dying earlier or later, 語法

这不是早死还是晚死的问题，

but of dying well or ill.

而是死得其所还是死得凄惨的问题。

And dying well means escape from the danger of living ill." 表達脈絡

而死得其所意味着逃离凄惨苟活的危险。”

Seneca was not advocating random or thoughtless exits. 用詞

塞内加并不是在提倡随意或轻率地结束生命。

He was attempting to give us more courage

他试图给我们更多的勇气

in the face of anxiety

去面对焦虑，

by reminding us that it is always within our remit, 用詞

通过提醒我们，这始终在我们的职权范围内：

when we have genuinely tried everything

当我们真诚地尝试了一切，

and rationally had enough, 習語

理性地认为已经受够了时，

to choose a noble path out of our troubles.

可以选择一条高尚的途径来摆脱我们的困境。

When we are furious,

当我们愤怒、

paranoid,

偏执、

depleted, or sad,

疲惫或悲伤时，

the philosophy of Stoicism is on hand, 短語搭配

斯多葛哲学总在手边，

as it has been for 2,000 years,

就像它2000年来所做的那样，

to nurse us with its hugely fortifying, 習語

用它无比强大、

distinctive,

独特

and unusual wisdom and friendship.

而不同寻常的智慧与友谊来治愈我们。

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请评论、

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点赞并订阅，

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