為什麼斯多葛主義如此重要：英語精讀講義

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

斯多葛學派是一個發源於古希臘、後來在古羅馬盛行的哲學流派，

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

它至今依然能在一些極其緊迫和重要的事情上給我們啟發，

about calm, resilience, and emotional stability.

教我們如何保持平靜、堅韌和情緒穩定。

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

它的理念應該成為任何想要保持內心寧靜的人的核心指導，

in the face of a turbulent, 片語搭配

尤其在面對這個動盪不安、

unpredictable,

難以預測，

and often mean-minded world.

且時常心懷惡意的世界時。

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

可以說，最偉大、且無疑最多產的斯多葛派哲學家，

was the Roman author and statesman Seneca,

就是羅馬作家兼政治家塞內卡，

who was born in 4 BC in Spain

他於公元前4年出生在西班牙，

and died in 65 AD in Rome.

並於公元65年在羅馬逝世。

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

我們對塞內卡思想的許多了解，源於他寫給朋友的信件，

giving them counsel at times of trouble.

他在朋友遇到麻煩時給予他們忠告。

Seneca had a friend called Lucilius,

塞內卡有一位名叫盧基里烏斯的朋友，

a civil servant working in Sicily.

是一名在西西里島工作的公務員。

One day,

有一天，

Lucilius learned of a lawsuit against him,

盧基里烏斯得知自己被捲入了一場官司，

which threatened to end his career

這可能會終結他的職業生涯，

and disgrace his good name.

並且敗壞他的好名聲。

He wrote to Seneca in a panic.

他驚慌失措地寫信給塞內卡。

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

「你或許指望我會建議你設想一個美好的結局，

and to rest in the allurements of hope," 慣用語

並讓你沉浸在希望的誘惑中，」

replied the philosopher.

這位哲學家回答道。

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

「但我打算引導你通向內心的平靜，

through another route,

透過另一條路線，」

which culminated in the advice, 片語搭配

這最終化為了這樣一條建議：

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

「如果你想拋開所有的擔憂，

assume that what you fear may happen 文法

就假設你所害怕發生的事情，

is certainly going to happen."

一定會發生。」

This is an essential Stoic idea.

這是一個核心的斯多葛派理念。

We must always try to picture the worst that could happen

我們必須總是嘗試設想可能發生的最壞情況，

and then remind ourselves that the worst is survivable.

然後提醒自己，最壞的情況也是可以挺過去的。

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

我們的目標不是去幻想壞事不會發生，

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

而是要看清我們承受這些壞事的能力，

than we currently think.

遠比我們目前認為的要強得多。

To calm Lucilius down, 片語動詞

為了讓盧基里烏斯冷靜下來，

Seneca advised him to make himself entirely at home 慣用語

塞內卡建議他讓自己完全習慣

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

遭受屈辱、陷入貧困和持續失業的念頭，

but to learn to see that these were,

但要學著從正確的視角來看待：這些，

from the right perspective,

並非

not the end of everything.

一切的終結。

"If you lose this case,

「如果你輸掉這場官司，

can anything more severe happen to you 文法

還能有什麼比被流放或被關進監獄

than being sent into exile or led to prison?"

更嚴重的事發生在你身上呢？」

asked the philosopher,

這位哲學家問道，

who had himself survived bankruptcy

他自己曾經過破產，

and 8 years of exile in Corsica.

還在科西嘉島度過了8年的流放生涯。

"Hope for that which is utterly just 文法

「懷抱最公正的希望，

and prepare yourself for that which is utterly unjust."

同時為最不公正的結果做好準備。」

Seneca gave Lucilius a meditation

塞內卡給了盧基里烏斯一段冥想的啟示，

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

讓他在舒適的家中細細思量，

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

而他現在正面臨著失去這個家的危險。

"I may become a poor man.

「我可能會變成一個窮人。

I shall then be one among many.

那我也只不過是眾多窮人中的一個。

I may be exiled.

我可能會被流放。

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

那我將把我被送往的地方

to which I shall be sent.

視作我的出生地。

They may put me in chains.

他們可能會給我戴上鐐銬。

What then?

那又怎樣？

Am I free from bonds now?

難道我現在就沒有被束縛嗎？

Behold this clogging burden of a body 慣用語

看看這具成為我沉重負擔的肉體，

to which nature has fettered me."

是大自然將我禁錮於此。」

Seneca tells us

塞內卡告訴我們，

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

我們必須時刻熟悉並直面，

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

不僅僅是我們樂於去計劃的、

that are recorded in living memory

在人們記憶中存在過的、

or are common in our age group and class,

或者是我們這個年齡層和階級中常見的事件，

but the entire range of possibilities,

還要面對所有可能發生的情況，

a longer and inevitably far less agreeable list,

那是一份更長、也必然遠不那麼讓人愉快的清單，

which finds space for cataclysmic fires, 慣用語

其中包含了毀滅性的火災、

sackings, and untimely deaths.

劫掠以及英年早逝。

He wrote,

他寫道，

"Nothing ought to be unexpected by us. 文法

「對於我們來說，沒有什麼應該出乎意料。

Let us place before our eyes in its entirety 慣用語

讓我們完整地將

the nature of man's lot, 用詞

人類命運的本質呈現在眼前，

not the kind of evil that often happens, 文法

不是常常發生的那種不幸，

but the very greatest evil that can possibly happen.

而是可能發生的最大不幸。

We must reflect upon fortune fully and completely."

我們必須全面而徹底地反思命運。」

At one point,

曾經有一次，

a friend of Seneca's lost a son,

塞內卡的一位朋友失去了兒子，

and the consoling thoughts ran in a similar direction. 慣用語

他的安慰思路也沿著類似的方向進行。

Marcia,

瑪西婭，

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,

因兒子梅提利烏斯的去世而悲痛欲絕，

not yet 25.

他還不到25歲。

She fell into a period of mourning 片語搭配

她陷入了一段

that seemed to have no end.

似乎沒有盡頭的哀悼期。

3 years after the death,

兒子去世3年後，

her sorrow had not abated one bit. 用詞

她的悲傷沒有絲毫減退。

Indeed, it was growing stronger every day.

事實上，這種悲傷每天都在加深。

So Seneca sent her an essay

於是塞內卡寄給她一篇文章，

in which he expressed the hope that,

在文章中他表達了一個願望，

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

考慮到梅提利烏斯去世已經過了這麼長時間，

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

她或許會原諒他超越尋常的哀悼之詞，

to deliver something darker,

傳達一些更黑暗、

but perhaps more effective.

但也許更有效的東西。

To lose a son was surely the greatest grief

失去兒子無疑是降臨在母親身上

that could befall a mother. 用詞

最大的悲痛。

But given the vulnerability of the human frame, 慣用語

但考慮到人類肉體的脆弱性，

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

梅提利烏斯的早夭在無情的自然秩序中也有其必然性，

which daily offered examples of its handiwork.

這個秩序每天都在展現它的傑作。

He wrote,

他寫道，

"We never anticipate evils before they actually arrive.

「我們從不在災禍真正降臨之前預見它們。

So many funerals pass our doors, 表達脈絡

這麼多場葬禮從我們門前經過，

yet we never dwell on death. 片語動詞

我們卻從未深思過死亡。

So many deaths are untimely,

這麼多人英年早逝，

yet we make plans for our own infants,

我們卻還在為自己的嬰兒做規劃，

how they will don the toga, 文化背景

規劃他們將如何穿上長袍，

serve in the army,

如何在軍隊服役，

and succeed to their father's property."

以及如何繼承父親的財產。」

They might end up doing such things, 片語動詞

他們最終可能會做這些事，

but how mad to love them

但如果不去銘記：沒有人向我們保證過

without remembering that no one had offered us a guarantee

他們能長大成人，

they would grow to maturity,

更不用說能活到吃晚飯的時候，

let alone make it to dinnertime. 文法

就對他們傾注如此狂熱的愛，該有多麼瘋狂。

If Metilius' death had been unexpected for Marcia,

如果梅提利烏斯的死對瑪西婭來說是個意外，

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

那僅僅是基於一種一廂情願的機率評估。

"You say,

「妳說，

"I didn't think it would happen."

『我沒想過這會發生。』

Do you think there is anything that will not happen

妳怎麼會認為有什麼事情是不會發生的呢？

when you know that it is possible to happen,

當妳知道它是可能發生的時候，

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

當妳看到它已經發生在許多人身上的時候？」

Seneca imagined meeting Marcia before her birth

塞內卡想像在瑪西婭出生前與她相遇，

and inviting her on a tour of the troubled Earth,

並邀請她在這苦難的地球上遊歷一番，

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

這樣她就能權衡生命的條件，

then choose whether or not to accept them. 文法

然後選擇是否接受它們。

On the one hand, 表達脈絡

一方面，

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

瑪西婭會看到一個令人敬畏的美麗星球和偶爾的善良。

On the other,

另一方面，

a place of intermittent unspeakable horror.

這裡也是一個時常充滿難以言表之恐怖的地方。

Would Marcia choose to step into such a world?

瑪西婭會選擇踏入這樣一個世界嗎？

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, 文法

斯多葛學派和塞內卡確實補充道，如果事情真的無法忍受，

we had no obligation to continue forever. 片語搭配

我們沒有義務永遠繼續下去。

Here is another letter from Seneca.

這是塞內卡的另一封信。

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

「智者會活到他應該活的年歲，

not as long as he can.

而不是活到他能活的極限。

He always reflects concerning the quality 文法

他總是反思生命的品質，

and not the quantity of his life.

而不是生命的長度。

As soon as there are numerous events in his life 文法

一旦生活中發生許多

that give him trouble and disturb his peace of mind,

給他帶來麻煩、打擾他內心平靜的事件，

he sets himself free.

他就會讓自己解脫。

And this privilege is his,

這是他擁有的特權，

not only when the crisis is upon him, 文法

不僅在危機降臨於他身上時，

but as soon as fortune seems to be maltreating him. 慣用語

也在命運似乎開始虐待他時。

Then he looks about carefully

然後他會仔細審視，

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

看看他是否應該因此而結束自己的生命。

He holds that it makes no difference to him 文法

他認為，對他來說，

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

他的離去是自然發生的還是自己決定的，都沒有區別。

He does not regard it with fear,

他不帶著恐懼看待這件事，

as if it were a great loss, 文法

彷彿這是一個巨大的損失，

for no man can lose very much

因為當生命只剩下一點點時，

when but a driblet remains. 用詞

沒有人會失去太多。

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

這不是早死還是晚死的問題，

but of dying well or ill.

而是死得其所還是死得淒慘的問題。

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

而死得其所意味著逃離淒慘苟活的危險。」

Seneca was not advocating random or thoughtless exits. 用詞

塞內卡並不是在提倡隨意或輕率地結束生命。

He was attempting to give us more courage

他試圖給我們更多的勇氣

in the face of anxiety

去面對焦慮，

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

透過提醒我們，這始終在我們的職權範圍內：

when we have genuinely tried everything

當我們真誠地嘗試了一切，

and rationally had enough, 慣用語

理性地認為已經受夠了時，

to choose a noble path out of our troubles.

可以選擇一條高尚的途徑來擺脫我們的困境。

When we are furious,

當我們憤怒、

paranoid,

偏執、

depleted, or sad,

疲憊或悲傷時，

the philosophy of Stoicism is on hand, 片語搭配

斯多葛哲學總在手邊，

as it has been for 2,000 years,

就像它2000年來所做的那樣，

to nurse us with its hugely fortifying, 慣用語

用它無比強大、

distinctive,

獨特

and unusual wisdom and friendship.

而不同尋常的智慧與友誼來治癒我們。

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請評論、

like, and subscribe,

按讚並訂閱，

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也去看看我們的商店，

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了解更多來自人生學校（The School of Life）的產品。

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我們的西方哲學卡片

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收錄了西方哲學中20個最絕妙的想法。