21 Hume
21 休姆
……commit it then to the flames……
……将它付之一炬……
Alberto sat staring down at the table. He finally turned and looked out of the window.
艾伯特坐在那儿，低头注视着茶几。最后他转过身来，看着窗外。
"It's clouding over," said Sophie.
“云层愈来愈厚了。”苏菲说。
"Yes, it's muggy."
“嗯，天气很闷热。”
"Are you going to talk about Berkeley now?"
“你现在要谈柏克莱了吗？”
"He was the next of the three British empiricists. But as he is in a category of his own in many ways, we will first concentrate on David Hume, who lived from 1711 to 1776. He stands out as the most important of the empiricists. He is also significant as the person who set the great philosopher Immanuel Kant on the road to his philosophy."
“他是三位英国经验主义哲学家中的第二位，但在许多方面他可说是自成一个格局。因此我们还是先谈休姆(David Hume)好了。休姆生于一七一一到一七七六年间。他是经验主义哲学家中最重要的一位，也是启发大哲学家康德，使他开始走上哲学研究道路的人。”
"Doesn't it matter to you that I'm more interested in Berkeley's philosophy?"
“你不介意我对柏克莱的哲学比较有兴趣吗？”
休姆
"That's of no importance. Hume grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland. His family wanted him to take up law but he felt 'an insurmountable resistance to everything but philosophy and learning.' He lived in the Age of Enlightenment at the same time as great French thinkers like Voltaire and Rousseau, and he traveled widely in Europe before returning to settle down in Edinburgh toward the end of his life. His main work, A Treatise of Human Nature, was published when Hume was twenty-eight years old, but he claimed that he got the idea for the book when he was only fifteen."
“这不重要。休姆生长在苏格兰的爱丁堡附近，家人希望他修习法律，但他觉得自己‘对哲学和学习以外的事物有不可抗拒的排斥心理’。他生在启蒙时代，与法国大思想家伏尔泰与卢梭等人同一个时期。他早年曾经遍游欧洲各地，最后才回到爱丁堡定居，度过余年。他的主要作品是《人性论》(Treatise on Human Nature)，在他二十八岁时出版。但他宣称他在十五岁的时候就有了写这本书的构想。”
"I see I don't have any time to waste."
“我看我也不应该再浪费时间了。”
"You have already begun."
“你已经开始了。”
"But if I were going to formulate my own philosophy, it would be quite different from anything I've heard up to now."
“但如果我要建立一套自己的哲学，那这套哲学会和我们到目前为止所谈过的任何哲学理论都大不相同。”
"Is there anything in particular that's missing?"
“你认为我们谈的这些哲学理论缺少了什么东西吗？”
"Well, to start with, all the philosophers you have talked about are men. And men seem to live in a world of their own. I am more interested in the real world, where there are flowers and animals and children that are born and grow up. Your philosophers are always talking about 'man' and 'humans,' and now here's another treatise on 'human nature.' It's as if this 'human' is a middle-aged man. I mean, life begins with pregnancy and birth, and I've heard nothing about diapers or crying babies so far. And hardly anything about love and friendship."
“这个嘛，首先，你谈的这些哲学家都是男人，而男人似乎只活在他们自己的世界里。我对真正的世界比较有兴趣。我是指一个有花、有动物、有小孩出生长大的世界。你说的那些哲学家总是谈什么‘人与人类’的理论。现在又有人写了一本《人性论》，好像这里面的‘人’是一个中年男人似的。我的意思是，生命是从怀孕和生产开始的。但是到目前为止，却从来没有人谈到尿布呀、婴儿啼哭呀什么的。也几乎没有人谈到爱和友情。”
"You are right, of course. But Hume was a philosopher who thought in a different way. More than any other philosopher, he took the everyday world as his starting point. I even think Hume had a strong feeling for the way children--the new citizens of the world-- experienced life."
“你说得当然很对。但在这方面，休姆可能和其他哲学家不太一样。他比任何一位哲学家都要能够以日常生活为起点。我甚至认为他对儿童(世界未来的公民)体验生命的方式的感觉很强烈。”
"I'd better listen then."
“那我最好洗耳恭听。”
"As an empiricist, Hume took it upon himself to clean up all the woolly concepts and thought constructions that these male philosophers had invented. There were piles of old wreckage, both written and spoken, from the Middle Ages and the rationalist philosophy of the seventeenth century. Hume proposed the return to our spontaneous experience of the world. No philosopher 'will ever be able to take us behind the daily experiences or give us rules of conduct that are different from those we get through reflections on everyday life,' he said."
“身为一个经验主义者，休姆期许自己要整理前人所提出的一些混淆不清的思想与观念，包括中世纪到十七世纪这段期间，理性主义哲学家流传下来的许多言论和著作。休姆建议，人应回到对世界有自发性感觉的状态。他说，没有一个哲学家‘能够带我们体验日常生活，而事实上哲学家们提示的那些行为准则都是我们对日常生活加以省思后，便可以领悟出来的’。”
"Sounds promising so far. Can you give any examples?"
“到目前为止他说的都不错。你能举一些例子吗？”
"In the time of Hume there was a widespread belief in angels. That is, human figures with wings. Have you ever seen such a creature, Sophie?"
“在休姆那个时代，人们普遍相信有天使。他们的模样像人，身上长着翅膀。你见过这样的东西吗？”
"No."
“没有。”
"But you have seen a human figure?"
“可是你总见过人吧？”
"Dumb question."
“什么傻问题嘛!”
"You have also seen wings?"
“你也见过翅膀吗？”
"Of course, but not on a human figure."
“当然，但不是长在人的身上。”
"So, according to Hume, an 'angel' is a complex idea. It consists of two different experiences which are not in fact related, but which nevertheless are associated in man's imagination. In other words, it is a false idea which must be immediately rejected. We must tidy up all our thoughts and ideas, as well as our book collections, in the same way. For as Hume put it: If we take in our hands any volume ... let us ask, 'Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number?' No. 'Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence?' No. Commit it then to the flames, for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion."
“所以，据休姆的说法，‘天使’是一个复合的概念，由两个不同的经验组成。这两个经验虽然事实上无关，但仍然在人的想象中结合在一起。换句话说，这是一个不实的观念，应该立即受到驳斥。同样的，我们也必须以这种方式厘清自身所有的思想观念和整理自己的藏书。他说，如果我们手里有一本书……我们应该问：‘书里是否包含任何与数量和数目有关的抽象思考？’如果答案是‘没有’，那么我们应该再问：‘书里是否包含任何与事实和存在有关的经验性思考？’如果答案还是‘没有’，那么我们还是将它付之一炬吧，因为这样的书内容纯粹是诡辩和幻象。”
"That was drastic."
“好激烈呀”
"But the world still exists. More fresh and sharply outlined than ever. Hume wanted to know how a child experiences the world. Didn't you say that many of the philosophers you have heard about lived in their own world, and that you were more interested in the real world?"
“但世界仍然会存在，而且感觉更清新，轮廓也更分明。休姆希望人们回到孩提时代对世界的印象。你刚才不是说许多哲学家都活在自己的世界里，还说你对真实的世界比较有兴趣吗？”
"Something like that."
“没错。”
"Hume could have said the same thing. But let us follow his train of thought more closely."
“休姆可能也会说类似的话。不过我们还是继续谈他的理念吧。”
"I'm with you."
“请说。”
"Hume begins by establishing that man has two different types of perceptions, namely impressions and ideas. By 'impressions' he means the immediate sensation of external reality. By 'ideas' he means the recollection of such impressions."
“休姆首先断定人有两种知觉，一种是印象，一种是观念。‘印象’指的是对于外界实在的直接感受，‘观念’指的是对印象的回忆。”
"Could you give me an example?"
“能不能举个例子呢？”
"If you burn yourself on a hot oven, you get an immediate 'impression.' Afterward you can recollect that you burned yourself. That impression insofar as it is recalled is what Hume calls an 'idea.' The difference is that an impression is stronger and livelier than your reflective memory of that impression. You could say that the sensation is the original and that the idea, or reflection, is only a pale imitation. It is the impression which is the direct cause of the idea stored in the mind."
“如果你被热炉子烫到，你会马上得到一个‘印象’。事后你会回想自己被烫到这件事，这就是休姆所谓的‘观念’。两者的不同在于‘印象’比事后的回忆要更强烈，也更生动。你可以说感受是原创的，而‘观念’(或省思)则只不过是模仿物而已。‘印象’是在我们的心灵中形成‘观念’的直接原因。”
"I follow you--so far."
“到目前为止，我还可以理解。”
"Hume emphasizes further that both an impression and an idea can be either simple or complex. You remember we talked about an apple in connection with Locke. The direct experience of an apple is an example of a complex impression."
“休姆进一步强调印象与观念可能是单一的，也可能是复合的。你还记得我们谈到洛克时曾经以苹果为例子吗？对于苹果的直接经验就是一种复合印象。”
"Sorry to interrupt, but is this terribly important?"
“对不起，打断你的话。这种东西重要吗？”
"Important? How can you ask? Even though philosophers may have been preoccupied with a number of pseudoproblems, you mustn't give up now over the construction of an argument. Hume would probably agree with Descartes that it is essential to construct a thought process right from the ground."
“你怎么会问这种问题呢？就算哲学家们在建构一个理论的过程中偶尔会讨论一些似乎不是问题的问题，但你也绝对不可以放弃。笛卡尔曾说，一个思考模式必须从最基础处开始建立，我想休姆应该会同意这个说法。”
"Okay, okay."
“好吧，好吧。”
"Hume's point is that we sometimes form complex ideas for which there is no corresponding object in the physical world. We've already talked about angels. Previously we referred to crocophants. Another example is Pegasus, a winged horse. In all these cases we have to admit that the mind has done a good job of cutting out and pasting together all on its own. Each element was once sensed, and entered the theater of the mind in the form of a real 'impression.' Nothing is ever actually invented by the mind. The mind puts things together and constructs false 'ideas.' "
“休姆的意思是：我们有时会将物质世界中原本并不共存的概念放在一起。刚才我们已经举过天使这个例子。以前我们也曾提到‘鳄象’这个例子，另外还有一个例子是‘飞马’。看过这些例子后，我们不得不承认我们的心灵很擅长剪贴拼凑的工作。因为，这些概念中的每一个元素都曾经由我们的感官体验过，并以真正‘印象’的形式进入心灵这个剧场。事实上没有一件事物是由我们的心灵创造的。我们的心灵只是把不同的事物放在一起，创造一个虚假的‘观念’罢了。”
"Yes, I see. That is important."
“是的，我明白了。这的确是很重要的。”
"All right, then. Hume wanted to investigate every single idea to see whether it was compounded in a way that does not correspond to reality. He asked: From which impression does this idea originate? First of all he had to find out which 'single ideas' went into the making of a complex idea. This would provide him with a critical method by which to analyze our ideas, and thus enable him to tidy up our thoughts and notions."
“明白了就好。休姆希望审查每一个观念，看看它们是不是以不符合现实的方式复合而成的。他会问：这个观念是从哪一个印象而来的？遇到一个复合观念时，他要先找出这个观念是由哪些‘单一概念’共同组成的，这样他才能够加以批判、分析，并进而厘清我们的观念。”
"Do you have an example or two?"
“你可以举一两个例子吗？”
"In Hume's day, there were a lot of people who had very clear ideas of 'heaven' or the 'New Jerusalem.' You remember how Descartes indicated that 'clear and distinct' ideas in themselves could be a guarantee that they corresponded to something that really existed?"
“在休姆的时代，许多人对‘天堂’或‘新耶路撒冷’有各种生动鲜明的想象。如果你还记得的话，笛卡尔曾说：假使我们对某些事物有‘清楚分明’的概念，则这些事物就可能确实存在。”
"I said I was not especially forgetful."
“我说过，我的记性不差。”
"We soon realize that our idea of 'heaven' is compounded of a great many elements. Heaven is made up of 'pearly gates,"streets of gold,"angels' by the score and so on and so forth. And still we have not broken everything down into single elements, for pearly gates, streets of gold, and angels are all complex ideas in themselves. Only when we recognize that our idea of heaven consists of single notions such as 'pearl,"gate,"street,"gold,"white-robed figure,' and 'wings' can we ask ourselves if we ever really had any such 'simple impressions.' "
“在经过分析后，我们可以发现我们对‘天堂’的概念事实上是由许多元素复合而成的，例如‘珍珠门’、‘黄金街’和无数个‘天使，等。不过到这个阶段，我们仍然还没有把每一件事物都分解为单一的元素，因为珍珠门、黄金街与天使本身都是复合的概念。只有在我们了解到我们对于天堂的概念实际上是由‘珍珠’、‘门’、‘街道’、‘黄金’、‘穿白袍的人’与‘翅膀’等单一概念所组成后，我们才能自问是否真的有过这些‘单一印象’。”
"We did. But we cut out and pasted all these 'simple impressions' into one idea."
“我们确实有过，只是后来又把这些‘单一印象’拼凑成一幅想象的图像。”
"That's just what we did. Because if there is something we humans do when we visualize, it's use scissors and paste. But Hume emphasizes that all the elements we put together in our ideas must at some time have entered the mind in the form of 'simple impressions.' A person who has never seen gold will never be able to visualize streets of gold."
“对，正是这样。我们在拼凑这类想象图画时除了不用剪刀、浆糊之外，什么都用了。休姆强调，组成一幅想象图画的各个元素必然曾经在某一时刻以‘单一印象’的形式进入我们的心灵。否则一个从未见过黄金的人又怎能想象出黄金街道的模样？”
"He was very clever. What about Descartes having a clear and distinct idea of God?"
“很聪明，但他怎么解释笛卡尔对于上帝有很清晰判明的观念这个现象呢？”
"Hume had an answer to that too. Let's say we imagine God as an infinitely 'intelligent, wise, and good being.' We have thus a 'complex idea' that consists of something infinitely intelligent, something infinitely wise, and something infinitely good. If we had never known intelligence, wisdom, and goodness, we would never have such an idea of God. Our idea of God might also be that he is a 'severe but just Father'--that is to say, a concept made up of 'severity','justice,' and 'father.' Many critics of religion since Hume have claimed that such ideas of God can be associated with how we experienced our own father when we were little. It was said that the idea of a father led to the idea of a 'heavenly father.' "
“休姆的解释是：假设我们想象上帝是一个无限‘智慧、聪明、善良的事物’，那么‘上帝’这个观念就是由某个无限智慧、某个无限聪明与某个无限善良的事物共同组成的一个‘复合观念’。如果我们不知道何谓智慧、何谓聪明、何谓良善的话，我们绝不可能形成这样一个对上帝的观念。当然，也有些人认为上帝是一个‘严厉但公正的父亲’，但这个观念同样是由‘严厉’、‘正义’与‘父亲’等元素所组成。休姆之后的许多宗教批评人士都指出，人类之所以对上帝有这些观念，可能和我们孩提时代对父亲的感觉有关。他们认为我们对于父亲的观念导致我们对于‘天父’的概念。”
"Maybe that's true, but I have never accepted that God had to be a man. Sometimes my mother calls God 'Godiva,' just to even things up."
“也许是吧。但我从不认为上帝一定是个男人。有时我妈会叫上帝‘天母’(Godiva)以求公平。”
"Anyway, Hume opposed all thoughts and ideas that could not be traced back to corresponding sense perceptions. He said he wanted to 'dismiss all this meaningless nonsense which long has dominated metaphysical thought and brought it into disrepute.'
“无论如何，只要是无法回溯到特定感官认知经验的思想与观念，休姆便不接受。他说他要‘推翻那些长久以来主导哲学思想，使得哲学蒙羞的无稽之谈’。
"But even in everyday life we use complex ideas without stopping to wonder whether they are valid. For example, take the question of T--or the ego. This was the very basis of Descartes's philosophy. It was the one clear and distinct perception that the whole of his phi-losophy was built on."
在日常生活中，我们也常使用一些复合观念，而不去思考这些观念是否站得住脚。以‘我’(或自我)这个问题为例。这是笛卡尔哲学的基础，是他全部的哲学赖以建立的一个清晰判明的知觉。”
"I hope Hume didn't try to deny that I am me. He'd be talking off the top of his head."
“我希望休姆不要否认‘我’就是我，否则就真的是太胡扯了。”
"Sophie, if there is one thing I want this course to teach you, it's not to jump to conclusions."
“苏菲，我希望这门课能教你不要妄下定论。”
"Sorry. Go on."
“对不起。你继续说吧。”
"No, why don't you use Hume's method and analyze what you perceive as your 'ego.' "
“不，我要你用休姆的方法来分析你所认知的你的‘自我’。”
"First I'd have to figure out whether the ego is a single or a complex idea."
“那我必须先了解自我是一个单一概念，还是复合概念？”
"And what conclusion do you come to?"
“你认为呢？”
"I really have to admit that I feel quite complex. I'm very volatile, for instance. And I have trouble making up my mind about things. And I can both like and dislike the same people."
“我必须承认我觉得自己挺复杂的。比方说，我很容易发脾气，也满优柔寡断的。有时候我会对一个人又爱又恨。”
"In other words, the 'ego concept' is a 'complex idea.' "
“那么，这个‘自我概念’就是一个‘复合观念’。”
"Okay. So now I guess I must figure out if I have had a corresponding 'complex impression' of my own ego. And I guess I have. I always had, actually."
“好吧。那我现在得想一想我是否曾经对于这个自我有过这样的‘复合印象’。我想大概有吧。事实上，我一直都有。”
"Does that worry you?"
“你会因此而担心吗？”
"I'm very changeable. I'm not the same today as I was when I was four years old. My temperament and how I see myself alter from one minute to the next. I can suddenly feel like I am a 'new person.' "
“我是很善变的。今天的我已经不是四岁时的我。我的脾气和我对自己的看法可能会在一分钟内改变，我可能会突然觉得自己使‘变了一个人’。”
不可知论者
"So the feeling of having an unalterable ego is a false perception. The perception of the ego is in reality a long chain of simple impressions that you have never experienced simultaneously. It is 'nothing but a bundle or collection of different perceptions, which succeed one another with an inconceivable rapidity, and are in a perpetual flux and movement,' as Hume expressed it. The mind is 'a kind of theater, where several perceptions successively make their appearance; pass, re-pass, slide away, and mingle in an infinite variety of postures and situations.' Hume pointed out that we have no underlying 'personal identity' beneath or behind these perceptions and feelings which come and go. It is just like the images on a movie screen. They change so rapidly we do not register that the film is made up of single pictures. In reality the pictures are not connected. The film is a collection of instants."
“所以说，以为自己有一个不变的自我事实上是一种不实的认知。你对自我的认知实际上是一长串你同时体验过的单一印象造成的结果。正如休姆说的，这个自我‘只不过是一束不同的知觉以无法想象的速度接连而来，不断改变并移动’的过程。他说，心灵是‘一个剧场’，在这个剧场里，不同的感官认知在各种位置和情况下轮流出现、经过、再现、消退及融合’。休姆指出，我们心中有的只是这些来来去去的知觉与感觉，并没有一定的‘自我同一性’(per-sonalidentity)。这就好比我们看电影一样。由于银幕上的影像移动得如此之快，以至于我们无法看出这部电影事实上是由许多不相连的单一图像所‘组成’的。而实际上，一部影片只是许多片刻的集合而已。”
"I think I give in."
“我投降了。”
"Does that mean you give up the idea of having an unalterable ego?"
“你是说你不再认为人有一个不变的自我了吗？”
"I guess it does."
“我想是吧。”
"A moment ago you believed the opposite. I should add that Hume's analysis of the human mind and his rejection of the unalterable ego was put forward almost 2,500 years earlier on the other side of the world."
“你看，不久前你的想法还正好相反呢!我应该再提到一点：休姆的这些理论在两千五百年前世界的另外一端已经有人提出了。”
"Who by?"
“谁？”
"By Buddha. It's almost uncanny how similarly the two formulate their ideas. Buddha saw life as an unbroken succession of mental and physical processes which keep people in a continual state of change. The infant is not the same as the adult; I am not the same today as I was yesterday. There is nothing of which I can say 'this is mine,' said Buddha, and nothing of which I can say 'this is me.' There is thus no T or unalterable ego."
“佛陀。不可思议的是，他们两人的想法极为相似。佛陀认为人生就是一连串心灵与肉身的变化，使人处于一种不断改变的状态：婴儿与成人不同，今日的我已非昨日的我。佛陀说，没有什么东西是‘属于我’的，也没有什么东西是我。因此，并没有‘我’或不变的自我。”
"Yes, that was typically Hume."
“确实很像休姆的论调。”
"In continuation of the idea of an unalterable ego, many rationalists had taken it for granted that man had an eternal soul."
“许多理性主义者因为认定人有一个不变的自我，所以也理所当然地认为人有一个不朽的灵魂。”
"Is that a false perception too?"
“难道这也是一个不实的认知吗？”
"According to Hume and Buddha, yes. Do you know what Buddha said to his followers just before he died?"
“据休姆和佛陀的看法，这的确是一个不实的认知。你知道佛陀在圆寂前对弟子说什么吗？”
"No, how could I?"
“我怎么会知道？”
" 'Decay is inherent in all compound things. Work out your own salvation with diligence.' Hume could have said the same thing. Or Democritus, for that matter. We know at all events that Hume rejected any attempt to prove the immortality of the soul or the existence of God. That does not mean that he ruled out either one, but to prove religious faith by human reason was rationalistic claptrap, he thought. Hume was not a Christian, neither was he a confirmed atheist. He was what we call an agnostic."
“‘世间复合之物必然衰朽，应勤勉修持以求己身之解脱。’这很像是休姆或德漠克里特斯会说的话。无论如何，休姆认为人类没有必要去证明灵魂不朽或上帝确实存在。这并不是因为他认为人没有不朽的灵魂或上帝不存在，而是因为他认为要用人类的理性来证明宗教信仰是不可能的。休姆不是一个基督徒，但也不是一个无神论者，他是我们所谓的‘不可知论者’。”
"What's that?"
“什么意思？”
"An agnostic is someone who holds that the existence of God or a god can neither be proved nor disproved. When Hume was dying a friend asked him if he believed in life after death. He is said to have answered:
“就是指一个怀疑上帝是否存在的人。休姆临终时，有一个朋友问他是否相信人死后还有生命。据说他的回答是：
"It is also possible that a knob of coal placed upon the fire will not burn."
‘一块煤炭放在火上也可能不会燃烧。’”
"I see."
“我懂了。”
"The answer was typical of his unconditional open-mindedness. He only accepted what he had perceived through his senses. He held all other possibilities open. He rejected neither faith in Christianity nor faith in miracles. But both were matters of faith and not of knowledge or reason. You might say that with Hume's philosophy, the final link between faith and knowledge was broken."
“休姆的心灵没有任何成见。这个回答就是一个典型的例子。 他只接受他用感官所认知的事物。他认为除此之外，一切事情都有待证实。他并不排斥基督教或奇迹，但他认为两者都属于信仰的范踌，与知识或理性无关。我们可以说在休姆哲学的影响下，信仰与知识的关系终于被切断了。”
"You say he didn't deny that miracles can happen?"
“你说他并不否认奇迹可能会发生？”
"That didn't mean that he believed in them, more the opposite. He made a point of the fact that people seemed to have a powerful need of what we today would call 'supernatural' happenings. The thing is that all the miracles you hear of have always happened in some far distant place or a long, long time ago. Actually, Hume only rejected miracles because he had never experienced any. But he had not experienced that they couldn't happen either."
“但这也并不表示他相信奇迹。事实上正好相反。休姆指出，这些被现代人称为‘超自然现象’的奇迹似乎很少发生，因为我们所听过的奇迹统统发生在一些遥远的地方或古老的年代。实际上，休姆之所以不相信奇迹，只是因为他从未体验过任何奇迹。但他也从来没有体验过奇迹一定不会发生。”
"You'll have to explain that."
“请你说得明白一些。”
"According to Hume, a miracle is against the laws of nature. But it is meaningless to allege that we have experienced the laws of nature. We experience that a stone falls to the ground when we let go of it, and if it didn't fall--well, then we experienced that.'1"
“根据休姆的看法，奇迹是违反自然法则的。但是我们不能宣称自己已经体验过自然法则，因为这是没有意义的。我们放掉一块石头时，会体验到石头掉在地上的事实。但如果石头不掉在地上，那也是我们的体验之一。”
"I would say that was a miracle--or something supernatural."
“要是我的话，我就会说这是一个奇迹，或是超自然现象。”
"So you believe there are two natures--a 'natural' and a 'supernatural.' Aren't you on the way back to the rationalistic claptrap?"
“这么说你相信有两种自然——一种是‘自然的’自然，一种是‘超自然’的自然。那你不是又回到理性主义的空谈了吗？”
"Maybe, but I still think the stone will fall to the ground every time I let go."
“也许吧。但我还是认为我每次把石头放掉时，它一定会掉到地上。”
"Why?"
“为什么？”
"Now you're being horrible."
“这还用问吗？”
"I'm not horrible, Sophie. It's never wrong for a philosopher to ask questions. We may be getting to the crux of Hume's philosophy. Tell me how you can be so certain that the stone will always fall to the earth."
“不是这样，苏菲。哲学家问问题是绝对没有错的。从这个问题出发，我们也许会谈到休姆哲学的要点。请你告诉我你为什么会这么肯定石头每次都会掉下来？”
"I've seen it happen so many times that I'm absolutely certain."
“我看过太多次了，所以我才百分之百肯定。”
"Hume would say that you have experienced a stone falling to the ground many times. But you have never experienced that it will always fall. It is usual to say that the stone falls to the ground because of the law of gravitation. But we have never experienced such a law. We have only experienced that things fall."
“休姆会说你只是有许多次石头掉在地上的经验而已，但你从来没有体验过它一定会掉。通常我们会说石头之所以掉到地上是受到重力定律的影响，但我们从未体验到这种定律。我们只是有过东西掉下来的经验而已。”
"Isn't that the same thing?"
“那不是一样吗？”
"Not completely. You say you believe the stone will fall to the ground because you have seen it happen so many times. That's exactly Hume's point. You are so used to the one thing following the other that you expect the same to happen every time you let go of a stone. This is the way the concept of what we like to call 'the unbreakable laws of nature' arises."
“不完全一样。你说你相信石头会掉在地上的原因是你见过它发生很多次，这正是休姆的重点所在。事情发生一次又一次之后，你会变得非常习惯，以至于每次你放开石头时，总会期待发生同样的事，所以才会形成我们所谓的‘自然界不变的法则’。”
"Did he really mean it was possible that a stone would not fall?"
“那么他的意思是说石头可能不会掉下来吗？”
"He was probably just as convinced as you that it would fall every time he tried it. But he pointed out that he had not experienced why it happens."
“他也许和你一样相信石头每次都会掉下来，但他指出他还没有体验到这种现象发生的原因。”
"Now we're far away from babies and flowers again!"
“你看，我们又远离婴儿和花朵了。”
"No, on the contrary. You are welcome to take children as Hume's verification. Who do you think would be more surprised if the stone floated above the ground for an hour or two--you or a one-year-old child?"
“不，事实上正好相反。你大可以拿孩童来证明休姆的理论。如果石头浮在空中一两个小时，你想谁会比较惊讶？是你还是一个一岁大的婴儿？”
"I guess I would."
“我想是我。”
"Why?"
“为什么呢？苏菲。”
"Because I would know better than the child how unnatural it was."
“因为我比那孩子更明白这种现象是超自然的。”
"And why wouldn't the child think it was unnatural?"
“为什么那个孩子不认为这是一种超自然的现象呢？”
"Because it hasn't yet learned how nature behaves."
“因为他还没有了解大自然的规律。”
"Or perhaps because nature hasn't yet become a habit?"
“还是因为他还没有习惯大自然？”
"I see where you're coming from. Hume wanted people to sharpen their awareness."
“我明白你的意思了。休姆希望人们能够让自己的知觉更敏锐。”
"So now do the following exercise: let's say you and a small child go to a magic show, where things are made to float in the air. Which of you would have the most fun?"
“所以现在我要你做个练习；假设你和一个小孩子一起去看一场魔术表演，看到魔术师让一些东西浮在空中。你想，你们两个当中哪一个会看得比较津津有味？”
"I probably would."
“我想是我。”
"And why would that be?"
“为什么呢？”
"Because I would know how impossible it all is."
“因为我知道这种现象是多么不可能。”
"So... for the child it's no fun to see the laws of nature being defied before it has learned what they are."
“所以说，在那个孩子还不了解自然法则之前，他看到违反自然法则的现象时，就不会觉得很有意思啰？”
"I guess that's right."
“应该是吧。”
习惯性期待
"And we are still at the crux of Hume's philosophy of experience. He would have added that the child has not yet become a slave of the expectations of habit; he is thus the more open-minded of you two. I wonder if the child is not also the greater philosopher? He comes utterly without preconceived opinions. And that, my dear Sophie, is the philosopher's most distinguishing virtue. The child perceives the world as it is, without putting more into things than he experiences."
“这也是休姆的经验哲学的要点。他可能会说，那孩子还没有成为‘习惯性期待’的奴隶。在你们两个当中，他是比较没有成见的一个。我想，小孩子应该比较可能成为好哲学家，因为他们完全没有任何先人为主的观念。而这正是哲学家最与众不同的地方。小孩子眼中所见到的乃是世界的原貌，他不会再添加任何的东西。。
"Every time I feel prejudice I get a bad feeling."
“每一次我察觉到人家有偏见的时候，感觉都很不好。”
"When Hume discusses the force of habit, he concentrates on 'the law of causation.' This law establishes that everything that happens must have a cause. Hume used two billiard balls for his example. If you roll a black billiard ball against a white one that is at rest, what will the white one do?"
“休姆谈到习惯对人的影响时，强调所谓的‘因果法则’，也就是说每一件事的发生必有其原因。他举两个撞球台上的球做为例子。如果你将一个黑球推向一个静止的白球，白球会怎样？”
"If the black ball hits the white one, the white one will start to move."
“如果黑球碰到白球，白球就会开始滚动。”
"I see, and why will it do that?"
“嗯，那么白球为什么会这样呢？”
"Because it was hit by the black one."
“因为它被黑球碰到了呀。”
"So we usually say that the impact of the black ball is the cause of the white ball's starting to move. But remember now, we can only talk of what we have actually experienced."
“所以我们通常说黑球的撞击是白球开始滚动的原因。可是不要忘了，我们只能讨论我们自己实际经验到的。”
"I have actually experienced it lots of times. Joanna has a pool table in her basement."
“我已经有很多这种经验了呀。乔安家的地下室就有一座撞球台。”
"Hume would say the only thing you have experienced is that the white ball begins to roll across the table. You have not experienced the actual cause of it beginning to roll. You have experienced that one event comes after the other, but you have not experienced that the other event happens because o/the first one."
“如果是休姆的话，他会说你所经验到的唯一事件是白球开始滚过台面。你并没有经验到它滚动的实际原因。你只经验到一件事情发生之后，另外一件事情跟着发生，但你并没有经验到第一件事是第二件事的原因。”
"Isn't that splitting hairs?"
“这不是有点吹毛求疵吗？”
"No, it's very central. Hume emphasized that the expectation of one thing following another does not lie in the things themselves, but in our mind. And expectation, as we have seen, is associated with habit. Going back to the child again, it would not have stared in amazement if when one billiard ball struck the other, both had remained perfectly motionless. When we speak of the 'laws of nature' or of 'cause and effect,' we are actually speaking of what we expect, rather than what is 'reasonable.' The laws of nature are neither reasonable nor unreasonable, they simply are. The expectation that the white billiard ball will move when it is struck by the black billiard ball is therefore not innate. We are not born with a set of expectations as to what the world is like or how things in the world behave. The world is like it is, and it's something we get to know."
“不，这是很重要的。休姆强调的是，‘一件事情发生后另外一件事情也会发生’的想法，只是我们心中的一种期待，并不是事物的本质，而期待心理乃是与习惯有关。让我们再回到小孩子的心态吧。一个小孩子就算看到一个球碰到另外一个，而两个球都静止不动时，也不会目瞪口呆。所谓‘自然法则’或‘因果律’，实际上只是我们所期待的现象，并非‘理当如此’。自然法则没有所谓合理或不合理，它们只是存在罢了。白球被黑球碰到后会移动的现象只是我们的期待，并不是天生就会这样。我们出生时对这世界的面貌和世间种种现象并没有什么期待。这世界就是这个样子，我们需要慢慢去了解它。”
"I'm beginning to feel as if we're getting off the track again."
“我开始觉得我们又把话题扯远了。”
"Not if our expectations cause us to jump to conclusions. Hume did not deny the existence of unbreakable 'natural laws,' but he held that because we are not in a position to experience the natural laws themselves, we can easily come to the wrong conclusions."
“不。因为我们的期待往往使我们妄下定论。休姆并不否认世间有不变的‘自然法则’。但他认为，由于我们无法体验自然法则本身，因此很容易做出错误的结论。”
"Like what?"
“比如说……？”
"Well, because I have seen a whole herd of black horses doesn't mean that all horses are black."
“比如说，因为自己看到的马都是黑马，就以为世间的马都是黑色的。其实不是这样。”
"No, of course not."
“当然不是。”
"And although I have seen nothing but black crows in my life, it doesn't mean that there's no such thing as a white crow. Both for a philosopher and for a scientist it can be important not to reject the possibility of finding a white crow. You might almost say that hunting for 'the white crow' is science's principal task."
“我这一辈子只见过黑色的乌鸦，但这并不表示世间没有白色的乌鸦。无论哲学家也好，科学家也好，都不能否认世间可能有白色的乌鸦。这是很重要的。我们几乎可以说科学的主要任务就是找寻‘白色的乌鸦’。”
"Yes, I see."
“嗯，我懂了。”
"In the question of cause and effect, there can be many people who imagine that lightning is the cause of thunder because the thunder comes after the lightning. The example is really not so different from the one with the billiard balls. But is lightning the cause of thunder?"
“谈到因果问题时，可能很多人会以为闪电是造成打雷的原因，因为每次闪电之后就会打雷，这个例子和黑白球的例子并没有什么不同。可是，打雷真的是闪电造成的吗？”
"Not really, because actually they both happen at the same time."
“不是。事实上两者是同时发生的。”
"Both thunder and lightning are due to an electric discharge. So in reality a third factor causes them both."
“打雷和闪电都是由于放电作用所致，所以事实上是另外一种因素造成了这两个现象。”
"Right."
“对。”
"An empiricist of our own century, Bertrand Russell, has provided a more grotesque example. A chicken which experiences every day that it gets fed when the farmer's wife comes over to the chicken run will finally come to the conclusion that there is a causal link between the approach of the farmer's wife and feed being put into its bowl."
“二十世纪的实验主义哲学家罗素(Bertrand Russell)举了另外一个比较可怕的例子。他说，有一只鸡发现每天农妇来到鸡舍时，它就有东西可吃。久而久之，它就认定农妇的到来与饲料被放在钵子里这两件事之间必然有某种关联。”
"But one day the chicken doesn't get its food?"
“后来是不是有一天这只鸡发现农妇没有喂它？”
"No, one day the farmer's wife comes over and wrings the chicken's neck."
“不是，有一天农妇跑来把这只鸡的脖子扭断了。”
"Yuck, how disgusting!"
“真恶心。”
"The fact that one thing follows after another thus does not necessarily mean there is a causal link. One of the main concerns of philosophy is to warn people against jumping to conclusions. It can in fact lead to many different forms of superstition."
“所以，我们可以知道：一件事情跟着另外一件事情发生，并不一定表示两者之间必有关联。哲学的目的之一就是教人们不要妄下定论。因为，妄下定论可能会导致许多迷信。”
"How come?"
“怎么会呢？”
"You see a black cat cross the street. Later that day you fall and break your arm. But that doesn't mean there is any causal link between the two incidents. In science, it is especially important not to jump to conclusions. For instance, the fact that a lot of people get well after taking a particular drug doesn't mean it was the drug that cured them. That's why it's important to have a large control group of patients who think they are also being given this same medicine, but who are in fact only being given flour and water. If these patients also get well, there has to be a third factor--such as the belief that the medicine works, and has cured them."
“假设有一天你看到一只黑猫过街，后来你就摔了一交，跌断了手。这并不表示这两件事有任何关联。在做科学研究时，我们尤其要避免妄下结论。举个例子，有很多人吃了某一种药之后，病就好了，但这并不表示他们是被那种药治好的。这也是为什么科学家们在做实验时，总是会将一些病人组成一个所谓的‘控制组’。这些病人以为他们跟另外一组病人服用同样的药，但实际上他们吃的只是面粉和水。如果这些病人也好了，那就表示他们的病之所以痊愈另有原因，也可能是因为他们相信那种药有效，于是在心理作用之下，他们的病就好了。”
"I think I'm beginning to see what empiricism is."
“我想我开始了解经验主义的意义了。”
"Hume also rebelled against rationalist thought in the area of ethics. The rationalists had always held that the ability to distinguish between right and wrong is inherent in human reason. We have come across this idea of a so-called natural right in many philosophers from Socrates to Locke. But according to Hume, it is not reason that determines what we say and do."
“在伦理学方面，休姆也反对理性主义者的想法。理性主义者一向认为人的理性天生就能辨别是非对错。从苏格拉底到洛克，许多哲学家都主张有所谓的‘自然权利’。但休姆则认为，我们的言语和行为并不是由理性决定的。”
"What is it then?"
“那么是由什么决定的呢？”
"It is our sentiments. If you decide to help someone in need, you do so because of your feelings, not your reason."
“由我们的感情来决定。譬如说，当你决定要帮助某个需要帮助的人时，那是出自你的感情，而不是出自你的理智。”
"What if I can't be bothered to help?"
“如果我不愿意帮忙呢？”
"That, too, would be a matter of feelings. It is neither reasonable nor unreasonable not to help someone in need, but it could be unkind."
“那也是由于你的感情。就算你不想帮助一个需要帮助的人，这也没有什么合理或不合理可言，只是不怎么仁慈罢了。”
"But there must be a limit somewhere. Everyone knows it's wrong to kill."
“可是这种事一定有个限度呀。譬如说，每一个人都知道杀人是不对的。”
"According to Hume, everybody has a feeling for other people's welfare. So we all have a capacity for compassion. But it has nothing to do with reason."
“根据休姆的看法，每一个人都能感受别人的悲喜苦乐，所以我们都有同情心。但这和理智没有什么关系。”
"I don't know if I agree."
“这点我不太同意。”
"It's not always so unwise to get rid of another person, Sophie. If you wish to achieve something or other, it can actually be quite a good idea."
“有时候，除掉一个人并不一定是不智的，甚至可能是个好办法，如果你想达成某个目的的话。”
"Hey, wait a minute! I protest!"
“嘿，慢着!我反对。”
"Maybe you can try and explain why one shouldn't kill a troublesome person."
“那么请你告诉我，为什么你认为我们不应该把一个使我们头痛的人杀掉。”
"'That person wants to live too. Therefore you ought not to kill them."
“那个人也想活下去呀！因此你不应该杀他。”
"Was that a logical reason?"
“这个理由是根据逻辑吗？”
"I don't know."
“我不知道。”
"What you did was to draw a conclusion from a descriptive sentence--That person wants to live too'--to what we call a normative sentence: 'Therefore you ought not to kill them.' From the point of view of reason this is nonsense. You might just as well say 'There are lots of people who cheat on their taxes, therefore I ought to cheat on my taxes too.' Hume said you can never draw conclusions from is sentences to ought sentences. Nevertheless it is exceedingly common, not least in newspaper articles, political party programs, and speeches. Would you like some examples?"
“你从一句描述性语句‘那个人也想活’而得出你的结论‘因此你不应该杀他’。后者是我们所谓的‘规范性语句’。从理性的观点来看，这是说不通的。否则我们岂不是也可以说‘有很多人逃漏税，因此我也应该逃漏税’。休姆指出，我们绝不能从‘是不是’的语句，得出‘该不该’的结论。不过，这种现象非常普遍，无论报纸的文章或政党的演讲都充满了这样的句子。你要不要我举一些例子？”
"Please."
“要。”
" 'More and more people want to travel by air. Therefore more airports ought to be built.' Do you think the conclusion holds up?"
“愈来愈多人出门时想搭飞机，因此我们应该兴建更多的机场。’你认为这样的结论成立吗？”
"No. It's nonsense. We have to think of the environment. I think we ought to build more railroads instead."
“不，这是说不通的。我们必须考虑环保问题，我想我们应该兴建更多的铁路才对。”
"Or they say: The development of new oilfields will raise the population's living standards by ten percent. Therefore we ought to develop new oilfields as rapidly as possible."
“也可能有人会说：‘开发油田将会提高人民的生活水准达百分之十，因此我们应该尽快开发新的油田。”
"Definitely not. We have to think of the environment again. And anyway, the standard of living in Norway is high enough."
“胡说八道。我们还是应该考虑我们的环境，何况挪威的生活水准已经够高了。”
"Sometimes it is said that 'this law has been passed by the Senate, therefore all citizens in this country ought to abide by it.' But frequently it goes against people's deepest convictions to abide by such conventions."
“有时有人会说：‘这项法令已经由参议院通过了，因此所有民众都应该加以遵守。’可是民众常常并不认为他们应该遵守这类法案。”
"Yes, I understand that."
“嗯，我明白。”
"So we have established that we cannot use reason as a yardstick for how we ought to act. Acting responsibly is not a matter of strengthening our reason but of deepening our feelings for the welfare of others. "Tis not contrary to reason to prefer the destruction of the whole world to the scratching of my finger,' said Hume."
“所以我们已经肯定我们不能以理智做为行事的标准。因为，我们之所以做出负责任的举动并不是因为我们的理智发达的结果，而是因为我们同情别人的处境。休姆说：‘一个人可能宁愿整个地球遭到毁灭也不愿意自己的手指被割到。这与理智并没有什么冲突。’”
"That's a hair-raising assertion."
“这种说法真可怕。”
"It's maybe even more hair-raising if you shuffle the cards. You know that the Nazis murdered millions of Jews. Would you say that there was something wrong with the Nazis' reason, or would you say there was something wrong with their emotional life?"
“如果你看看历史，可能会觉得更可怕。你知道纳粹分子杀害了几百万犹太人，你会说是这些人的理性有问题呢，还是他们的感情有问题？”
"There was definitely something wrong with their feelings."
“他们的感情一定异于常人。”
"Many of them were exceedingly clear-headed. It is not unusual to find ice-cold calculation behind the most callous decisions. Many of the Nazis were convicted after the war, but they were not convicted for being 'unreasonable.' They were convicted for being gruesome murderers. It can happen that people who are not of sound mind can be acquitted of their crimes. We say that they were 'not accountable for their actions.' Nobody has ever been acquitted of a crime they committed for being unfeeling."
“他们当中有许多都是头脑非常清楚的人。要知道，最无情、最冷血的决定，有时是经过最冷静的筹划的。许多纳粹党人在战后被定了罪，但理由并不是因为他们‘没有理性’，而是因为他们的罪行令人发指。有时那些心智丧失的人倒可以免罪，因为我们说他们‘无法为自己的行为负责’。可是到目前为止还没有人因为丧失感情而被免罪。”
"I should hope not."
“本来就不应该这样。”
"But we need not stick to the most grotesque examples. If a flood disaster renders millions of people homeless, it is our feelings that determine whether we come to their aid. If we are callous, and leave the whole thing to 'cold reason,' we might think it was actually quite in order that millions of people die in a world that is threatened by overpopulation."
“我们还是不要谈这么可怕的例子吧。现在如果有几百万人因为洪水而无家可归，我们究竟要不要伸以援手完全是凭感情而定。 如果我们是无情冷血、完全讲求‘理性’的人，我们也许会觉得在世界人口已经过剩的情况下，死掉个几百万人其实也没什么不好。”
"It makes me mad that you can even think that."
“太过分了，怎么可以这样想呢？”
"And notice it's not your reason that gets mad."
“请注意，现在生气的并不是你的理智。”
"Okay, I got it."
“好吧，我懂你的意思了。”