№.1 -?To understand an age or a nation, we must understand its philosophy, and to understand its philosophy we must ourselves be in some degree philosophers. There is here a reciprocal causation: the circumstances of men's lives do much to determine their philosophy, but, conversely, their philosophy does much to determine their circumstances. This interaction throughout the centuries will be the topic of the following pages.

【譯文】要了解一個(gè)時(shí)代或一個(gè)民族，我們必須了解它的哲學(xué)；要了解它的哲學(xué)，我們必須在某種程度上自己就是哲學(xué)家。這里就有一種互為因果的關(guān)系，人們生活的環(huán)境在決定他們的哲學(xué)上起著很大的作用，然而反過來他們的哲學(xué)又在決定他們的環(huán)境上起著很大的作用。這種貫穿著許多世紀(jì)的交互作用就是本書的主題。

【小編評(píng)注】羅素的文筆淺白流暢，即使是讀原文也沒什么困難，不象別的哲學(xué)家，把艱澀作為哲學(xué)的入口。

【短語筆記】do much to/for - 對(duì) ... 起很大的作用

【舉一反三】do much toward doing ... 或者 do much for sth. 意義相近，用法不同。

【例】

(1)The secretary general do much to ease the tension in the area.（秘書長(zhǎng)對(duì)緩和那個(gè)地區(qū)的緊張局勢(shì)做了很多工作。）

(2)One dead photographer does not do much for the cause he cares about, even if he did feel compelled to weigh in and take sides. （一個(gè)攝影記者，即便他認(rèn)為自己有必要選擇立場(chǎng)而支持某一方，一旦他死了，則于他所關(guān)心的事業(yè)來說也是沒有多大幫助的。）

(3)We could do much toward alleviating our problems in this country by the elimination crime, which can be accomplished quite painlessly by simply eliminating traceless paper currency and going to an all-electronic system as many Americans have already done so. （我們可以通過消除犯罪來緩解國(guó)家中存在的問題，這可以通過簡(jiǎn)單的禁止無痕紙幣，以及采用全電子系統(tǒng)來毫不費(fèi)力地完成，其實(shí)許多美國(guó)人已經(jīng)這樣做了。）

№.2?-?Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is painful, but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales. It is not good either to forget the questions that philosophy asks, or to persuade ourselves that we have found indubitable answers to them. To teach how to live without certainty, and yet without being?paralyzed?by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy, in our age, can still do for those who study it.?

【譯文】在鮮明的希望與恐懼之前而不能確定，是會(huì)使人痛苦的；可是如果在沒有令人慰藉的神話故事的支持下，我們?nèi)韵Ｍ钕氯サ脑?，那么我們就必須忍受這種不確定。無論是想把哲學(xué)所提出的這些問題忘卻，還是自稱我們已經(jīng)找到了這些問題的確鑿無疑的答案，都是無益的事。教導(dǎo)人們?cè)诓荒艽_定時(shí)怎樣生活下去而又不致為猶疑所困擾，也許這就是哲學(xué)在我們的時(shí)代仍然能為學(xué)哲學(xué)的人所做出的主要事情了。

【小編評(píng)注】我們總想去搞清楚人類與宇宙，生命與情感之間的關(guān)系，總想去尋求事件的來龍去脈，并且為發(fā)現(xiàn)了那些自認(rèn)為“確定”的蛛絲馬跡而沾沾自喜，卻又仍在諸多的“不確定”中徘徊。由此看來，哲學(xué)的必要性和重要性，既不遙遠(yuǎn)，也不尋常。

【短語筆記】either to ... or to ... - 或 ... 或 ...

【舉一反三】either...or...連接兩個(gè)主語時(shí)，其謂語動(dòng)詞應(yīng)與最近的一個(gè)主語在人稱和數(shù)上保持一致，這就是我們通常說的“就近原則”。對(duì)應(yīng)地，請(qǐng)大家記住這個(gè)用法：neither to ... or to ... - 既不 ... 也不 ... 其含義是否定的，可連接任意兩個(gè)并列的成份。當(dāng)neither...nor...連接兩個(gè)主語時(shí)，也應(yīng)遵循“就近原則”。它們兩者之間除了意義相反之外，用法類似。

【例】

(1)Developers can choose either to build from scratch or use existing structures or even simply clear off flat land and start parking rows of densely-packed data center containers. （開發(fā)人員可以選擇從頭開始構(gòu)建或利用現(xiàn)有的結(jié)構(gòu)，甚至干脆清空界面，開始安排密集封裝數(shù)據(jù)中心器。）

(2)In a position like this one can neither stand up nor lie down.（處在這樣的位置，一個(gè)人既不能站直，也不能躺倒。）

№.3?-?During this long period, the Greek ideas inherited from the age of freedom underwent a gradual process of transformation. Some of the old ideas, notably those which we should regard as specifically religious, gained in relative importance; others, more rationalistic, were discarded because they no longer suited the spirit of the age. In this way the later pagans trimmed the Greek tradition until it became suitable for incorporation in Christian doctrine.

【譯文】在這個(gè)漫長(zhǎng)的時(shí)期里，從自由的時(shí)代所繼承下來的希臘觀念經(jīng)歷了一番逐漸轉(zhuǎn)化的過程。某些古老的觀念，尤其是那些我們認(rèn)為最富于宗教色彩的觀念，獲得了相對(duì)的重要性；而另外那些更富理性主義色彩的觀念則因?yàn)樗鼈儾辉俜蠒r(shí)代的精神，就被人們拋棄了。后來的異教徒們就是以這種方式整理了希臘的傳統(tǒng)，使它終于能夠被吸收到基督教的教義里來。

【小編評(píng)注】此即羅素對(duì)古希臘羅馬哲學(xué)的看法。

【短語筆記】gain in - 增加, 增進(jìn)

【舉一反三】gain ground - 前進(jìn)，進(jìn)步，進(jìn)展；gain on - 趕上，追上；gain over - 把 ... 爭(zhēng)取過來，把 ... 說服

【例】

(1)No practice, no gain in one's wit.（紙上得來終覺淺，要知此事須躬行。）

(2)The fierce campaign by several anti-Maastricht movements has been gaining ground. （幾個(gè)反馬斯特里赫特運(yùn)動(dòng)團(tuán)體組織的激烈運(yùn)動(dòng)不斷發(fā)展壯大著。）

(3)As he slithered across the mud I gained on him. （當(dāng)他在泥濘中滑行的時(shí)候，我超過了他。）

(4)The Kuomintang won a resounding victory，gaining over 70 percent of votes cast. （國(guó)民黨獲得了徹底的勝利，他們拉到了超過百分之七十的選票。）

№.4?-?What had happened in the great age of Greece happened again in Renaissance Italy: traditional moral restraints disappeared, because they were seen to be associated with superstition; the liberation from fetters made individuals energetic and creative, producing a rare florescence of genius; but the anarchy and treachery which inevitably resulted from the decay of morals made Italians collectively impotent, and they fell, like the Greeks, under the domination of nations less civilized than themselves but not so destitute of social cohesion.

【譯文】在希臘的偉大時(shí)代里出現(xiàn)過的事，再一次出現(xiàn)于文藝復(fù)興的意大利：傳統(tǒng)的道德束縛消失了，因?yàn)樗鼈儽蝗苏J(rèn)為是與迷信結(jié)合在一起的；從羈絆中獲得的解放，使得個(gè)人精力旺盛而富于創(chuàng)造力，從而便產(chǎn)生了極其罕見的天才的奔放；但是由于道德敗壞而不可避免地造成的無政府狀態(tài)與陰謀詭詐，卻使得意大利人在集體方面成為無能的了，于是他們也象希臘人一樣，倒在了別的遠(yuǎn)不如他們文明、但不象他們那樣缺乏社會(huì)團(tuán)結(jié)力的民族的統(tǒng)治之下了。

【小編評(píng)注】羅素對(duì)文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期意大利變遷的論述，旨在說明道德對(duì)于社會(huì)發(fā)展和人類文明所起到的保障作用。中國(guó)著名哲學(xué)家楊國(guó)榮教授也曾在著書中寫到：“作為人的社會(huì)性的一種表征，道德構(gòu)成了社會(huì)秩序與個(gè)體整合所以可能的必要擔(dān)保。”

【短語筆記】result from - 產(chǎn)生于，由 ... 引起，由于

【舉一反三】spring from - 起源于，出身于，來自；由 ... 引起或造成

【例】

(1)Soil damage can result from flooding, the effects of chemicals, or the removal of nutrients that help plants grow.（洪水、化學(xué)品的影響，以及植物生長(zhǎng)所需營(yíng)養(yǎng)的流失都會(huì)對(duì)土地造成傷害。）

(2)In the Middle Ages, wealth sprang largely from the land. （在中世紀(jì)，財(cái)富主要來自土地。）

№.5?-?Social cohesion is a necessity, and mankind has never yet succeeded in enforcing cohesion by merely rational arguments. Every community is exposed to two opposite dangers: ossification through too much discipline and reverence for tradition, on the one hand; on the other hand, dissolution, or subjection to foreign conquest, through the growth of an individualism and personal independence that makes co-operation impossible.

【譯文】社會(huì)團(tuán)結(jié)是必要的，但人類迄今還不曾有過單憑說理的論辯就能加強(qiáng)團(tuán)結(jié)的事。每一個(gè)社會(huì)都受著兩種相對(duì)立的危險(xiǎn)的威脅：一方面是由于過分講紀(jì)律與尊敬傳統(tǒng)而產(chǎn)生的僵化，另一方面是由于個(gè)人主義與個(gè)人獨(dú)立性的增長(zhǎng)而使得合作成為不可能，因而造成解體或者是對(duì)外來征服者的屈服。

【小編評(píng)注】每一方都是部分正確的而又部分錯(cuò)誤的，沖突必然存在。所以文藝復(fù)興，及其后的宗教改革運(yùn)動(dòng)和啟蒙運(yùn)動(dòng)，實(shí)際上是理性文化的復(fù)歸。從歷史背景分析，也是因?yàn)橄ＥD羅馬的古典文明中具有比其他文明區(qū)域更多的理性成分因素。

【短語筆記】succeed in - 成功;順利完成

【例】A company that fail to reinvent products according to customers' needs probably cannot succeed in business. （一個(gè)公司若不能根據(jù)消費(fèi)者的要求革新產(chǎn)品，可能就不會(huì)在商業(yè)上取得成功。）

（本文由滬友 落落 獨(dú)家提供，轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處。）