BBC：古代圣贤（2015）（2）

他用华丽的雕像美化街道
He glorified the streets with sumptuous statues.
崇拜民♥主♥原则
And fetishised democratic principles.
雅典建造了名为“自♥由♥和言论自♥由♥”的战舰
Athens built Warships called Freedom and Freedom of Speech.
然而苏格拉底会明白所有这些成功都有其反面
Yet, Socrates would understand all this success had its flip side.
民♥主♥的崇高理想需要受到质疑
Democracy’s high ideals would need to be interrogated.
后来有消息告诉我们，苏格拉底宣称“美丽的雕像，
A later source tells us that Socrates declared “beautiful statues,
高耸的城墙和战舰都很好
high city walls and warships are all very well…
但是，如果他们内心不快乐又有什么意义呢？”
but, what’s the point if those within them aren’t happy?”
因此，我们必须想象一个年轻的苏格拉底在这座令人难以置信的高热之城漫步，
So, we have to imagine a young Socrates walking around this fabulous febrile city,
开始问那些今天仍然完全相关的大问题
beginning to ask those big questions that are still utterly relevant today…
财富是好事吗？
Is wealth a good thing?
民♥主♥本身能创造一个公正的社会吗？
Can a democracy itself create a just society?
是什么让我们真正快乐？
What is it that makes us truly happy?
民♥主♥开启了潘多拉魔盒，充满了新的困境和矛盾
Democracy had opened a Pandora’s box, of new dilemmas and contradictions.
当他成年后，苏格拉底将成为指出这些问题的人，
As he reached adulthood, Socrates would become the one to point them out,
一种持续的刺♥激♥物，被称为“雅典的牛虻”
a constant irritant, known as “the gadfly of Athens”.
他那个时代臭名昭著的名人
An infamous celebrity of his day.
但是，苏格拉底也是一个谜，
But, Socrates is also an enigma,
因为据我们所知他什么都没写，
because as far as we know, he didn’t write anything down,
一句话也没有
not a single line.
他认为写作是危险的，因为它禁锢了知识
He thought that writing was dangerous because it imprisoned knowledge.
这要归功于当代人，比如柏拉图，
It’s only thanks to contemporaries, such as Plato,
他可能创造了“哲学家”这个词，也许是因为他想到了苏格拉底
who may have coined the term philosopher, perhaps with Socrates in mind…
他的思想和生活故事得以保存
that his thoughts and life story have been preserved.
他看起来是个怎样的人
And what a man he seems to have been.
讽刺、勇敢、才华横溢、极富魅力，令人怒不可遏
Ironic, courageous, brilliant, wildly charismatic and utterly infuriating.
柏拉图对他的生活、思想和戏剧性的死亡的令人信服的描述，
Plato’s compelling accounts of his life, his ideas and his dramatic death,
是西方思想经典中的一颗宝石
are a jewel in the canon of Western thought.
[钟声响起]
[bells ringing]
当我们想到古希腊哲学家时，我们常常把他们形象化
When we think of the ancient Greek philosophers we often visualize them
正如文艺复兴时期的艺术作品所描绘的那样
as they’ve been portrayed in Renaissance works of art.
高大的灰色胡须，披着优雅的长袍，悬挂在古典的圆柱周围
Lofty gray beards, draped in elegant robes hanging around classical columns.
我们也许不会想象他们卷入肮脏血腥的战争
We don’t perhaps imagine them involved in the dirty and bloody business of war.
雅典对领土扩张的胃口似乎有所增强，
Athens’ appetite for territorial expansion seems to been sharpened,
根据民♥主♥党选民的集体意愿
by the collective will of democratic voters.
苏格拉底，像所有雅典男性公民一样，他被要求参加战斗
Socrates, like all male Athenian citizens, was expected to fight.
他三十多岁时被派到这里去Potidea，
He was in his late thirties, when he was sent here, to Potidea,
帮助控制希腊北部的这座战略城市
to help take control of this strategic city in Northern Greece.
从这个战争时期开始，我们得到了苏格拉底生活的更清晰的文本细节
Its from this time of war, we get sharper textual details of Socrates’ life.
这个人自己也开始成为焦点
The man himself starts to come into focus.
他的远见，他的勇气，他的怪癖
His vision, his physical courage, his eccentricities.
一个有着重大思想的人
And a man with something momentous on his mind.
战斗十分激烈，该镇被围困了三年
The fighting was fierce, and for three years the town was besieged.
绝望中，当地人开始吃人
In desperation, locals turned to cannibalism.
然而，在所有这些恐怖和战争的怜悯中，
Yet, in amongst all these horrors, and the pity of war,
不知怎的，苏格拉底找到了宁静
somehow, Socrates found stillness.
我们听说他被复杂的私人想法吸引住了
We’re told he became absorbed by complex, private thoughts.
在深冬
In the depths of winter…
只穿着破旧的斗篷赤脚，
wearing just a threadbare cloak and with bare feet,
他一连站了24小时
he stood for 24 hours at a stretch.
完全静止，迷失在自己的脑海里
Stock-still. Lost in his own mind.
与前苏格拉底时期的思想家不同，
Unlike the pre-Socratic thinkers,
苏格拉底开始相信理解宇宙
Socrates came to believe that understanding the cosmos
是从更重要的事情中隐秘地转移注意力
was an esoteric diversion from something far more important.
研究星星的秘密一切都很顺利，
Studying the secrets of the stars was all very well,
但是，人类事务的紧迫性要大得多
but, human affairs had far greater urgency.
所以，苏格拉底做了一件真正具有开创性的事情
So, Socrates did something truly ground-breaking.
他将理性思考转向内心，以解决我们都面临的致命困境
He turned rational thought inward, to solve the mortal dilemmas we all face.
他全力以赴解决问题
He threw all his energies into resolving
人类生存的基本问题
the fundamental questions of human existence.
我们应该过怎样的生活？我们想成为什么样的人？
What kind of a life should we lead?
What sort of people do we want to be?
他是西方第一个人，
He’s the first individual in the West,
把伦理放在他哲学的核心
to put ethics at the very heart of his philosophy.
苏格拉底的出发点很简单
Socrates’ starting point was simple.
每个人都渴望充实而繁荣的生活
Everyone yearns for a full and flourishing life.
但是，它没有被找到，
But, it wasn’t to be found,
在物质世界短暂的快乐和干扰中
in the transitory pleasures and distractions of the material world.
苏格拉底相信我们只能实现人类的潜能，
Socrates believed we can only realize our human potential,
当我们培育我们生命中最珍贵、最永恒的部分——我们的灵魂
when we nurture the most precious, the most permanent part of our beings our souls.
当我们做对的时候，我们保护我们的灵魂
When we do right, we protect our soul.
当我们做错事时，我们会伤害它
When we do wrong, we harm it.
明辨是非对生活的方方面面都至关重要
Knowing right from wrong was fundamental to every aspect of life.
在5.世纪的雅典，这个问题非常尖锐
And in 5th century Athens, the issue was acute.
每年审理的法律案件多达4000起
As many as 4000 legal cases were heard each year.
民♥主♥使法♥院♥发生了革命
Democracy had revolutionized the law courts.
现在，任何男性公民，从贵族到鱼贩，
Now, any male citizen, from aristocrats right down to fishmongers,
可能是今天的法官
could be a judge for the day.
我们听说苏格拉底觉得这样的业余管理令人不安
We’re told Socrates found such amateur governance troubling.
如果那些坐在审判席上的人没有资格理解
If those sitting in judgment weren’t qualified to understand
对与错的区别，
the difference between right and wrong,
他们可以判一个无辜的人有罪
they could convict an innocent person.
他们会惩罚不该受伤害的人
They’d be punishing someone who didn’t deserve to be hurt.
但是，在苏格拉底看来，无辜的人只会遭受身体上的痛苦
But, in Socrates view, the innocent person would only suffer physically.
陪审员会对自己造成更大的伤害
It’s the jurors who would be harming themselves much more.
在不知不觉中做错事，他们会造成可怕的后果，持续损害，为了他们自己的灵魂
By unknowingly doing wrong,
they would inflict terrible, lasting damage to their own souls.
为了保护雅典人，苏格拉底需要教导他们：
In order to protect Athenians, Socrates needed to teach them:
他说，唯一的罪恶是无知
the only evil is ignorance he said.
但是，苏格拉底面临着一个问题
But, Socrates faced a problem.
希腊人确实有某种道德框架，
The Greeks did have an ethical framework of sorts,
但是，它既不清楚也不一致
but, it wasn’t either clear or, consistent.
所有希腊人的命运都掌握在众神手中
The destiny of all Greeks was in the hands of the gods.
他们受到尊敬，
They were venerated,
尽管他们的个人生活缺乏道德指导
even though their personal lives were pretty short on moral guidance.
反复无常，复仇心强
Capricious and vengeful.
他们互相争斗，他们和彼此的妻子睡觉
They fought with each other, they slept with one another’s wives…
他们绑♥架♥了凡人
they abducted mortals.
恰当地说，诸神似乎也对人类道德感兴趣
And appropriately, the gods didn’t seem that interested in human morality either.
过着美好的生活并不能保证得到神的青睐
Living a good life didn’t guarantee favor with the gods.
尊重他们的权力，做出最昂贵、最血腥的牺牲
Respecting their power and offering the most expensive and bloodiest sacrifice
这是一个更安全的赌注
was a much safer bet.
然而，希腊人相信有五种美德
Greeks did however, believe there were five virtues.
正义、节制、勇气、虔诚和智慧
Justice, temperance, courage, piety and wisdom.
但是，在实践中，这些美德是狡猾的、不断变化的理想
But, in practice these virtues were slippery, shifting ideals.
对于一个贵族来说，被认为是公正或虔诚的，
What was considered just or, pious for an aristocratic man,
对于一个奴隶女人来说不一定是一样的
wasn’t necessarily the same for a slave woman.
根据苏格拉底的经验，传统道德思想，
In Socrates’ experience, traditional moral thinking,
由长者、牧师和史诗诗人传授的，
the kind taught by elders and priests and epic poets,
只是经不起仔细检查
just didn’t stand up to scrutiny.
他的哲学变成了寻找更有力、更普遍的定义
His philosophy became a search for more robust, universal definitions.
苏格拉底认为所有的美德都是相互关联的
Socrates thought that all the virtues were interlinked.
他们无法分开
They couldn’t be separated.
他认为他们是一回事
He thought of them as one thing.
他称之为人类善的知识
Something he called knowledge of the human good.
对他来说，美德就是知识，人类善的知识
For him virtue is knowledge, knowledge of the human good.
他说这种对人类的了解是有益的
He says that this knowledge of the human good
在某种意义上会救你的命，
is going to in some sense save your life,
这真是一种很强的语言
this is really strong language.
但是，这是一个抽象的想法，还是，存在
But, is that an abstract idea or, is there
能在人们的日常生活中发挥作用的东西？
something that can play out in people’s day to day lives?
哦，不，绝对不，人类善的知识是我们做出正确选择的基础
Oh no absolutely, Knowledge of the human good is what enables us to make the right
日常生活中的实际决定
practical decisions in our daily lives.
但是，在不同的环境下，情况会有所不同，
But, it’s going to look different in different contexts,
例如，如果你在战场上，它会表现为勇气
for instance if you’re on a battlefield it will manifest itself as courage.
如果你在寺庙里献祭，那看起来就像虔诚
If you’re sacrificing in a temple it will look like piety.
通过这些决定和行动
and it’s through those decisions and actions
我们有能力照顾我们的灵魂，
that we are enabled to take care of our souls,
我们最珍贵的财产，我们所有的幸福都依赖于它
our most precious possession, on which all our happiness depends.
所以，这意味着人们有真正的代理权，因为他似乎是
So, that means that people have real agency because it seems to be that he’s
说让世界变得更美好不取决于神，而是取决于我们
saying it’s not down to the gods to make the world a better place, it’s down to us.