讀點好英文:Francis Bacon On Truth 培根論真理

Francis Bacon On Truth 培根論真理

Francis Bacon

Truth, which only doth judge itself, teacheth that the inquiry of truth, which is the love-making or wooing of it, the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it, and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the sovereign good of human nature. The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense; the last was the light of reason; and his sabbath work ever since is the illumination of his Spirit. First he breathed light upon the face of the matter or chaos; then he breathed light into the face of man; and still he breatheth and inspireth light into the face of his chosen. The poet that beautified the sect mat was otherwise inferior to the rest saith yet excellently well: It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore and to see ships tossed upon the sea; a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below; but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be commanded, and where the air is always clear and serene), and to see the errors and wanderings and mists and tempests in the vale below; so always that this prospect be with pity, and not with swelling or pride. Certainly, it is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.

To pass from theological and philosophical truth to the truth of civil business: it will be acknowledged even by those that practice it not that clear and round dealing is the honor of man's nature; and that mixture of falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work the better, but it embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious. And therefore Montaigne said prettily, when he inquired the reason why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace and such an odious charge. Saith he, If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth is as much to say as that he is brave toward God and a coward toward men. For he faces God, and shrinks from man. Surely the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith cannot possibly be so highly expressed as in that it shall be the last peal to call the judgments of God upon the generations of men; it being foretold that when Christ cometh, he shall not find faith upon the earth.

培根論真理

［英］弗朗西斯·培根

真理只能自我判別，教導人們追尋真理，即對真理的追求；對真理的認知，對真理的信仰，也意味著對真理的享受。這三個要素組成了人性中無比高尚的美德。感性之光是上帝創(chuàng)造世界時創(chuàng)造的第一件東西，最后創(chuàng)造的才是理性之光。上帝精神的再現(xiàn)則是安息日。起初，上帝將光明賦予混亂的物質(zhì)世界，然后用光明悄然地點亮人類的心靈世界；現(xiàn)在他依然把圣光賜予其所思選的臣民。有一派哲學在其他方面沒有什么實際作用，可其中有一位詩人說了一句經(jīng)典名言：依在海岸邊，注視著在大海中飄蕩的船帆，是一件快樂的事情；靠在城堡垛口，注視激戰(zhàn)中的戰(zhàn)場，也是一件快樂的事；但沒有什么能趕得上站在真理的前沿（那是一座誰也無法侵占的山嶺，那里空氣清爽，萬籟寂靜），觀察山谷中的錯誤、迷茫、薄霧與風暴，那更是叫人歡欣雀躍。并且這種期望的態(tài)度是同情，而非自滿或自大。的確，假如一個人的想法中滿是仁愛，順應天意，走在真理的前沿，即便生活在人間，也不遜于天堂。

前面講了神學與哲學意義上的真理，現(xiàn)在來討論一下日常生活中的真理。品格惡劣，精于世故的人，也被迫接受光明正大——人類的一種崇高品德。虛偽如同用金銀合金制成硬幣，即便可以增大金屬的硬度，卻貶低了其內(nèi)在的真正價值。虛偽與欺詐如同彎曲的小路，唯有走路時依靠肚腹而不是雙腳的毒蛇，才選擇這條道路。假如一個說謊話、背信棄義的人露出了破綻，由此帶來的羞恥感是沒有辦法掩蓋的。因此，蒙田在議論“謊言”一詞為何如此讓人厭惡時，說過這樣一句至理名言：“我們不如這樣想，一個人說自己在上帝面前肆意妄為，而在凡人面前卻很懦弱，這同說謊沒有什么區(qū)別?！币驗橹e言可以面對上帝，卻不敢面對凡人。當然，在描述虛偽與背信棄義的危害性時，懇求上帝對世世代代的人類進行裁決，他們無疑是最后的警鐘。人們預示：耶穌靈魂來到世上后，他在地球上不會找到絲毫信仰。

實戰(zhàn)提升

Practising & Exercise

導讀

弗蘭西斯·培根（Francis Bacon），英國哲學家、思想家、作家和科學家。他推崇科學、發(fā)展科學的進步思想和崇尚知識的進步口號，一直推動著社會的進步。這位一生追求真理的思想家，被馬克思稱為“英國唯物主義和整個現(xiàn)代實驗科學的真正始祖”。培根提出了“知識就是力量”的著名論斷，至今都在影響著一代又一代的人。

這篇著名的散文首版于1625年。在這篇文章中，弗蘭西斯·培根宣稱：哲學與神學意義上的真理，與日常生活中的誠實都是“至高無上的人類美德”。

核心單詞

sovereign [?s?vrin] n. 君主，元首

sect [sekt] n. 派別；黨派

vantage [?vɑ?ntid?] n. 優(yōu)勢；優(yōu)越的位置

alloy [??l?i] n. 雜質(zhì)，摻雜物

perfidious [p???fidi?s] adj. 不誠實的；背信棄義的

翻譯

It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore and to see ships tossed upon the sea;

Certainly, it is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth.

There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious.