Philosophy

哲学

By Julie Bray

朱莉.布雷 著

 

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”(Shakespeare)
“构成我们的材料也就是构成梦幻的材料，我们短暂的一生，前后都环绕在沉睡之中。”（莎士比亚）


Does this sentence make you think? What does it make you think about? Shakespeare was a dreamer, and some say he was a philosopher too. In this sentence he tells us that our lives are short but we can think up big and important ideas in that short time.
这句话是否让你有所思考？这句话让你想到了什么呢？莎士比亚是一个梦想家，有些人说莎士比亚也是一个哲学家。在这句话中，莎士比亚告诉我们，人生短暂，但是我们可以在短暂的人生中思考出很伟大很重要的想法。


The two Greek words – “philo”, which means love and “sophia”, which means wisdom are the beginnings of the word we use today; Philosophy, the love of wisdom.
两个希腊单词——“菲洛”意为爱心，“索菲亚”意为智慧。这两个词就是我们今天所使用的“哲学”该词的始祖。哲学，是充满智慧的爱。


Most people have a philosophy on life. Everybody has an idea of what is right and what is wrong, and why things are the way they are, and who they are and who to trust. A lot of people believe somebody else’s philosophy. That person may be a religious or political leader, or anybody you look up to. Some people have their own philosophy on life which might be a mixture of theories. Others are philosophers; people who want to know the truth about life for themselves and spend their time studying, thinking and asking questions.
多数人都有生活哲学。每个人心中都有关于对与错的看法，关于为什么事物就是那样子的看法，什么人就有什么样的品行，什么人就可以相信。许多人都信奉某个大人物的哲学。那个大人物可能是宗教领袖或者政治领袖，又或者是你仰慕的人。一些人的生活哲学可能是各种理论的混合。其他的人是哲学家，就是那些自己想要知道生命真相的人，他们花时间研究，思考，提问问题。


One of the earliest Eastern philosophies was Taoism, which came from China. We are all aware of the yin and yang halves of the universe – nothing can exist without its opposite. Another great eastern philosophy is Buddhism, which is a religion and also a system of beliefs which help us to understand ourselves and others better. One branch of western philosophy, Existentialism, is very similar to Buddhist ideas. Both ask questions about what really exists in life, and help us to decide what is important.
东方最早的哲学之一是起源于中国的道教学说。我们都意识到了宇宙的阴与阳——世间没有任何事物能与之对立。东方的另一伟大的哲学就是佛教学说，它既是宗教，也是一个可以帮助人们更好地理解自己和他人的信仰体系。西方哲学的一个分支——存在主义，与佛教的思想非常相似。它们都会对生活中真实存在的事物发问，并帮助我们判断什么事物才是重要的。


The first western philosophers lived in Greece. They encouraged people to find their own answers to questions about life instead of believing the Gods did everything. Socrates was the most famous of these. He is one of the most famous philosophers in the world, yet he said ‘one thing I know and that is that I know nothing.’ This is why he never wrote or lectured. He only discussed. He did not believe he could tell anybody anything, that it was better to encourage individual thinking.
西方的第一批哲学家居住在希腊。他们鼓励人们找到关于生活问题的答案，而不是相信上帝会做好一切。苏格拉底就是他们中最著名的。苏格拉底是全世界最著名的哲学家之一，然而他却说：“我只知道一件事，那就是我什么都不知道。”这也是为什么他总不写作和演讲的原因。他只会讨论问题。他并不相信他可以告诉任何人任何事情，鼓励人们去思考其实会更好。


Today philosophers are still encouraging people to think. Schools in some countries teach philosophy to children. Reading books written by old philosophers can be difficult because the language is from the past. So stories are used to help schoolchildren make their own decisions about what is right and wrong and think about the best way to solve problems.
当今，哲学家仍然鼓励人们去思考问题。在一些国家，学校会教授孩子哲学。阅读老哲学家的著作可能有点困难，因为那些著作的语言是过去的语言。所以，学校会用一些故事老帮助孩子判断对与错，并思考解决问题的最佳办法。


Why do we need philosophy? There are plenty of people who think that killing animals is cruel, but eating animals is fine. If you are one of these people, you should ask yourself why. Why is killing animals cruel? Why is it okay to eat animals? You might find that the answer to each question is very different and you could have an argument by yourself using your own ideas! Go on and argue - you will understand more about what you believe. You will begin to understand the subject more deeply. And this helps you to feel comfortable with it. And you might change something or you might not. When we ask ourselves questions, we start to understand ourselves and our lives, and it’s up to us to make changes or not. If the ideas in your head agree, this means you have integrity. What you say and what you do are the same. Everyone respects someone who has integrity!
为什么我们需要哲学呢？有很多人认为，杀死动物是很残忍的，但吃动物就不会。如果你是他们中的一个，你就应该问问自己为什么了。为什么杀死动物很残忍，为什么吃动物就不残忍呢？你也许会发现，每一个问题的答案都很不同，你也可以用自己的想法，自己跟自己争论。去争论一下吧——你将越来越理解你所相信的东西。你将开始越来越深地理解主题。而这也会让你觉得舒服一点。你也许会改变一些东西，也许也不会去改变。当我们自己问自己问题的时候，我们开始了解自己和自己的生命，而是否做出改变，这取决于我们自己。如果你跟你头脑里的想法一致，这就意味着你很正直。你言行一致。正直的人都会受到别人的尊重的。


By thinking and questioning, we can understand more and maybe prevent problems caused by misunderstanding. But philosophy can also cause problems and conflict when people don’t agree. When one group of people choose one philosophy to believe and another group of people choose a different philosophy, when they need to think or make a decision together, they start trying to change each other instead of working together on bigger ideas about life. Work on
通过思考与提问，我们能够更好地理解，这也许就预防了因误解而产生的问题。但是当人们意见不一致的时候，哲学也可能引起问题和冲突。一群人选择信奉一种哲学，而另一群人选择信奉另外一种不同的哲学，当他们需要一起思考来做决定的时候，他们就会试着改变彼此，而不是一起就更大的生活理念去努力。


So when you have some spare time, ask yourself the following philosophical questions:
所以，当你有空闲的时候，问问自己下面的这个哲学问题：


Does the world own us or do we own the world? Which is more important, humans or stars?If a tree falls where nobody can hear it, does it make a sound? And the Zen Buddhist riddle: What is the sound of one hand clapping?
世界拥有我们，还是我们拥有世界？人或是明星，哪个更重要呢？如果一棵树倒在没有人能听见的地方，这棵树倒下的时候会发出声音么？还有禅宗之谜：什么是单手拍手声？