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第4章

philebus-第4章

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  Soc。 And no one can deny that all percipient beings desire and



hunt after good; and are eager to catch and have the good about



them; and care not for the attainment of anything which its not



accompanied by good。



  Pro。 That is undeniable。



  Soc。 Now let us part off the life of pleasure from the life of



wisdom; and pass them in review。



  Pro。 How do you mean?



  Soc。 Let there be no wisdom in the life of pleasure; nor any



pleasure in the life of wisdom; for if either of them is the chief



good; it cannot be supposed to want anything; but if either is shown



to want anything; then it cannot really be the chief good。



  Pro。 Impossible。



  Soc。 And will you help us to test these two lives?



  Pro。 Certainly。



  Soc。 Then answer。



  Pro。 Ask。



  Soc。 Would you choose; Protarchus; to live all your life long in the



enjoyment of the greatest pleasures?



  Pro。 Certainly I should。



  Soc。 Would you consider that there was still anything wanting to you



if you had perfect pleasure?



  Pro。 Certainly not。



  Soc。 Reflect; would you not want wisdom and intelligence and



forethought; and similar qualities? would you not at any rate want



sight?



  Pro。 Why should I? Having pleasure I should have all things。



  Soc。 Living thus; you would always throughout your life enjoy the



greatest pleasures?



  Pro。 I should。



  Soc。 But if you had neither mind; nor memory; nor knowledge; nor



true opinion; you would in the first place be utterly ignorant of



whether you were pleased or not; because you would be entirely



devoid of intelligence。



  Pro。 Certainly。



  Soc。 And similarly; if you had no memory you would not recollect



that you had ever been pleased; nor would the slightest recollection



of the pleasure which you feel at any moment remain with you; and if



you had no true opinion you would not think that you were pleased when



you were; and if you had no power of calculation you would not be able



to calculate on future pleasure; and your life would be the life;



not of a man; but of an oyster or pulmo marinus。 Could this be



otherwise?



  Pro。 No。



  Soc。 But is such a life eligible?



  Pro。 I cannot answer you; Socrates; the argument has taken away from



me the power of speech。



  Soc。 We must keep up our spirits;…let us now take the life of mind



and examine it in turn。



  Pro。 And what is this life of mind?



  Soc。 I want to know whether any one of us would consent to live;



having wisdom and mind and knowledge and memory of all things; but



having no sense of pleasure or pain; and wholly unaffected by these



and the like feelings?



  Pro。 Neither life; Socrates; appears eligible to me; or is likely;



as I should imagine; to be chosen by any one else。



  Soc。 What would you say; Protarchus; to both of these in one; or



to one that was made out of the union of the two?



  Pro。 Out of the union; that is; of pleasure with mind and wisdom?



  Soc。 Yes; that is the life which I mean。



  Pro。 There can be no difference of opinion; not some but all would



surely choose this third rather than either of the other two; and in



addition to them。



  Soc。 But do you see the consequence?



  Pro。 To be sure I do。 The consequence is; that two out of the



three lives which have been proposed are neither sufficient nor



eligible for man or for animal。



  Soc。 Then now there can be no doubt that neither of them has the



good; for the one which had would certainly have been sufficient and



perfect and eligible for every living creature or thing that was



able to live such a life; and if any of us had chosen any other; he



would have chosen contrary to the nature of the truly eligible; and



not of his own free will; but either through ignorance or from some



unhappy necessity。



  Pro。 Certainly that seems to be true。



  Soc。 And now have I not sufficiently shown that Philebus; goddess is



not to be regarded as identical with the good?



  Phi。 Neither is your 〃mind〃 the good; Socrates; for that will be



open to the same objections。



  Soc。 Perhaps; Philebus; you may be right in saying so of my



〃mind〃; but of the true; which is also the divine mind; far otherwise。



However; I will not at present claim the first place for mind as



against the mixed life; but we must come to some understanding about



the second place。 For you might affirm pleasure and I mind to be the



cause of the mixed life; and in that case although neither of them



would be the good; one of them might be imagined to be the cause of



the good。 And I might proceed further to argue in opposition to



Phoebus; that the element which makes this mixed life eligible and



good; is more akin and more similar to mind than to pleasure。 And if



this is true; pleasure cannot be truly said to share either in the



first or second place; and does not; if I may trust my own mind;



attain even to the third。



  Pro。 Truly; Socrates; pleasure appears to me to have had a fall;



in fighting for the palm; she has been smitten by the argument; and is



laid low。 I must say that mind would have fallen too; and may



therefore be thought to show discretion in not putting forward a



similar claim。 And if pleasure were deprived not only of the first but



of the second place; she would be terribly damaged in the eyes of



her admirers; for not even to them would she still appear as fair as



before。



  Soc。 Well; but had we not better leave her now; and not pain her



by applying the crucial test; and finally detecting her?



  Pro。 Nonsense; Socrates。



  Soc。 Why? because I said that we had better not pain pleasure; which



is an impossibility?



  Pro。 Yes; and more than that; because you do not seem to be aware



that none of us will let you go home until you have finished the



argument。



  Soc。 Heavens! Protarchus; that will be a tedious business; and



just at present not at all an easy one。 For in going to war in the



cause of mind; who is aspiring to the second prize; I ought to have



weapons of another make from those which I used before; some; however;



of the old ones may do again。 And must I then finish the argument?



  Pro。 Of course you must。



  Soc。 Let us be very careful in laying the foundation。



  Pro。 What do you mean?



  Soc。 Let us divide all existing things into two; or rather; if you



do not object; into three classes。



  Pro。 Upon what principle would you make the division?



  Soc。 Let us take some of our newly…found notions。



  Pro。 Which of them?



  Soc。 Were we not saying that God revealed a finite element of



existence; and also an infinite?



  Pro。 Certainly。



  Soc。 Let us assume these two principles; and also a third; which



is compounded out of them; but I fear that am ridiculously clumsy at



these processes of division and enumeration。



  Pro。 What do you mean; my good friend?



  Soc。 I say that a fourth class is still wanted。



  Pro。 What will that be?



  Soc。 Find the cause of the third or compound; and add this as a



fourth class to the three others。



  Pro。 And would you like to have a fifth dass or cause of



resolution as well as a cause of composition?



  Soc。 Not; I think; at present; but if I want a fifth at some



future time you shall allow me to have it。



  Pro。 Certainly。



  Soc。 Let us begin with the first three; and as we find two out of



the three greatly divided and dispersed; let us endeavour to reunite



them; and see how in each of them there is a one and many。



  Pro。 If you would explain to me a little more about them; perhaps



I might be able to follow you。



  Soc。 Well; the two classes are the same which I mentioned before;



one the finite; and the other the infinite; I will first show that the



infinite is in a certain sense many; and the finite may be hereafter



discussed。



  Pro。 I agree。




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