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。