沈思錄

Descartes, "Discourse on Method"(Gutenberg US edition)
"Meditations on the First Philosophy"
笛卡爾，《方法導論˙沈思錄》，錢志純譯，志文出版，1996
　

●理性

⊙Good sense is, of all things among men, the most equally distributed; for
every one thinks himself so abundantly provided with it, that those even
who are the most difficult to satisfy in everything else, do not usually
desire a larger measure of this quality than they already possess. And in
this it is not likely that all are mistaken the conviction is rather to be
held as testifying that the power of judging aright and of distinguishing
truth from error, which is properly what is called good sense or reason,
is by nature equal in all men; and that the diversity of our opinions,
consequently, does not arise from some being endowed with a larger share
of reason than others, but solely from this, that we conduct our thoughts
along different ways, and do not fix our attention on the same objects.(p.62)

⊙And, finally, although such be the ground of
our opinions, I remarked that a plurality of suffrages is no guarantee of
truth where it is at all of difficult discovery, as in such cases it is
much more likely that it will be found by one than by many. I could,
however, select from the crowd no one whose opinions seemed worthy of
preference, and thus I found myself constrained, as it were, to use my own
reason in the conduct of my life.

But like one walking alone and in the dark, I resolved to proceed so
slowly and with such circumspection, that if I did not advance far, I
would at least guard against falling. (p.78)

⊙And, during the nine
subsequent years, I did nothing but roam from one place to another,
desirous of being a spectator rather than an actor in the plays exhibited
on the theater of the world; and, as I made it my business in each matter
to reflect particularly upon what might fairly be doubted and prove a
source of error, I gradually rooted out from my mind all the errors which
had hitherto crept into it. Not that in this I imitated the sceptics who
doubt only that they may doubt, and seek nothing beyond uncertainty
itself; for, on the contrary, my design was singly to find ground of
assurance, and cast aside the loose earth and sand, that I might reach
the rock or the clay.(p.92)（尋求確定的基礎）

⊙他們向我學習，遠不如自己探討更為有趣。(p.144)

⊙任何遲鈍的心智，只要能遵循正確的途徑，一定會瞭解別人提出的寶貴意見，甚至會瞭解最深奧的科學，這是可以用理性證明的。（哲學原理,p.253）

⊙除非大家都深信且得到理性的力量和證據，否則不要相信我所說的任何理論。(哲學原理p.346)

●邏輯

⊙我發現理則學三段論證，和其他大部分規則，不過是解說我們已經知道的事。(p.78)

⊙自明律、分析律、綜合律、枚舉律

The first was never to accept anything for true which I did not clearly know
to be such; that is to say, carefully to avoid precipitancy and prejudice,
and to comprise nothing more in my judgement than what was presented to
my mind so clearly and distinctly as to exclude all ground of doubt.

The second, to divide each of the difficulties under examination into as many
parts as possible, and as might be necessary for its adequate solution.

The third, to conduct my thoughts in such order that, by commencing with
objects the simplest and easiest to know, I might ascend by little and
little, and, as it were, step by step, to the knowledge of the more complex;
assigning in thought a certain order even to those objects which in their
own nature do not stand in a relation of antecedence and sequence.

And the last, in every case to make enumerations so complete, and reviews
so general, that I might be assured that nothing was omitted.(p.80)

●邏輯：錯誤

⊙for, knowing already that my nature is extremely weak and limited, and
that the nature of God, on the other hand, is immense, incomprehensible, and
infinite, I have no longer any difficulty in discerning that there is an
infinity of things in his power whose causes transcend the grasp of my mind: and
this consideration alone is sufficient to convince me, that the whole class of
final causes is of no avail in physical [ or natural ] things; for it appears to
me that I cannot, without exposing myself to the charge of temerity, seek to
discover the [ impenetrable ] ends of Deity.(沈思錄p.208)

⊙It further occurs to me that we must not consider only one creature apart
from the others, if we wish to determine the perfection of the works of Deity,
but generally all his creatures together; for the same object that might
perhaps, with some show of reason, be deemed highly imperfect if it were alone
in the world, may for all that be the most perfect possible, considered as
forming part of the whole universe(沈思錄p.209)

⊙如果只單獨觀察某件事物，可能會把它當作是不完美的，但如果把它當作全宇宙的一部份，則可能十分完美。（沈思錄p.209）

⊙那麼錯誤從哪裡來呢？究其實，這只是由於我沒有把意志限制在理解能力的範圍內，而把他拓展到我所不瞭解的事物上。(沈思錄p.211)

●倫理

⊙尊重習尚、意志堅定、改變自我、理性研究

The first was to obey the laws and customs of my country, adhering firmly
to the faith in which, by the grace of God....

My second maxim was to be as firm and resolute in my actions as I was
able, and not to adhere less steadfastly to the most doubtful opinions,
when once adopted, than if they had been highly certain; imitating in this
the example of travelers....

My third maxim was to endeavor always to conquer myself rather than
fortune, and change my desires rather than the order of the world, and in
general, accustom myself to the persuasion that, except our own thoughts,
there is nothing absolutely in our power; so that when we have done our
best in things external to us, all wherein we fail of success is to be
held, as regards us, absolutely impossible....

in devoting my
whole life to the culture of my reason, and in making the greatest
progress I was able in the knowledge of truth, on the principles of the
method which I had prescribed to myself....(p.90)

●形上學：心靈

⊙I thought that a
procedure exactly the opposite was called for, and that I ought to reject
as absolutely false all opinions in regard to which I could suppose the
least ground for doubt, in order to ascertain whether after that there
remained aught in my belief that was wholly indubitable. Accordingly,
seeing that our senses sometimes deceive us, I was willing to suppose that
there existed nothing really such as they presented to us; and because
some men err in reasoning, and fall into paralogisms, even on the simplest
matters of geometry, I, convinced that I was as open to error as any
other, rejected as false all the reasonings I had hitherto taken for
demonstrations; and finally, when I considered that the very same thoughts
(presentations) which we experience when awake may also be experienced
when we are asleep, while there is at that time not one of them true, I
supposed that all the objects (presentations) that had ever entered into
my mind when awake, had in them no more truth than the illusions of my
dreams. But immediately upon this I observed that, whilst I thus wished to
think that all was false, it was absolutely necessary that I, who thus
thought, should be somewhat; and as I observed that this truth, I think,
therefore I am (COGITO ERGO SUM), was so certain and of such evidence that
no ground of doubt, however extravagant, could be alleged by the sceptics
capable of shaking it, I concluded that I might, without scruple, accept
it as the first principle of the philosophy of which I was in search(p.96)
（拋棄任何受懷疑者、感官、不證自明者、睡夢...唯有「我思故我在」不可懷疑。）

⊙All that I have, up to this moment, accepted as possessed of the highest
truth and certainty, I received either from or through the senses. I observed,
however, that these sometimes misled us; and it is the part of prudence not to
place absolute confidence in that by which we have even once been
deceived.(沈思錄p.169)

⊙I perceive
so clearly that there exist no certain marks by which the state of waking can
ever be distinguished from sleep, that I feel greatly astonished; and in
amazement I almost persuade myself that I am now dreaming.(沈思錄p.170)

⊙I will suppose, then, not that Deity, who is sovereignly good and the
fountain of truth, but that some malignant demon, who is at once exceedingly
potent and deceitful, has employed all his artifice to deceive me; t will
suppose that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, figures, sounds, and all
external things, are nothing better than the illusions of dreams, by means of
which this being has laid snares for my credulity; I will consider myself as
without hands, eyes, flesh, blood, or any of the senses, and as falsely
believing that I am possessed of these; I will continue resolutely fixed in this
belief, and if indeed by this means it be not in my power to arrive at the
knowledge of truth, I shall at least do what is in my power, viz., [ suspend my
judgment ], and guard with settled purpose against giving my assent to what is
false, and being imposed upon by this deceiver, whatever be his power and
artifice.(沈思錄p.173)（相信上帝不會欺騙我們）

⊙I suppose, accordingly, that all the things which I see are false
(fictitious); I believe that none of those objects which my fallacious memory
represents ever existed; I suppose that I possess no senses; I believe that
body, figure, extension, motion, and place are merely fictions of my mind. What
is there, then, that can be esteemed true ? Perhaps this only, that there is
absolutely nothing certain.(沈思錄p.175)

⊙So that it must, in fine, be
maintained, all things being maturely and carefully considered, that this
proposition (pronunciatum ) I am, I exist, is necessarily true each time it is
expressed by me, or conceived in my mind.(沈思錄p.176)

⊙I now admit nothing that is not necessarily true. I am
therefore, precisely speaking, only a thinking thing, that is, a mind (mens sive
animus), understanding, or reason, terms whose signification was before unknown
to me. I am, however, a real thing, and really existent; but what thing? The
answer was, a thinking thing. (沈思錄p.178)

⊙But (and this it is of moment to observe) the perception of
it is neither an act of sight, of touch, nor of imagination, and never was
either of these, though it might formerly seem so, but is simply an intuition
(inspectio) of the mind, which may be imperfect and confused, as it formerly
was, or very clear and distinct, as it is at present, according as the attention
is more or less directed to the elements which it contains, and of which it is
composed.(沈思錄p.183)

⊙in conclusion, I find I have insensibly reverted to the point I
desired; for, since it is now manifest to me that bodies themselves are not
properly perceived by the senses nor by the faculty of imagination, but by the
intellect alone; and since they are not perceived because they are seen and
touched, but only because they are understood [ or rightly comprehended by
thought ], I readily discover that there is nothing more easily or clearly
apprehended than my own mind. (沈思錄p.185)

⊙I WILL now close my eyes, I will stop my ears, I will turn away my senses
from their objects, I will even efface from my consciousness all the images of
corporeal things; or at least, because this can hardly be accomplished, I will
consider them as empty and false; and thus, holding converse only with myself,
and closely examining my nature, I will endeavor to obtain by degrees a more
intimate and familiar knowledge of myself. I am a thinking ( conscious ) thing,
that is, a being who doubts, affirms, denies, knows a few objects, and is
ignorant of many,-- [who loves, hates], wills, refuses, who imagines likewise,
and perceives; for, as I before remarked, although the things which I perceive
or imagine are perhaps Nothing at all apart from me [and in themselves], I am
nevertheless assured that those modes of consciousness which I call perceptions
and imaginations, in as far only as they are modes of consciousness, exist in
me. (沈思錄p.186)

⊙But, afterward, a wide experience by degrees sapped the faith I had reposed
in my senses; for I frequently observed that towers, which at a distance seemed
round, appeared square, when more closely viewed, and that colossal figures,
raised on the summits of these towers, looked like small statues, when viewed
from the bottom of them; and, in other instances without number, I also
discovered error in judgments founded on the external senses; and not only in
those founded on the external, but even in those that rested on the internal
senses; for is there aught more internal than pain? And yet I have sometimes
been informed by parties whose arm or leg had been amputated, that they still
occasionally seemed to feel pain in that part of the body which they had lost,
--a circumstance that led me to think that I could not be quite certain even
that any one of my members was affected when I felt pain in it. And to these
grounds of doubt I shortly afterward also added two others of very wide
generality: the first of them was that I believed I never perceived anything
when awake which I could not occasionally think I also perceived when asleep,
and as I do not believe that the ideas I seem to perceive in my sleep proceed
from objects external to me, I did not any more observe any ground for believing
this of such as I seem to perceive when awake; the second was that since I was
as yet ignorant of the author of my being or at least supposed myself to be so,
I saw nothing to prevent my having been so constituted by nature as that I
should be deceived even in matters that appeared to me to possess the greatest
truth. And, with respect to the grounds on which I had before been persuaded of
the existence of sensible objects, I had no great difficulty in finding suitable
answers to them; for as nature seemed to incline me to many things from which
reason made me averse, I thought that I ought not to confide much in its
teachings.(沈思錄p.228)（值得懷疑的感官）

⊙if in truth they proceeded from any other
source, or were produced by other causes than corporeal things: and accordingly
it must be concluded, that corporeal objects exist. Nevertheless, they are not
perhaps exactly such as we perceive by the senses, for their comprehension by
the senses is, in many instances, very obscure and confused(沈思錄p.231)
（必有物存在，但不如我們所感知）

●形上學：靈魂

⊙I thence concluded that I was a substance whose whole essence or
nature consists only in thinking, and which, that it may exist, has need
of no place, nor is dependent on any material thing; so that " I," that is
to say, the mind by which I am what I am, is wholly distinct from the
body, and is even more easily known than the latter, and is such, that
although the latter were not, it would still continue to be all that it is.
（其次則是靈肉二元、靈魂永在）

●形上學：上帝

⊙天主存在的論證：至善的觀念、我之有限、至善觀念的性質

accordingly, it but remained that it had been placed in me by a nature
which was in reality more perfect than mine, and which even possessed
within itself all the perfections of which I could form any idea; that is
to say, in a single word, which was God.

to this I added that, since I
knew some perfections which I did not possess, I was not the only being in
existence (I will here, with your permission, freely use the terms of the
schools); but, on the contrary, that there was of necessity some other
more perfect Being upon whom I was dependent, and from whom I had received
all that I possessed(p.104)

it is at least as certain that God, who is this Perfect
Being, is, or exists, as any demonstration of geometry can be.(p.108)

⊙the philosophers
of the schools accept as a maxim that there is nothing in the
understanding which was not previously in the senses, in which however it
is certain that the ideas of God and of the soul have never been(p.109)
（天主與靈魂不可能出現在感官中）

⊙這種追溯不能無窮地向上推演，到了最後，我們必定會遇到一個「第一觀念」(first idea)，換言之，他的原因就是一種「原型」(archetype)(沈思錄p.194)

⊙事物本身的必然性，就是上帝存在的必然性。(沈思錄p.219)

⊙一切科學的確定性和真理，都要看我們對於真實上帝的知識而定，所以不先認識祂，就不能完全知道任和其他事物。(沈思錄p.223)

⊙上帝絕不是騙子，所以我在這方面也就不會受騙。(沈思錄p.241)

●哲學

⊙although when I look with the eye of a philosopher at the
varied courses and pursuits of mankind at large, I find scarcely one which
does not appear in vain and useless, I nevertheless derive the highest
satisfaction from the progress I conceive myself to have already made in
the search after truth, and cannot help entertaining such expectations of
the future as to believe that if, among the occupations of men as men, there
is any one really excellent and important, it is that which I have chosen.(p.64)

⊙I have always been of the opinion that the two questions respecting God and
the Soul were the chief of those that ought to be determined by help of
Philosophy rather than of Theology; for although to us, the faithful, it be
sufficient to hold as matters of faith, that the human soul does not perish with
the body, and that God exists, it yet assuredly seems impossible ever to
persuade infidels of the reality of any religion, or almost even any moral
virtue, unless, first of all, those two things be proved to them by natural
reason. And since in this life there are frequently greater rewards held out to
vice than to virtue, few would prefer the right to the useful(沈思錄p.153)
（用自然哲學來證明宗教）

●反智

⊙關於此生以後的靈魂狀態。我知道的比...少，因為把信仰置之度外，我承認，依靠理智，我們的確能作許多對我們有力的推測，美麗的希望，但一些保證也沒有。（p.133）

⊙我很希望大家知道，直到現在，我學會的點滴，比起我所不知道的，幾乎是零。(p.140)

●論學

⊙that the perusal of all
excellent books is, as it were, to interview with the noblest men of past
ages, who have written them, and even a studied interview, in which are
discovered to us only their choicest thoughts; that eloquence has
incomparable force and beauty; that poesy has its ravishing graces and
delights; that in the mathematics there are many refined discoveries
eminently suited to gratify the inquisitive, as well as further all the
arts an lessen the labour of man; that numerous highly useful precepts and
exhortations to virtue are contained in treatises on morals; that theology
points out the path to heaven; that philosophy affords the means of
discoursing with an appearance of truth on all matters, and commands the
admiration of the more simple; that jurisprudence, medicine, and the other
sciences, secure for their cultivators honors and riches; and, in fine,
that it is useful to bestow some attention upon all, even upon those
abounding the most in superstition and error, that we may be in a position
to determine their real value, and guard against being deceived.(p.67)

⊙And if I write in French, which is the
language of my country, in preference to Latin, which is that of my
preceptors, it is because I expect that those who make use of their
unprejudiced natural reason will be better judges of my opinions than
those who give heed to the writings of the ancients only; and as for those
who unite good sense with habits of study, whom alone I desire for judges,
they will not, I feel assured, be so partial to Latin as to refuse to
listen to my reasonings merely because I expound them in the vulgar tongue.(p.149)

●整體

⊙如果只單獨觀察某件事物，可能會把它當作是不完美的，但如果把它當作全宇宙的一部份，則可能十分完美。（沈思錄p.209）

⊙but I cannot
therefore deny that it is not somehow a greater perfection in the universe, that
certain of its parts are not exempt from defect, as others are, than if they
were all perfectly alike. And I have no right to complain because God, who
placed me in the world, was not willing that I should sustain that character
which of all others is the chief and most perfect.(沈思錄p.214)（不完美也是完美）

●真理

⊙...雖然這方法並非嶄新的，「因為沒有什麼事物比真理更古老(Meditations, p.155)

⊙（終身未娶）因為她沒有真理之美那麼美。(p.34)

⊙學問就像女人(p.27)

●科學

⊙As to the other sciences, inasmuch as these borrow their principles from
philosophy, I judged that no solid superstructures could be reared on
foundations so infirm; and neither the honor nor the gain held out by them
was sufficient to determine me to their cultivation: for I was not, thank
Heaven, in a condition which compelled me to make merchandise of science
for the bettering of my fortune(p.70)

⊙I have ever remained firm in my original resolution to suppose
no other principle than that of which I have recently availed myself in
demonstrating the existence of God and of the soul, and to accept as true
nothing that did not appear to me more clear and certain than the
demonstrations of the geometers had formerly appeared(p.113)（必須如幾何般清楚）

⊙But this is certain, and an opinion commonly received among theologians,
that the action by which he now sustains it is the same with that by which
he originally created it; so that even although he had from the beginning
given it no other form than that of chaos, provided only he had
established certain laws of nature, and had lent it his concurrence to
enable it to act as it is wont to do, it may be believed, without
discredit to the miracle of creation, that, in this way alone, things
purely material might, in course of time, have become such as we observe
them at present; and their nature is much more easily conceived when they
are beheld coming in this manner gradually into existence, than when they
are only considered as produced at once in a finished and perfect state.
(p.119)（自然律）

●醫學

⊙there is always more warmth in the heart than in any other part of the
body- and finally, that this heat is capable of causing any drop of blood
that passes into the cavities rapidly to expand and dilate, just as all
liquors do when allowed to fall drop by drop into a highly heated vessel.(p.122)
（心臟的加熱功能）

⊙And, in the last
place, what above all is here worthy of observation, is the generation of
the animal spirits, which are like a very subtle wind, or rather a very
pure and vivid flame which, continually ascending in great abundance from
the heart to the brain, thence penetrates through the nerves into the
muscles, and gives motion to all the members; so that to account for other
parts of the blood which, as most agitated and penetrating, are the
fittest to compose these spirits, proceeding towards the brain(p.127)
（「動物精神」）

⊙Nor will this appear at all
strange to those who are acquainted with the variety of movements
performed by the different automata, or moving machines fabricated by
human industry, and that with help of but few pieces compared with the
great multitude of bones, muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, and other
parts that are found in the body of each animal. Such persons will look
upon this body as a machine made by the hands of God, which is
incomparably better arranged, and adequate to movements more admirable
than is any machine of human invention.(p.129)（身體是上帝所創造的機器）

⊙雖然我無意輕視它，但我深信，沒有人，甚至以這行職業為生的人，不會不承認他們所知道的，和應當知道的相比，幾乎等於零。（p.137）

⊙I have resolved to devote what
time I may still have to live to no other occupation than that of
endeavoring to acquire some knowledge of Nature, which shall be of such a
kind as to enable us therefrom to deduce rules in medicine of greater
certainty than those at present in use(p.149)

●辯論

⊙（辯論之無用）因為每當一個人企圖辯贏時，他就將似是而非的事說成有效，不太考慮各方的理由，如同工作過多年的律師，並不因此保證就是個好推事。（p.142）

⊙由於真理往往存在於雙方所持的意見之間，因此我們可以看到，在大多數的爭辯中，爭辯者愈想反抗，就會愈遠離真理。（哲學原理p.249）

●旅行

⊙For to hold converse with those of other ages and
to travel, are almost the same thing. It is useful to know something of
the manners of different nations, that we may be enabled to form a more
correct judgment regarding our own, and be prevented from thinking that
everything contrary to our customs is ridiculous and irrational, a
conclusion usually come to by those whose experience has been limited to
their own country. (p.67)

⊙一旦年齡達到，我就...完全放棄研究典籍工作。我決議不在他處探求知識，而只在我身上或宇宙的偉大課本中研究，我要將剩下的青春歲月用為旅行....體會種種人生。....勝過一位在研究室中作一些不會有任何結果的學者理論。（p.71）

1999.5.26
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