登陆注册
4705400000492

第492章

What is the highest good, whether pain be an evil, whether all things be fated, whether we can be certain of anything, whether we can be certain that we are certain of nothing, whether a wise man can be unhappy, whether all departures from right be equally reprehensible; these, and other questions of the same sort, occupied the brains, the tongues, and the pens of the ablest men in the civilised world during several centuries. This sort of philosophy, it is evident, could not be progressive. It might indeed sharpen and invigorate the minds of those who devoted themselves to it; and so might the disputes of the orthodox Lilliputians and the heretical Blefuscudians about the big ends and the little ends of eggs. But such disputes could add nothing to the stock of knowledge. The human mind accordingly, instead of marching, merely marked time. It took as much trouble as would have sufficed to carry it forward; and yet remained on the same spot. There was no accumulation of truth, no heritage of truth acquired by the labour of one generation and bequeathed to another, to be again transmitted with large additions to a third.

Where this philosophy was in the time of Cicero, there it continued to be in the time of Seneca, and there it continued to be in the time of Favorinus. The same sects were still battling with the same unsatisfactory arguments, about the same interminable questions. There had been no want of ingenuity, of zeal, of industry. Every trace of intellectual cultivation was there, except a harvest. There had been plenty of ploughing, harrowing, reaping, threshing. But the garners contained only smut and stubble.

The ancient philosophers did not neglect natural science but they did not cultivate it for the purpose of increasing the power and ameliorating the condition of man. The taint of barrenness had spread from ethical to physical speculations. Seneca wrote largely on natural philosophy, and magnified the importance of that study. But why? Not because it tended to assuage suffering, to multiply the conveniences of life, to extend the empire of man over the material world; but solely because it tended to raise the mind above low cares, to separate it from the body, to exercise its subtilty in the solution of very obscure questions.[Seneca, Nat. Quaest. praef. Lib. iii.] Thus natural philosophy was considered in the light merely of a mental exercise. It was made subsidiary to the art of disputation; and it consequently proved altogether barren of useful discoveries.

There was one sect which, however absurd and pernicious some of its doctrines may have been, ought, it should seem, to have merited an exception from the general censure which Bacon has pronounced on the ancient schools of wisdom. The Epicurean, who referred all happiness to bodily pleasure, and all evil to bodily pain, might have been expected to exert himself for the purpose of bettering his own physical condition and that of his neighbours. But the thought seems never to have occurred to any member of that school. Indeed their notion, as reported by their great poet, was, that no more improvements were to be expected in the arts which conduce to the comfort of life.

"Ad victum quae flagitat usus Omnia jam ferme mortalibus esse parata."

This contented despondency, this disposition to admire what has been done, and to expect that nothing more will be done, is strongly characteristic of all the schools which preceded the school of Fruit and Progress. Widely as the Epicurean and the Stoic differed on most points, they seem to have quite agreed in their contempt for pursuits so vulgar as to be useful. The philosophy of both was a garrulous, declaiming, canting, wrangling philosophy. Century after century they continued to repeat their hostile war-cries, Virtue and Pleasure; and in the end it appeared that the Epicurean had added as little to the quantity of pleasure as the Stoic to the quantity of virtue.

It is on the pedestal of Bacon, not on that of Epicurus, that those noble lines ought to be inscribed "0 tenebris tantis tam clarum extollere lumen Qui primus potuisti, illustrans commoda vitae."

In the fifth century Christianity had conquered Paganism, and Paganism had infected Christianity. The Church was now victorious and corrupt. The rites of the Pantheon had passed into her worship, the subtilties of the Academy into her creed. In an evil day, though with great pomp and solemnity,--we quote the language of Bacon,--was the ill-starred alliance stricken between the old philosophy and the new faith. [Cogitata et visa.] Questions widely different from those which had employed the ingenuity of Pyrrho and Carneades, but just as subtle, just as interminable, and just as unprofitable, exercised the minds of the lively and voluble Greeks. When learning began to revive in the West, similar trifles occupied the sharp and vigorous intellects of the Schoolmen. There was another sowing of the wind, and another reaping of the whirlwind. The great work of improving the condition of the human race was still considered as unworthy of a man of learning. Those who undertook that task, if what they effected could be readily comprehended, were despised as mechanics; if not, they were in danger of being burned as conjurers.

同类推荐
  • The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson

    The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 地持义记

    地持义记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 寄刘录事

    寄刘录事

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 上清天心正法

    上清天心正法

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 新知录摘抄

    新知录摘抄

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 龙血神帝

    龙血神帝

    上古蛮荒之时,百族林立,人,妖二族征战不休,陈小龙身具龙族血脉,却被父亲带入凡尘,愿他过平凡人的日子,然而命运使然,无意中喝了山中灵液,开启了修炼之路,他一路披荆斩棘,终成一代神帝!
  • 爱你如斯未变

    爱你如斯未变

    “琉璃心”玉戒被盗,让他把目光放到了她的身上。第一次,她如一小太妹,穿着夸张,蛮横泼辣,骂人功力一流。第二次,她却摇身变成一个优雅女郎,慵懒自在,狂傲夺目,以一手惊人的赌技艳压全场。第三次,她穿着清凉,平易近人,左右逢源,信手拈来几句话就把一群考古学者哄得服服贴贴。片断版:【片断一】“过来。”某男朝正玩着各种各样步枪的女子缓缓开口。“没空。”某女说得那个头也不回。“碧琉璃。”男子危险的眯眼。“再吵我崩了你。”两手各提起一把短枪,一个优美的回旋,两支枪管直指向床上的男人。“长本事了。”【片断二】诺大的林子里,两道黑影快速的飞奔着。“好家伙,窜得真快。”趴在夜阑风背上的琉璃回首看着身后如影追随的庞然大物,眼微眯的扫视周围。“前面有个约六米宽的大坑,我们从中间跃过,把这些东西全部引进里面炸了。”“和我想的一样。”琉璃点头,伸出手轻轻的朝手表上一拍,一条银钢丝飞了出来,稳稳的定在对面的一根大树上。“跳。”“收。”夜阑风一个跃高,琉璃一个收线,只见两道身影瞬间从大坑中跨过,划过一道优美的弧形,“把威力最猛的炸弹送你们作礼物吧。”跃过之时,琉璃把手中拿着的炸弹再向后扔去,一个回手紧紧拥上夜阑风的脖子,贴在他的耳边轻笑:“老大,我们真是天生一对呢。”
  • 复兴之路

    复兴之路

    二十五年前,临近高考的几个学子因酒后冲突导致命案发生,人生轨迹因此而改变。二十五年后再次相会,前程、财富、亲情、友情、爱情,炙烤出人性的黑暗与光明。日出日落,天道永恒。QQ群136803444
  • 一代女仙

    一代女仙

    穿越到修真世界,家族竟然预备拿自己给所谓的家族天才顶包。不甘心!于是叛出家门。灵根意外觉醒,踏入仙途。一句话文案:你听说过九灵根的吗?
  • 清末民初历史演义(套装共5册)

    清末民初历史演义(套装共5册)

    《清末民初历史演义全集》以小说的形式触及到晚清所谓“庇护制网络结构”与王朝衰败之间的关系。正如费正清在《剑桥中国晚清史》中指出,“清代中国政治行为的特殊型式即庇护制网络结构的形成”,是导致清末官场招权纳贿、任人唯亲、裙带关系盛行和政治腐化的根源。《清末民初历史演义》通过记述一系列重要政治人物的逸闻轶事,揭露并谴责了晚清官员的丑态和官场黑幕,同时也从历史的角度反思了庇护制网络结构不断超出可控范围使政治体制沦为“私利”工具的这一历史现象。这也使得《清末民初历史演义》超出一般谴责小说的范畴而具有了更加深刻的意义。  
  • 三仙下天台:天台山传说故事

    三仙下天台:天台山传说故事

    《三仙下天台:天台山传说故事》为山海经故事丛书中的一册。内容均以从民间搜集整理的传说故事为主,且各册都有一个核心的人物或主题,保留了很多的民间智慧,体现了民俗风情与历史面貌。《三仙下天台:天台山传说故事》围绕天台山,讲述了很多流传于民间的故事与传说。
  • 绿妖

    绿妖

    天庭。云雾缭绕,金銮殿椅,众神着锦衣长袍立于两侧,庄严华美的鱼白柱,弥漫的仙气笼罩着凌霄殿。“大胆小玩子!你竟敢私自放走广寒宫仙子!解开蛇妖封印?!乱点鸳鸯谱!致使历史轨道逆行!可知罪?”“小玩子无罪!”玩玩傲然的扬起下巴,大声的反驳道。“哼,原始天尊何在?!将小玩子打入十八层地狱,永世不得超生!”玉帝坐在高高的金椅上,双目圆瞪,满是怒气。“玉帝息怒啊!小……
  • 特种全能高手

    特种全能高手

    他,集罪恶监狱所有罪犯技能于一身,从世界上最神秘、最恶名昭彰的监狱走出,回国成婚。潜龙归海,势必掀起翻天巨浪。百花争艳,我自取之有道。“我的朋友,他们都活的很好;我的敌人,不是在死,就是在死的路上。”-----方岩(Q群:756060279)
  • 契诃夫作品选(语文新课标课外必读第六辑)

    契诃夫作品选(语文新课标课外必读第六辑)

    国家教育部颁布了最新《语文课程标准》,统称新课标,对中、小学语文教学指定了阅读书目,对阅读的数量、内容、质量以及速度都提出了明确的要求,这对于提高学生的阅读能力,培养语文素养,陶冶情操,促进学生终身学习和终身可持续发展,对于提高广大人民的文学素养具有极大的意义。
  • 徐志摩文集3

    徐志摩文集3

    《徐志摩文集:扫荡着无际的青空》收录了徐志摩经典力作,分为散文、书信和诗歌三部分。