Moral Philosophy: Wisdom and Understanding?

道德哲學(xué)：智慧和理解

Wisdom is a practical virtue which is concerned with what is good for human beings.?

智慧是一種實踐美德，它關(guān)注人類的利益。

Wisdom is expressed in practical reasoning: reasoning which starts from a general conception or pattern of human well-being, considers the circumstances of particular cases calling for decision, and concludes with a prescription for action.?

智慧體現(xiàn)在實踐推理中：推理從人類福祉的一般概念或模式開始，考慮需要決策的特定情況，并以行動處方作為結(jié)論。

Aristotle envisages the ethical reasoning of the wise person on the model of the professional reasoning of a physician, who starts with his knowledge of the medical art, applies it to the condition of the particular patient, and then issues, literally, a prescription.?

亞里士多德以醫(yī)生的專業(yè)推理為模型來設(shè)想明智之人的倫理推理，醫(yī)生從他對醫(yī)學(xué)藝術(shù)的知識開始，將其應(yīng)用于特定病人的狀況，然后真正地開出一個處方。

Wisdom, then, is an essential prerequisite for the exercise of moral virtue; without it, the most well-intentioned person may do wrong.?

那么，智慧是行使道德美德的必要前提；沒有它，最懷有善意的人也可能做錯事。

But moral virtue is also required for the possession of wisdom; for only the virtuous person has the sound conception of human well-being which is the first premiss of practical reasoning: wickedness perverts us and deludes us about the ultimate grounds of action.?

但道德美德也是擁有智慧的必要條件；因為只有有美德的人才有正確的人類福祉的概念，這是實踐推理的第一個前提：邪惡使我們墮落并欺騙我們關(guān)于行動的最終根據(jù)。

So wisdom is impossible without moral virtue.?

所以沒有道德美德就不可能有智慧。

Wisdom and moral virtue are both acquired characteristics which build upon natural qualities.?

智慧和道德美德都是建立在自然品質(zhì)之上的后天特征。

On the one hand, wisdom demands inborn intelligence; but intelligence can be used for evil purposes as well as good ones, and only moral virtue will ensure that the good wins out.?

一方面，智慧要求天生的智力；但智力既可以用于善也可以用于惡，只有道德美德才能保證善勝過惡。

On the other hand, children at an early age may have a sense of fairness and be attracted to brave or generous actions; but such good tendencies, without wisdom, can be positively harmful, like the strength of a blind man.?

另一方面，孩子們在很小的時候就可能有公平感，并被勇敢或慷慨的行為所吸引；但這樣的好傾向，沒有智慧，就可能是有害的，就像擁有強大力量卻無法明辨是非的人一樣。

Only wisdom will turn these natural virtuous inclinations into genuine moral virtue.?

只有智慧才能把這些自然的美德傾向轉(zhuǎn)化為真正的道德美德。

So for real virtue and virtuous action, moral virtue and wisdom must be united with each other.?

所以，對于真正的美德和有美德的行為，道德美德和智慧必須相互結(jié)合。

If we have to acquire virtue in order to become wise, and we cannot become wise without virtue, how can we ever acquire either virtue or wisdom??

如果我們必須獲得美德才能變得智慧，而沒有美德我們又不能變得智慧，那么我們怎么能獲得美德或智慧呢？

Are we not trapped in a vicious circle??

我們不是陷入了一個惡性循環(huán)嗎？

The difficulty is a spurious one.?

這個困難是一個偽問題。

It is as if someone were to allege a difficulty about getting married.?

這就好像有人要提出一個關(guān)于結(jié)婚的困難。

How can anyone ever become a husband??

任何人怎么能成為丈夫呢？

To be a husband you need to have a wife; but a woman cannot be a wife unless she has a husband!?

要成為丈夫，你需要有一個妻子；但一個女人不能成為妻子，除非她有一個丈夫！

As one and the same union simultaneously turns a man into a husband and a woman into a wife, so the wedding of wisdom and virtue makes what was intelligence into wisdom and what was natural virtue into full-fledged virtue.?

正如同一種結(jié)合同時使一個男人成為丈夫，一個女人成為妻子一樣，智慧和美德的結(jié)合使原本是智力的東西變成了智慧，使原本是自然美德的東西變成了完全發(fā)展的美德。

In Aristotle as in Plato, wisdom is a virtue of the reasoning part of the soul; but, again like Plato, Aristotle divides the reasoning part of the soul into two parts.?

在亞里士多德和柏拉圖那里，智慧是靈魂推理部分的一種美德；但是，又像柏拉圖一樣，亞里士多德把靈魂的推理部分分成了兩個部分。

Wisdom ( phronesis) is the virtue of the lower part, the deliberating part; the virtue of the superior or scientific part of the soul is understanding ( sophia), which consists in the grasp of the axioms, and the knowledge of the theorems, of the sciences.?

智慧（phronesis）是較低部分，即推理部分的美德；靈魂較高或科學(xué)部分的美德是理解（sophia），它包括對公理的掌握，以及對科學(xué)定理的知識。

Aristotle’s teaching that the mastery of a science is an intellectual virtue brings out the fact that his Greek word for virtue, ‘ arete’, has a broader range than the English word.?

亞里士多德的教導(dǎo)，即掌握一門科學(xué)是一種智力美德，突出了他用來表示美德的希臘詞“arete”的范圍比英語詞更廣的事實。

‘Virtue’ is an appropriate enough translation when what is in question is moral virtue; but the Greek word really means just ‘goodness’, ‘excellence’, and has a much broader range, so that we can speak of the arete of a knife or a horse.?

當問題是道德美德時，“美德”是一個足夠恰當?shù)姆g；但希臘詞真正的意思只是“善良”、“卓越”，并且有著更廣泛的范圍，所以我們可以說刀或馬的arete。

I will, however, continue to use the traditional translation and to speak of intellectual virtues.?

然而，我將繼續(xù)使用傳統(tǒng)的翻譯，并說智力美德。

What is common to all intellectual virtues – whether deliberative, like wisdom, or theoretical, like the sciences – is that they are concerned with truth.?

所有智力美德的共同點是——無論是推理的，像智慧，還是理論的，像科學(xué)——它們都關(guān)注真理。

To have an intellectual virtue is to be in the secure possession of truth about some field of knowledge.?

擁有一種智力美德就是對某一知識領(lǐng)域的真理有著牢固的掌握。

It is not until Book X of the Nicomachean Ethics that the relationship between wisdom and understanding is tied up.?

直到《尼各馬可倫理學(xué)》第十卷，智慧和理解之間的關(guān)系才被梳理清楚。

In the intervening books Aristotle discusses other human characteristics and relationships that are neither virtues nor vices, but are closely related to them.?

在中間的幾卷中，亞里士多德討論了其他既不是美德也不是惡習(xí)，但與它們密切相關(guān)的人類特征和關(guān)系。

Between the vice of intemperance and the virtue of temperance, for instance, there are two intermediate states and characters: there is the continent man, who exercises self-control in the pursuit of bodily pleasures, but does so only with reluctance; and there is the incontinent man, who pursues pleasures he should not pursue, but through weakness of will, not, like the intemperate man, out of a systematic policy of self-indulgence.?

例如，在放縱的惡習(xí)和節(jié)制的美德之間，有兩種中間狀態(tài)和性格：有節(jié)制的人，在追求身體快樂時能夠自我控制，但只是勉強做到；而無節(jié)制的人，追求他不應(yīng)該追求的快樂，但這是通過意志薄弱，而不是像放縱的人那樣，出于一種系統(tǒng)的放縱政策。

Closely allied to virtues and vices, also, are friendships, good and bad.?

與美德和惡習(xí)也密切相關(guān)的是友誼，好的和壞的。

Under this heading Aristotle includes a wide variety of human relationships ranging from business partnerships to marriage.?

在這個標題下，亞里士多德包括了從商業(yè)伙伴關(guān)系到婚姻等各種各樣的人際關(guān)系。

The connection which he sees with virtue is that only virtuous people can have the truest and highest friendship.?

他看到與美德有關(guān)的聯(lián)系是，只有有美德的人才能擁有最真實和最高尚的友誼。

In Book X Aristotle finally answers his long-postponed question about the nature of happiness.?

在第十卷中，亞里士多德最終回答了他長期推遲的關(guān)于幸福本質(zhì)的問題。

Happiness, we were told early on in the treatise, is the activity of soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are several virtues, in accordance with the best and most perfect virtue.?

我們在論文的早期就被告知，幸福是按照美德的靈魂活動，如果有多種美德，那就按照最好和最完美的美德。

Now we know that there are both moral and intellectual virtues, and that the latter are superior; and among the intellectual virtues, understanding is superior to wisdom.?

現(xiàn)在我們知道，既有道德美德，也有智力美德，而后者是優(yōu)越的；在智力美德中，理解優(yōu)于智慧。

Supreme happiness, then, is activity in accordance with understanding; it is to be found in science and philosophy.?

那么，至高的幸福就是按照理解的活動；它存在于科學(xué)和哲學(xué)中。

Happiness is not exactly the same as the pursuit of science and philosophy, but it is closely related to it: we are told that understanding is related to philosophy as knowing is to seeking.?

幸福并不完全等同于對科學(xué)和哲學(xué)的追求，但它與之密切相關(guān)：我們被告知，理解與哲學(xué)的關(guān)系就像知道與尋求的關(guān)系一樣。

Happiness, then, in a way which remains to some extent obscure, is to be identified with the enjoyment of the fruits of philosophical inquiry.?

那么，幸福，在某種程度上仍然模糊的方式中，是要與享受哲學(xué)探究的成果相一致的。

To many people this seems an odd, indeed perverse, thesis.?

對許多人來說，這似乎是一個奇怪，甚至是扭曲的論點。

It is not quite as odd as it sounds, because the Greek word for happiness, ‘ eudaimonia’, does not mean quite the same as its English equivalent, just as ‘ arete’ did not mean quite the same as virtue.?

它并不像聽起來那么奇怪，因為表示幸福的希臘詞“eudaimonia”，并不完全等同于它的英語對應(yīng)詞，就像“arete”并不完全等同于美德一樣。

Perhaps ‘a(chǎn) worthwhile life’ is the closest we can get to its meaning in English.

也許“有價值的生活”是我們能夠用英語接近它的意義的最好方式。

Even so, it is hard to accept Aristotle’s thesis that the philosopher’s life is the only really worthwhile one, and this is so whether one finds the claim endearing or finds it arrogant.?

即便如此，還是很難接受亞里士多德的論點，即哲學(xué)家的生活是唯一真正有價值的生活，無論一個人是覺得這個主張可愛還是傲慢。

Aristotle himself seems to have had second thoughts about it.?

亞里士多德自己似乎對此有了反思。

Elsewhere in the Nicomachean Ethics he says that there is another kind of happiness which consists in the exercise of wisdom and the moral virtues.?

在《尼各馬可倫理學(xué)》的其他地方，他說有另一種幸福，它由智慧和道德美德的運用組成。

In the Eudemian Ethics his ideal life consists of the exercise of all the virtues, intellectual and moral; but even there, philosophical contemplation occupies a dominant position in the life of the happy person, and sets the standard for the exercise of the moral virtues.?

在《尤德米亞倫理學(xué)》中，他的理想生活由所有美德，智力的和道德的，的運用組成；但即使在那里，哲學(xué)的沉思在幸福人的生活中占據(jù)了主導(dǎo)地位，并為道德美德的運用設(shè)定了標準。

Whatever choice or possession of natural goods – health and strength, wealth, friends and the like – will most conduce to the contemplation of God is best: this is the finest criterion.?

無論是選擇或擁有什么自然的財富——健康和力量、財富、朋友等等——最有助于對上帝的沉思，那就是最好的：這是最好的標準。

But any standard of living which either through excess or defect hinders the service and contemplation of God is bad.?

但任何一種生活水平，無論是通過過度或缺陷，妨礙了對神的服務(wù)和沉思，那就是不好的。

Both of Aristotle’s Ethics end on this exalted note.?

亞里士多德的兩部倫理學(xué)都以這種崇高的語氣結(jié)束。

The contemplation commended by the Nicomachean Ethics is described as a superhuman activity of a divine part of us.?

《尼各馬可倫理學(xué)》所贊揚的沉思被描述為我們神圣部分的一種超人類的活動。

Aristotle’s final word here is that in spite of being mortal, we must make ourselves immortal so far as we can.?

亞里士多德在這里的最后一句話是，盡管我們是凡人，我們必須盡我們所能使自己不朽。

?

Politics?

政治

When we turn from the Ethics to their sequel, the Politics, we come down to earth with a bump.?

當我們從《倫理學(xué)》轉(zhuǎn)向它的續(xù)集《政治學(xué)》時，我們就會猛然回到現(xiàn)實。

‘Man is a political animal’ we are told: humans are creatures of flesh and blood, rubbing shoulders with each other in cities and communities.?

我們被告知：“人是一種政治動物”：人類是有血有肉的生靈，在城市和社區(qū)中相互交往。

The most primitive communities are families of men and women, masters and slaves; these combine into a more elaborate community, more developed but no less natural, the state ( polis).?

最原始的社區(qū)是由男女、主人和奴隸組成的家庭；這些家庭結(jié)合成一個更復(fù)雜的社區(qū)，更發(fā)達但不失自然，即國家（polis）。

A state is a society of humans sharing in a common perception of what is good and evil, just and unjust: its purpose is to provide a good and happy life for its citizens.?

一個國家是一個由人類組成的社會，他們共享對善惡、正義和不義的共同認識：它的目的是為其公民提供一個美好而幸福的生活。

The ideal state should have no more than a hundred thousand citizens, small enough for them all to know one another and to take their share in judicial and political office.?

理想的國家應(yīng)該不超過十萬公民，足夠小，讓他們都能彼此了解，并參與司法和政治職務(wù)。

It is all very different from the Empire of Alexander.

?這與亞歷山大帝國大不相同。

In the Politics as in the Ethics Aristotle thought of himself as correcting the extravagances of the Republic.?

在《政治學(xué)》和《倫理學(xué)》中，亞里士多德認為自己是在糾正《理想國》中的夸張之處。

Thus as in Aristotle’s ethical system there was no Idea of the Good, so there are no philosopher kings in his political world.?

因此，在亞里士多德的倫理體系中，沒有善的理念，所以在他的政治世界中也沒有哲人王。

He defends private property and attacks the proposals to abolish the family and give women an equal share of government.?

他捍衛(wèi)私有財產(chǎn)，并攻擊廢除家庭和給予婦女平等政治權(quán)利的提議。

The root of Plato’s error, he thinks, lies in trying to make the state too uniform.?

他認為，柏拉圖錯誤的根源在于試圖使國家過于一致。

The diversity of different kinds of citizen is essential to a state, and life in a city should not be like life in a barracks.?

不同種類的公民的多樣性對于一個國家是必不可少的，城市生活不應(yīng)該像軍營生活一樣。

However, when Aristotle presents his own views on political constitutions he makes copious use of Platonic suggestions.?

然而，當亞里士多德提出他自己關(guān)于政治制度的觀點時，他大量地使用了柏拉圖式的建議。

Three forms of constitution are tolerable, which he calls monarchy, aristocracy, and polity; and these three have their perverted and intolerable counterparts, namely tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy.?

有三種形式的制度是可以容忍的，他稱之為君主制、貴族制和共和政體；而這三種制度都有它們扭曲和不可容忍的對應(yīng)物，即暴政、寡頭制和民主制。

If a community contains an individual or family of an excellence far superior to everyone else, then monarchy is the best system.?

如果一個社區(qū)包含了一個個人或家庭，其卓越程度遠遠超過其他人，那么君主制是最好的制度。

But such a fortunate circumstance is necessarily rare, and Aristotle pointedly refrains from saying that it occurred in the case of the royal family of Macedon.?

但這樣的幸運情況必然是罕見的，亞里士多德刻意避免說它發(fā)生在馬其頓王室的情況下。

In practice he preferred a kind of constitutional democracy: for what he calls ‘polity’ is a state in which rich and poor respect each others’ rights, and in which the bestqualified citizens rule with the consent of all the citizens.?

在實踐中，他更喜歡一種憲政民主：他所說的“共和政體”是一種國家，其中富人和窮人尊重彼此的權(quán)利，而且最有資格的公民在所有公民的同意下統(tǒng)治。

The state which he calls ‘democracy’ is one of anarchic mob rule.?

他所說的“民主”國家是一種無政府暴民統(tǒng)治的國家。

Two elements of Aristotle’s political teaching affected political institutions for centuries to come: his justification of slavery, and his condemnation of usury.?

亞里士多德政治教導(dǎo)的兩個要素影響了后來幾個世紀的政治制度：他對奴隸制的辯護，和他對高利貸的譴責(zé)。

A slave, Aristotle says, is someone who is by nature not his own but another man’s property.?

亞里士多德說，奴隸是一個天生不屬于自己而屬于另一個人財產(chǎn)的人。

To those who say that all slavery is a violation of nature, he replies that some men are by nature free and others by nature slaves, and that for the latter slavery is both expedient and right.?

對于那些說所有奴隸制都是違反自然的人，他回答說，有些人天生是自由的，有些人天生是奴隸，對于后者來說，奴隸制既是有利的也是正確的。

He agrees, however, that there is such a thing as unnatural slavery: victors in an unjust war, for instance, have no right to make slaves of the defeated.

然而，他同意，有一種不自然的奴隸制：例如，在不公正的戰(zhàn)爭中勝利者沒有權(quán)利使被打敗者成為奴隸。

But some men are so inferior and brutish that it is better for them to be under the rule of a kindly master than to be free.?

但有些人是如此低劣和殘暴，以至于讓他們在一個仁慈的主人的統(tǒng)治下比自由更好。

When Aristotle wrote, slavery was well-nigh universal; and his approval of the system is tempered by his observation that slaves are living tools, and that if non-living tools could achieve their purposes, there would be no need for slavery.?

當亞里士多德寫作時，奴隸制幾乎是普遍的；他對這個制度的贊同被他對奴隸是活工具的觀察所緩和，如果沒有生命的工具能夠?qū)崿F(xiàn)它們的目的，就不需要奴隸制了。

If every instrument could achieve its own work, obeying or anticipating the will of others, like the statues of Daedalus . . . if, likewise, the shuttle could weave and the plectrum touch the lyre, overseers would not want servants nor would masters slaves.?

如果每一個工具都能完成自己的工作，服從或預(yù)測別人的意志，就像代達羅斯（Daedalus）的雕像一樣……如果同樣地，織布機能織布，撥弦器能彈琴，監(jiān)工就不需要仆人，主人也不需要奴隸。

If Aristotle were alive today, in the age of automation, there is no reason to believe that he would defend slavery.?

如果亞里士多德今天還活著，在自動化的時代，沒有理由相信他會為奴隸制辯護。

?

Aristotle’s remarks on usury were brief, but very influential.?

亞里士多德關(guān)于高利貸的評論簡短而有影響力。

Wealth, he says, can be made either by farming, or by trade; the former is more natural and more honourable.?

他說，財富可以通過農(nóng)業(yè)或貿(mào)易來獲得；前者更自然更光榮。

But the most unnatural and hateful way of making money is by charging interest on a loan.?

但是最不自然和最可恨的賺錢方式是對貸款收取利息。

For money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest.?

因為錢本來是用來交換的，而不是用來增值的。

And this term interest ( tokos), which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money because the offspring resembles the parent.?

而這個詞利息（tokos），意思是錢生錢，是用來形容錢的繁殖的，因為后代與父母相似。

That is why of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural.?

這就是為什么在所有獲取財富的方式中，這是最不自然的。

Aristotle’s words were one reason for the prohibition, throughout medieval Christendom, of the charging of interest even at a modest rate.?

中世紀基督教世界禁止收取任何利息，即使是很低的利率，亞里士多德的話是其中一個原因。

They lie behind Antonio’s reproach to the moneylender Shylock in The Merchant of Venice: 它們是《威尼斯商人》中安東尼奧對放債者夏洛克的指責(zé)背后的原因：

When did friendship take A breed for barren metal of his friend??

友誼何時會從他朋友的不生育的金銀中生出金銀？

Science and Explanation?

科學(xué)與解釋

We now turn to Aristotle’s work in the theoretical sciences.?

我們現(xiàn)在轉(zhuǎn)向亞里士多德在理論科學(xué)方面的工作。

He contributed to many sciences, but with hindsight we can see that his contribution was uneven.?

他對許多科學(xué)都有貢獻，但回顧過去我們可以看到他的貢獻是不平均的。

His chemistry and his physics were much less impressive than his inquiries into the life sciences.?

他的化學(xué)和物理學(xué)比他對生命科學(xué)的探究要差得多。

In particular, partly because he lacked precise clocks and any kind of thermometer, he was unaware of the importance of the measurement of velocity and temperature.?

特別是，部分因為他缺乏精確的時鐘和任何一種溫度計，他沒有意識到測量速度和溫度的重要性。

While his zoological writings were still found impressive by Darwin, his physics was already superannuated by the sixth century ad.

當達爾文仍然對他的動物學(xué)著作印象深刻時，他的物理學(xué)在公元六世紀就已經(jīng)過時了。

In works such as On Generation and Corruption and On the Heavens Aristotle bequeathed to his successors a world-picture which included many features inherited from his pre-Socratic predecessors.

在《論生與滅》和《天論》等著作中，亞里士多德把一個世界圖景遺留給了他的后繼者，其中包括了許多從他先于蘇格拉底的前輩那里繼承下來的特征。

He took over the four elements of Empedocles: earth, water, air, and fire, each characterized by the possession of a unique pair of the primary qualities of heat, cold, wetness and dryness.?

他接受了恩培多克勒斯的四元素：土、水、氣、火，每一種元素都以擁有一對獨特的主要品質(zhì)來表征，即熱、冷、濕、干。

Each element had its natural place in an ordered cosmos, towards which it tended by its own characteristic movement: thus earthy solids fell while fire rose ever higher.?

每一種元素在一個有序的宇宙中都有其自然的位置，它們通過自己的特征運動傾向于這個位置：因此，土質(zhì)的固體下降，而火則不斷上升。

Each such motion was natural to its element; other motions were possible, but were ‘violent’. (We preserve a relic of Aristotle’s distinction when we contrast natural with violent death.)?

每一種這樣的運動都是其元素的自然運動；其他運動也是可能的，但是“暴力”的。（當我們把自然死亡和暴力死亡對比時，我們保留了亞里士多德區(qū)分的遺俗。）

The earth was in the centre of the universe: around it a succession of concentric crystalline spheres carried the moon, the sun and the planets in their journeys across the heavens.?

地球位于宇宙的中心：在它周圍，一系列同心的水晶球帶著月亮、太陽和行星在天空中旅行。

Further out, another sphere carried the fixed stars.?

再往外，另一個球體帶著固定的星星。

The heavenly bodies did not contain the four terrestrial elements, but were made of a fifth element or quintessence.?

天體不包含四種地球元素，而是由第五種元素或精華構(gòu)成。

They had souls as well as bodies: living divine intellects, guiding their travel across the sky.?

它們既有身體也有靈魂：活著的神圣理智，指導(dǎo)著它們在天空中的旅行。

These intellects were movers which were themselves in motion, and behind them, Aristotle argued, there must be a source of movement not itself in motion.?

這些理智是自身在運動的動力，而在它們背后，亞里士多德認為，必須有一個不自身運動的運動源。

That was the ultimate, unchanging, divinity, moving all other beings ‘a(chǎn)s an object of love’ – the love which, in the final words of Dante’s Paradiso, moved the sun and the first stars.?

那就是最終的、不變的、神圣的存在，以“愛之對象”的方式驅(qū)動所有其他存在——那種愛，在但丁《天堂》的最后一句話中，驅(qū)動了太陽和最初的星星。

Even the best of Aristotle’s scientific work now has only a historical interest, and rather than record his theories in detail I will describe the common notion of science which underpins his researches in diverse fields.?

即使是亞里士多德最好的科學(xué)作品現(xiàn)在也只有歷史意義，我不會詳細記錄他的理論，而是描述支撐他在不同領(lǐng)域研究的科學(xué)的共同概念。

Aristotle’s conception of science can be summed up by saying that it is empirical, explanatory, and teleological.?

亞里士多德對科學(xué)的概念可以總結(jié)為說它是經(jīng)驗主義的、解釋性的和目的論的。

Science begins with observation. In the course of our lives we notice things through our senses, we remember them, we build up a body of experience. Our concepts are drawn from our experience, and in science observation has the primacy over theory. Though a mature science can be set out and transmitted to others in the axiomatic form described in the Posterior Analytics, it is clear from Aristotle’s detailed works that the order of discovery is different from the order of exposition.?

科學(xué)始于觀察。在我們的生活中，我們通過感官注意到事物，記住它們，積累了一定的經(jīng)驗。我們的概念來自于我們的經(jīng)驗，在科學(xué)中，觀察優(yōu)先于理論。盡管成熟的科學(xué)可以按照《后分析篇》中描述的公理形式來闡述和傳播給他人，但從亞里士多德的詳細著作中可以清楚地看出，發(fā)現(xiàn)的順序與闡述的順序是不同的。

If science begins with sense-perception it ends with intellectual knowledge, which Aristotle sees as having a special character of necessity. Necessary truths are such as the unchanging truths of arithmetic: two and two make four, and always have and always will. They are contrasted with contingent truths, such as that the Greeks won a great naval victory at Salamis; something which could have turned out otherwise. It seems strange to say, as Aristotle does, that what is known must be necessary: cannot we have knowledge of contingent facts of experience, such as that Socrates drank hemlock? Some have thought that he was arguing, fallaciously, from the truth:?

如果科學(xué)以感知開始，那么它以智性知識結(jié)束，亞里士多德認為這種知識具有必然性的特殊性質(zhì)。必然的真理是像算術(shù)中不變的真理那樣的：二加二等于四，過去如此，將來也如此。它們與偶然的真理形成對比，例如希臘人在薩拉米斯贏得了一場偉大的海戰(zhàn)；這是可能有其他結(jié)果的事情。像亞里士多德那樣說，所知必須是必然的，似乎很奇怪：難道我們不能對經(jīng)驗中偶然的事實有所了解，比如蘇格拉底喝了毒藥？有些人認為他是從以下真理謬誤地推論出來的：

Necessarily, if p is known, p is true to?

If p is known, p is necessarily true which is not at all the same thing. (It is a necessary truth that if I know there is a fly in my soup, then there is a fly in my soup. But even if I know that there is a fly in my soup, it is not a necessary truth that there is a fly in my soup: I can fish it out.) But perhaps Aristotle was defining the Greek word for ‘knowledge’ in such a way that it was restricted to scientific knowledge. This is much more plausible, especially if we notice that for Aristotle necessary truths are not restricted to truths of logic and mathematics, but include all propositions that are true universally, or even ‘true for the most part’. But the consequence remains, and would be accepted by Aristotle, that history, because it deals with individual events, cannot be a science.?

如果p被知道，p就是真的，那么必然地，?

如果p被知道，p就是必然真的，這兩者根本不是一回事。（如果我知道我的湯里有一只蒼蠅，那么我的湯里就有一只蒼蠅，這是一個必然的真理。但即使我知道我的湯里有一只蒼蠅，我的湯里有一只蒼蠅也不是一個必然的真理：我可以把它撈出來。）但也許亞里士多德是用這樣一種方式定義希臘語中的“知識”一詞，使它限于科學(xué)知識。這更有可能，特別是如果我們注意到，對于亞里士多德來說，必然的真理不僅限于邏輯和數(shù)學(xué)的真理，而且包括所有普遍真實的命題，甚至是“大部分情況下真實”的命題。但結(jié)果仍然存在，并且會被亞里士多德接受，那就是歷史，因為它涉及個別事件，不能成為一門科學(xué)。

Science, then, is empirical: it is also explanatory, in the sense that it is a search for causes. In a philosophical lexicon in his Metaphysics, Aristotle distinguishes four types of causes, or explanations. First, he says, there is that of which and out of which a thing is made, such as the bronze of a statue and the letters of a syllable. This is called the material cause. Secondly, he says, there is the form and pattern of a thing, which may be expressed in its definition: his example is that the proportion of the length of two strings in a lyre is the cause of one being the octave of the other. The third type of cause is the origin of a change or state of rest in something: he gives as examples a person reaching a decision, and a father who begets a child, and in general anyone who makes a thing or changes a thing.?

因此，科學(xué)是經(jīng)驗性的：它也是解釋性的，因為它是對因果的尋求。在他的《形而上學(xué)》中的一個哲學(xué)詞匯表中，亞里士多德區(qū)分了四種類型的因果或解釋。首先，他說，有一種是事物所由和所由之物，比如雕像的青銅和音節(jié)的字母。這叫做質(zhì)料因。其次，他說，有一種是事物的形式和模式，可以用它的定義來表達：他舉的例子是琴弦的長度之比是一個弦成為另一個弦八度音的原因。第三種類型的原因是某物變化或靜止的起源：他舉的例子是一個人做出決定，一個父親生育一個孩子，以及一般來說任何制造或改變事物的人。

The fourth and last type of cause is the end or goal, that for the sake of which something is done; it is the type of explanation we give if someone asks us why we are taking a walk, and we reply ‘in order to keep healthy’.?

第四種也是最后一種類型的原因是目的或目標，即為了某事而做某事；這是我們給出的一種解釋，如果有人問我們?yōu)槭裁匆⒉?，我們回答“為了保持健康”?/p>

The fourth type of cause (the ‘final cause’) plays a very important role in Aristotle’s science. He inquires for the final causes not only of human action, but also of animals’ behaviour (‘why do spiders weave webs?’) and of their structural features (‘why do ducks have webbed feet?’). There are final causes also for the activities of plants (such as the downward pressure of roots) and those of inanimate elements (such as the upward thrust of flame). Explanations of this kind are called ‘teleological’, from the Greek word telos, which means the end or final cause.?

第四種類型的因果（“目的因”）在亞里士多德的科學(xué)中起著非常重要的作用。他不僅探究人類行為的目的因，也探究動物行為（“為什么蜘蛛織網(wǎng)？”）和它們的結(jié)構(gòu)特征（“為什么鴨子有蹼足？”）的目的因。植物的活動（比如根部的向下壓力）和無生命元素的活動（比如火焰的向上推力）也有目的因。這種類型的解釋被稱為“目的論”的，來自希臘語單詞telos，意思是終點或目的因。

When Aristotle looks for teleological explanations, he is not attributing intentions to unconscious or inanimate objects, nor is he thinking in terms of a Grand Designer. Rather, he is laying emphasis on the function of various activities and structures. Once again, he was better inspired in the area of the life sciences than in chemistry and physics. Even post-Darwinian biologists are constantly on the look-out for function; but no one after Newton has sought a teleological explanation of the motion of inanimate bodies.?

當亞里士多德尋求目的論的解釋時，他并不是把意圖歸于無意識或無生命的物體，也不是用一個偉大設(shè)計者的觀點來思考。相反，他是強調(diào)各種活動和結(jié)構(gòu)的功能。再一次，他在生命科學(xué)領(lǐng)域比在化學(xué)和物理領(lǐng)域更有靈感。即使是后達爾文主義的生物學(xué)家也在不斷地尋找功能；但是在牛頓之后，沒有人尋求無生命物體運動的目的論解釋。