【簡譯】愛比克泰德（Epictetus）

2022-10-07 16:27 作者:神尾智代 0人讀過 | 我要投稿

愛比克泰德是誰？

? ? ?愛比克泰德是一位斯多葛派哲學家，以其奠基之作《愛比克泰德手冊》和《愛比克泰德語錄》最為著名。

愛比克泰德因什么而聞名？

? ? ?愛比克泰德以充分發(fā)展早期思想家如赫拉克利特和季蒂昂的芝諾的斯多葛哲學而聞名。他充分闡述了斯多葛的觀點，并通過對邏各斯的關注在羅馬建立了斯多葛主義，這是一種指導宇宙運行的理性力量。

愛比克泰德最著名的主張是什么？

? ? ?愛比克泰德以許多重要的語錄而聞名，但他最著名的主張是：使人不安的不是環(huán)境，而是他們應該如何解釋環(huán)境。

?愛比克泰德相信有自由意志嗎？

? ? ?愛比克泰德認為自由意志的形式是有限的。一個人可以選擇如何解釋環(huán)境并對其作出反應，但他不能以自己的自由意志改變任何特定的環(huán)境。人只能控制自己對生活挑戰(zhàn)的反應，而不是挑戰(zhàn)本身。

Epictetus (l.c. 50 - c. 130 CE) was a Stoic philosopher best known for his works The Enchiridion (the handbook) and his Discourses, both foundational works in Stoic philosophy and both thought to have been written down from his teachings by his student Arrian.

? ? ? ? ? 愛比克泰德（公元50 -130 年）是一位斯多葛派的哲學家，以其作品《愛比克泰德手冊》和《愛比克泰德語錄》而聞名，這兩部作品都是斯多葛派哲學的奠基之作，都被認為是由他的學生阿瑞安（《亞歷山大遠征記》的作者）根據(jù)其教義寫下來的。

Stoicism is the belief that the individual is wholly responsible for his or her interpretations of circumstance and that all of life is natural and normal in spite of one's impressions. To the Stoics, philosophy was synonymous with life. One did not dabble in philosophy; one became fully immersed in it to understand and appreciate how best to live one's life.

? ? ? ? ? 斯多葛主義認為，個人要對自己對環(huán)境的解釋負全部責任，盡管有自己的印象，但所有的生活都是自然和正常的。對斯多葛派來說，哲學是生活的同義詞。一個人不只是涉足哲學，而是完全沉浸在其中，以了解和理解如何更好地生活。

The foundations of Stoicism, especially its recognition of the logos, an underlying force behind all things, was first laid by the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus (l. c. 500 BCE). Antisthenes, a student of Socrates, then developed the philosophy c. 390 BCE and expounded upon it through his Cynic School (though, no doubt, mixed with Socratic concepts). These ideas were then further developed by the later philosopher Zeno of Citium in c. 300 BCE.

? ? ? ? ? 斯多葛主義的基礎，特別是它對邏各斯的認識，即所有事物背后的潛在力量，是由前蘇格拉底哲學家赫拉克利特（約公元前500年）首先奠定的。蘇格拉底的學生安提西尼（Antisthenes）在公元前390年左右發(fā)展了這一哲學，并通過他的犬儒學派對其進行了闡述（不過，毫無疑問，其中摻雜了蘇格拉底的思想）。這些思想隨后在公元前300年左右由后來的哲學家季蒂昂的芝諾進一步發(fā)展。

The Greek Stoics (the so-called `Old Stoa') Cleanthes and Chryissippus, who followed Zeno of Citium, wrote many volumes on the Stoic way of life but, unfortunately, of the 165 works attributed to Chrysippus, we have only fragments and the same holds true for Cleanthes. Their influence must have been far-reaching, however, because Stoic principles were known and practiced as far away as Rome.

? ? ? ? ??希臘斯多葛派（所謂的 "老斯多葛"）克里安西斯和克律西波斯，在季蒂昂的芝諾之后，寫了很多關于斯多葛生活方式的書。但不幸的是，在克律西波斯的165部作品中，我們暫時只發(fā)現(xiàn)一些片段，克里安西斯的情況也是如此。然而，他們的影響肯定是深遠的，因為斯多葛派的原則在遙遠的羅馬也被人們所熟知和實踐。

早期生活

Epictetus was born in the Phrygian city of Hierapolis in Asia Minor to a slave woman and so was, himself, a slave. He was granted his freedom sometime after the death of Emperor Nero in the year 68 CE by his master Epaphroditus who had also been a slave and was freed by Nero for revealing a coup against the Emperor. Tacitus calls Epaphroditus “Nero's Freedman” and reports he was with Nero when the Emperor committed suicide, and offered to help him do so.

? ? ? ? ? 愛比克泰德出生在小亞細亞的弗里吉亞城市希拉波利斯，父母是奴隸，所以他自己也是一名奴隸。在尼祿皇帝死后的某一天，他被他的主人埃弗弗洛迪圖斯賦予了自由；埃弗弗洛迪圖斯也曾是一名奴隸，因為揭露了一場針對皇帝的政變而被尼祿釋放。塔西佗稱埃弗弗洛迪圖斯為 "尼祿的自由人"；當尼祿皇帝自殺時，他和尼祿在一起，并提出幫助他自殺。

It should not seem strange that Epaphroditus, having been a slave, should own slaves once he, himself, had been freed. According to Nardo, “Slavery was the largest and most entrenched social institution in ancient Rome (especially at its height, between 200 BCE and 200 CE) and affected every aspect of life and society” (41). Epaphroditus, as secretary to emperor Nero, would have been expected to own slaves as standard custom.

? ? ? ? ? 埃弗弗洛迪圖斯曾經(jīng)是一個奴隸，一旦他自己獲得了自由，就應該擁有奴隸，這似乎并不奇怪。根據(jù)納爾多的說法，"奴隸制是古羅馬最大、最根深蒂固的社會制度（尤其是在公元前200年至公元前200年的鼎盛時期），影響到生活和社會的各個方面"（41）。作為尼祿皇帝的秘書，埃弗弗洛迪圖斯本應按照標準慣例擁有奴隸。

Epaphroditus, recognizing his slave's intellectual abilities, recommended the young Epictetus to study with the great Stoic teacher C. Musonius Rufus and, clearly, Rufus influenced the younger man greatly as Epictetus' thought seems almost identical to some of the fragments, we have of Musonius Rufus. Rufus was very impressed by Epictetus' keen mind and trained him well in the discipline of Stoic philosophy.

? ? ? ? ? 埃帕弗羅迪塔斯認識到他的奴隸很有能力，他推薦年輕的愛比克泰德向偉大的斯多葛派教師莫索尼烏斯·魯弗斯學習。顯然，魯弗斯對這個年輕人影響很大，因為愛比克泰德的思想似乎與魯弗斯的一些思想幾乎相同。魯弗斯對愛比克泰德敏銳的思維留下了深刻的印象，并在斯多葛哲學方面對他進行了良好的訓練。

Once freed, Epictetus set up his own school and taught the philosophy to others until he, along with all the other philosophers in Rome, was banished by the emperor Domitian in the year 89 CE. Even so, the impact of Epictetus' thought became an integral part of Roman understanding. Scholar Forrest E. Baird writes：

? ? ? ? ? Despite Emperor Domitian's condemnation, Stoicism had a special appeal to the Roman mind. The Romans were not much interested in the speculative and theoretical content of Zeno's early Stoa. Instead, in the austere moral emphasis of Epictetus, with his concomitant stress on self-control and superiority to pain, the Romans found an ideal for the wise man, whereas the Stoic description of natural law provided a basis for Roman law. One might say that the pillars of republican Rome tended to be Stoical, even if some Romans had never heard of Stoicism. (519)

? ? ? ? ? 獲得自由后，愛比克泰德建立了自己的學校，并向其他人傳授哲學，直到公元89年，他和羅馬的其他哲學家一起被皇帝多米提安放逐。即便如此，愛比克泰德思想的影響仍成為羅馬人思維的組成部分。學者福雷斯特·E·拜爾德寫道：

? ? ? ? ? 盡管多米提安皇帝發(fā)布譴責，斯多葛主義對羅馬人的思想仍有一種特殊的吸引力。羅馬人對芝諾早期斯多葛的推測和理論內容不感興趣。相反，在愛比克泰德對道德的強調中，以及他對自我控制和優(yōu)于痛苦的強調中，羅馬人找到了智者的理想，而斯多葛派對自然法的描述為羅馬法律提供了基礎。可以說，共和制羅馬的支柱往往是斯多葛派，即使有些羅馬人從未聽說過斯多葛派。(519)

Epictetus' influence was not confined to Rome, however, as his banishment led to his formation of the school which would preserve his teachings.

? ? ? ? ? 然而，愛比克泰德的影響并不局限于羅馬，因為他的放逐導致他在外邦成立了一個新的學校，這個學校將保留他的教義。

尼科波利斯

Epictetus traveled to Nicopolis, Greece where he opened a Stoic school and taught philosophy through lectures, and by his own example in living, up until his death in the year 130 CE. Among his students was the young historian Flavius Arrianus (popularly known as Arrian) whose classnotes (written in Koine Greek although Epictetus taught in Attic Greek) have preserved Epictetus' thought as the philosopher himself apparently wrote nothing down.

? ? ? ? ? 愛比克泰德來到希臘的尼科波利斯，在那里開設了一所斯多葛派學校，通過講座和自己的生活實例來教授哲學，直到他于公元130年去世。他的學生中有年輕的歷史學家尼科梅迪亞的阿里安（Flavius Arrianus）（俗稱阿里安），他的課堂筆記（雖然愛比克泰德用雅典希臘語授課，但卻是用民間（通用）希臘語寫的）保留了愛比克泰德的思想，因為這位哲學家本人顯然沒有寫下什么。

Arrian collected and edited the lectures and discussions he attended in eight books, of which four remain extant, and distilled his master's thoughts in the Enchiridion. That philosophy was a way of living, not merely an academic discipline, is apparent throughout the Enchiridion and is expanded upon in Epictetus' other work, the Discourses, which Arrian purports to be verbatim transcripts of discussions he had and classes he and others participated in with Epictetus (though this is doubtful). Scholars are confident that the works ascribed to Epictetus are his own, not the creation of Arrian, based upon Arrian's other extant writings.

? ? ? ? ? 阿里安將他參加的講座和討論收集并編輯成八本書，其中四本現(xiàn)存，并將他老師的思想提煉成《愛比克泰德手冊》。哲學是一種生活方式，而不僅僅是一門學術學科，這一點在《愛比克泰德手冊》中顯而易見，并在愛比克泰德的另一部作品《愛比克泰德語錄》中得到了擴展。據(jù)阿里安稱，這些作品是他和其他人與愛比克泰德討論和上課的逐字記錄（盡管這一點值得懷疑）。學者們確信，根據(jù)阿里安的其他現(xiàn)存著作，愛比克泰德的作品歸于本人，而不是阿里安的創(chuàng)作。

邏各斯

Epictetus' focus was on the responsibility of the individual to live the best life possible. He insisted that human beings do have freedom of choice in all matters even though that choice may be limited by the operation of the logos. This logos (Greek for `word' or `speech' but containing a much greater range of meaning including `to convey thought') was an eternal force which moved through all things and all people, which created and guided the operation of the universe and which had always existed. In many English translations of Epictetus' works logos is often given as God. As Hays writes：

? ? ? ? ? Logos operates both in individuals and in the universe as a whole. In individuals it is the faculty of reason. On a cosmic level it is the rational principle that governs the organization of the universe. In this sense it is synonymous with 'nature', 'Providence' or 'God' (when the author of John's Gospel tells us that `the Word' – logos –was with God and is to be identified with God, he is borrowing Stoic terminology). (xix)

? ? ? ? ? 愛比克泰德思想的重點是個人有責任盡可能過上最好的生活。他堅持認為，人類在所有問題上都有選擇的自由，盡管這種選擇可能受到邏各斯運作的限制。這個邏各斯（希臘語意為 "詞 "或 "話語"，但包含更廣泛的含義，包括 "傳達思想"）是一種永恒的力量，它在所有事物和所有的人中運行，它創(chuàng)造并指導宇宙的運行，而且一直都存在。在愛比克泰德作品的許多英譯本中，邏各斯通常被譯為上帝。正如海斯所寫：

? ? ? ? ? 邏各斯在個人和整個宇宙中都在運作。在個人中，它是理性的能力。在宇宙層面上，它是管理宇宙組織的理性原則。在這個意義上，它是 "自然"、"天意 "或 "上帝 "的同義詞（當《約翰福音》的作者告訴我們 "道"——邏各斯——與上帝同在，并與上帝認同時，他借用了斯多葛的術語）。(xix)

This use of logos as a force characterized by rationality, and perceived through reason, though it has roots in the teachings of Heraclitus, was more clearly explained by Epictetus as Heraclitus' writings were thought to be difficult to understand. According to Epictetus, the logos is the underlying form of the perceived world which sets the parameters of the human experience and maintains the order of the universe by immutable laws.

? ? ? ? ? 這種將邏各斯作為一種以理性為特征的力量，并通過理性來感知的做法，雖然植根于赫拉克利特的學說，但由于赫拉克利特的著作很難被人理解，所以愛比克泰德對其進行了更清晰的解釋。根據(jù)愛比克泰德的觀點，邏各斯是感知世界的基本形式，它設定了人類經(jīng)驗的參數(shù)，并通過不可改變的法律維持宇宙的秩序。

Because of the natural operation of this logos, then, the individual was limited in choice but still had the power over how to interpret external circumstance and how to respond to it. As the Enchiridion puts it, “Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things: for example, death is nothing terrible, for if it were it would have seemed so to Socrates; for the opinion about death, that it is terrible, is the terrible thing.” How one chooses to interpret external circumstances, not the circumstances themselves, leads one to enjoy a good life or suffer from a bad one. The immense power, and responsibility, of personal choice and free will was at the heart of the Stoicism of Epictetus while he simultaneously acknowledged that there was much in life which was simply beyond one's control. As Hays has it：

? ? ? ? ? The Stoics [defined] free will as a voluntary accommodation to what is in any case inevitable. According to this theory, man is like a dog tied to a moving wagon. If the dog refuses to run along with the wagon he will be dragged by it, yet the choice remains his: to run or be dragged. In the same way, humans are responsible for their choices and actions, even though these have been anticipated by the logos and form part of its plan. (Xix-xx)

? ? ? ? ? 由于這種邏各斯的自然運作，個人的選擇是有限的，但仍有權力決定如何解釋外部環(huán)境和應對方式。正如《愛比克泰德手冊》中提到，"人們不是被發(fā)生的事情所困擾，而是被關于這些事情的觀點所困擾：例如，死亡并不可怕，因為如果它是可怕的，蘇格拉底就會這樣認為：‘因為關于死亡的觀點，即它是可怕的，才是可怕的事情’。" 一個人如何選擇解釋外部環(huán)境，而不是環(huán)境本身，導致一個人享受美好的生活或遭受糟糕的生活。個人選擇和自由意志的巨大力量和責任是愛比克泰德的斯多葛主義的核心，同時他也承認，生活中的許多事情根本無法控制。正如海斯所說：

? ? ? ? ? 斯多葛派[定義]自由意志是對任何情況下都是不可避免的事情的自愿適應。根據(jù)這一理論，人就像一只被綁在移動的馬車上的狗。如果狗拒絕跟著馬車跑，它就會被馬車拖走，但它仍然可以選擇：是跑還是被拖走。同樣，人類要對自己的選擇和行動負責，盡管這些選擇和行動已經(jīng)被邏各斯預料到，并構成其計劃的一部分。(Xix-xx)

Human choice may be bound by the laws of the logos but that does not mean people's choices are directed by any outside force. It is always one's individual choice to engage in life willingly or to be dragged through existence reluctantly.

? ? ? ? ? 人類的選擇可能受到邏各斯法則的約束，但這并不意味著人們的選擇受到任何外部力量的指導。是心甘情愿地參與生活，還是心不甘情不愿地被拖著走，始終是個人的選擇。

Epictetus insisted that, though life may be subject to constant change, human beings are ultimately responsible for how they interpret and respond to those changes. By accepting responsibility for the way, one views the world, and how that view affects one's behavior, one frees the self from slavery to external circumstances to become master of one's own life. It was this emphasis on the superiority of the individual over circumstance which made Stoicism so appealing to the Roman character.

? ? ? ? ? 愛比克泰德堅持認為，盡管生活可能受到不斷變化的影響，但人類最終要對自己如何解釋和應對這些變化負責。通過對自己看待世界的方式負責，以及這種觀點如何影響自己的行為，人們將自己從外部環(huán)境的奴役中解放出來，成為自己生活的主人。正是這種對個人優(yōu)于環(huán)境的強調，使斯多葛主義對羅馬人的性格如此具有吸引力。

Epictetus' work was so influential that it became the central doctrine of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180 CE), known as `the last of the good emperors of Rome', who acknowledges Epictetus in his book, The Meditations. Aurelius was by no means the last person to draw strength and inspiration from the teachings of Epictetus as he is acknowledged by many as a formidable influence up to the present day.

? ? ? ? ? 愛比克泰德的著作影響巨大，成為被稱為"羅馬最后一位好皇帝 "的馬可·奧理略皇帝（Marcus Aurelius，公元161-180年）的核心學說，他在《沉思錄》一書中承認了愛比克泰德。奧理略皇帝絕不是最后一個從愛比克泰德的教義中汲取力量和靈感的人，因為愛比克泰德的思想被許多人認同，直到今天也是如此。