英語短文名人故事 哲學(xué)思想家 第22期:大衛(wèi)·休謨

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8 David Hume 大衛(wèi)·休謨

Hume attended the University of Edinburgh at the unusually early age of twelve at a time when fourteen was normal. 休謨在年僅12歲時就進(jìn)入愛丁堡大學(xué)就讀，當(dāng)時正常的入學(xué)年齡是14歲。

At first he considered a career in law, but came to have, in his words, "an insurmountable aversion to everything but the pursuits of Philosophy and general Learning; 最初休謨打算從事法律這個行業(yè)，但不久他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己有了"一種對于學(xué)習(xí)哲學(xué)和知識以外所有事物的極度厭煩感。

and while fancied I was poring over Voet and Vinnius, Cicero and Virgil were the Authors which I was secretly devouring." 當(dāng)我的家人想象我正在閱讀屋埃特和維尼阿斯（兩位當(dāng)時著名的法學(xué)家）時，我實際上卻是在閱讀西塞羅和維吉爾的著作。"

He had little respect for the professors of his time, telling a friend in 1735， 休謨對于大學(xué)里的教授都不抱好感，他曾在1735年告訴一位朋友說：

"there is nothing to be learnt from a Professor, which is not to be met with in Books." "你根本不能從教授身上學(xué)到任何東西，那些東西在書里都有了。"

As Hume's options lay between a traveling tutorship and a stool in a merchant's office, he chose the latter. 當(dāng)休謨面對是成為家庭教師還是成為商人的職員這兩個選擇時，他最終選擇了后者。

In 1734, after a few months occupied with commerce in Bristol, he went to La Fleche in Anjou, France. 1734年，在布里斯托經(jīng)商數(shù)個月之后，休謨前往法國安茹的拉弗萊舍（La FUche)旅游，

There he had frequent discourse with the Jesuits of the College of La Fleche. 在那里休謨經(jīng)常與來自拉弗萊舍學(xué)院的耶穌會學(xué)生進(jìn)行哲學(xué)討論。

As he had spent most of his savings during his four years there while writing A Treatise of Human Nature, 在寫《人性論》的四年中，他花掉了大部分儲蓄，

he resolved "to make a very rigid frugality supply my deficiency of fortune, to maintain unimpaired my independency, 因此休謨決心要"過極其簡樸的生活以應(yīng)付我那有限的財產(chǎn)，以此確保我的獨立自主性，

and to regard every object as contemptible except the improvements of my talents in literature" . 并且不用考慮任何除了增進(jìn)我的文學(xué)天分以外的事物。

He completed the Treatise at the age of 26. "當(dāng)《人性論》完稿時，他年僅26歲。

Although many scholars today consider the Treatise to be Hume's most important work and one of the most important books in Western philosophy, 雖然現(xiàn)代的學(xué)者們大多將《人性論》一書視為休謨最重要的一本著作，也是西方哲學(xué)歷史上最重要的著作之一，

the critics in Great Britain at the time did not agree, describing it as "abstract and unintelligible" . 但當(dāng)時英國的批判學(xué)者們并沒有看好它，認(rèn)為它"抽象且缺乏智慧"。

Despite the disappointment, Hume later wrote, "Being naturally of a cheerful and sanguine temper, 盡管有些失望，休謹(jǐn)這樣寫道："我本來就養(yǎng)成樂觀而開朗的個性，

I soon recovered from the blow and prosecuted with great ardour my studies in the country." 很快就從這樣的挫折里站了起來，并繼續(xù)在鄉(xiāng)下努力地進(jìn)行研究。"

There, he wrote the Abstract without revealing his authorship, he aimed to make his larger work more intelligible. 他繼續(xù)寫下了《人性論摘要》一書，但沒有寫出自己的名字，他試圖使他更重要的著作--《人性論》一書獲得更多重視。

However, only in about 1770, with the praise by Immanuel Kant, did scholars begin to notice its value. 然而，直到1770年左右，隨著德國哲學(xué)家伊曼努爾·康德對休謨的褒獎，休謨的哲學(xué)著作才開始獲得大眾的注意。