中英-高级英语1 何兆熊 Unit 1 Chinese Humanism.docVIP

Unit 1 Chinese Humanism 1. To understand the Chinese ideal of life one must try to understand Chinese humanism. The term humanism is ambiguous. Chinese humanism, however, has a very definite meaning. It implies, first a just conception of the ends of human life; secondly, a complete devotion to these ends; and the thirdly, the attainment of these ends by the spirit of human reasonableness or the Doctrine of the Golden Mean, Which may also be called the Religion of common sense. 要了解中国人的人生理想，就必须先了解中国的人文主义。“人文主义”这个词含义模糊含混，然而中国的人文主义却有它明确的界说。它的意思是：第一，对人生目的的确切认识；第二，为实现这一目的而行动；第三，实现的方式是心平气和，即中庸之道，也可称作“庸见的崇拜”。The question of the meaning of life has perplexed Western philosophers, and it has never been solved- naturally, when one starts out from the technological point of view, according to which all things, including mosquitoes and typhoid germs, are created for the good of this cocksure humanity. As there is usually too much pain and misery in this life to allow a perfect answer to satisfy mans pride, teleology is therefore carried over to the next life, and this earthly life is then looked upon as a preparation for the life hereafter, in conformity with the logic of Socrates, which looked upon a ferocious wife as a natural provision for the training of the husbands character. This way of dodging the homes of the dilemma sometimes gives peace of mind for a moment, but then the eternal question, “what is the meaning of life?” comes back. Others, like Nietzsche, take the bull by the horns and refuse to assume that life must have a meaning and believe that progress is in a circle, and human achievements are a savage dance, instead of a trip to the market, but still the question comes back eternally, like the sea waves lapping upon the shore: “what is the meaning of the life?” 人生的意义是什么，这个问题一直使西方哲学家备受困惑。他们从目的论出发，认为包括蚊子乃至伤寒菌在内的万事万物，都是为这个自负的人类的利益而存在的。如此这般，人生的意义就从来没有揭示出来过。今生今世自有百般磨难，因而自傲的人类始终无法事事如意。于是目的论又转向来生来世，把今生的世俗生活看作为来世所进行的准备。这与苏格拉底的逻辑恰好符合，即认为一个凶悍的妻子对她丈夫的性格锤炼来说，是一种天然的恩赐。以此躲