冯友兰中国哲学简史中英文版之第八章名家.doc

CHAPTER 8 THE SCHOOL OF NAMES 第八章　名家THE term Ming chia has sometimes been translated as sophists, and sometimes as logicians or dialecticians. It is true that there is some similarity between the Ming chia and the sophists, logicians, and dialecticians, but it is also true that they are not quite the same. To avoid confusion, it is better to translate Ming chia literally as the School of Names. This translation also helps to bring to the attention of Westerners one of the important problems discussed by Chinese philosophy, namely that of the relation between ming (the name) and shih (the actuality).“名家”这个名称，译成英文时，有时译作“ sophists （诡辩家）”，有时译作“logicians（逻辑家）”或“dialecticians（辩证家）”。名家与诡辩家、逻辑家、辩证家有些相同，这是事实；但是他们并不完全相同，这更是事实。为了避免混乱，顶好是按字面翻译为 The School of Names。这样翻译，也可以提醒西方人注意中国哲学讨论的一个重要问题，即“名”、“实”关系问题。The School of Names and the Debaterslogically speaking, the contrast between ming and shih in ancient Chinese philosophy is something like that between subject and predicate in the West. For instance, when we say: This is a table, or Socrates is a man, this and Socrates are shih or actualities, while table and man are ming or names. This is obvious enough. Let us, however, try to analyze more exactly just what the shih or ming are, and what their relationship is. We are then apt to be led into some rather paradoxical problems, the solution of which brings us to the very heart of philosophy.名家和“辩者” 从逻辑上讲，中国古代哲学的名与实的对立，很像西方的主词与客词的对立。例如说，“这是桌子”，“苏格拉底是人”，其中的“这”与“苏格拉底”都是“实”，而“桌子”与“人”都是“名”。这是十分明显的。但是，若试图更为精确地分析到底什么是名、实，它们的关系是什么，我们就很容易钻进一些非常可怪的问题，要解决这些问题就会把我们带进哲学的心脏。The members of the School of Names were known in ancient times as pien che (debaters, disputcrs, arguers). In the chapter of the Chuang-tzu titled The Autumn Flood, Kung-sun Lung, one of the leaders of the School of Names, is represented as saying: I have unified similarity and difference, and separated hardness and whiteness. I have proved the impossible as possible and affirmed what others deny. I have