Born to a poor Athenian colonist in Samos, Epicurus was neither wealthy nor aristocratic and apparently suffered from ill health for much of his life. His philosophy represents a creative blend of the metaphysical interests of the Presocratics with the ethical concerns of Socrates. In line with Democritus, Epicurus espoused an atomistic metaphysics but combined and justified it with a brand of therapeutic hedonism, in which the anxieties of contemporary life were salved by the pursuit of pleasure without fear of divine punishment.
伊壁鳩魯出生于Samos的一個(gè)貧窮雅典殖民者家庭，他既不富有，也不是貴族，而且似乎體弱多病。他的哲學(xué)代表了一種蘇格拉底以前的形上學(xué)興趣與蘇格拉底的道德關(guān)懷兩者的創(chuàng)造性融合。伊壁鳩魯在德謨克利特的脈絡(luò)中，支持一種結(jié)合了治療的享樂(lè)主義的原子論形上學(xué)，在這個(gè)理論中，當(dāng)代生活的焦慮會(huì)被去除神罰恐懼的享樂(lè)追求所拯救。
In essence, Epicurus follows Democritus’atomism but with one important modification. According to Epicurus, atoms in the void originally moved in undisturbed parallel lines. However, some atoms swerved from their course by a spontaneous act of free will. The resulting collisions giving rise to the myriad forms of things and the phenomenal world as we now know it. This important modification of atomism allowed Epicurus to proclaim mechanism but reject determinism as an explanation of human behaviour, one of the primary reasons for dissatisfaction with Democritus’ philosophy. Although he kept to the idea that the soul was itself nothing but the movement of atoms in the material body, some atoms could freely ‘swerve in the void’. This mysterious and wholly unaccounted for property allowed Epicurus to maintain a concept of human free will against the critics of earlier atomic theories.
從本質(zhì)上來(lái)說(shuō)，伊壁鳩魯遵循著德謨克利特的原子論，但有一處重要的修改。根據(jù)伊壁鳩魯?shù)睦碚?，原子本?lái)在空間中不受干擾的平行移動(dòng)，但是有些原子因?yàn)槠渥杂梢庵镜淖园l(fā)動(dòng)作，從它原本的軌道突然轉(zhuǎn)向。由此產(chǎn)生的碰撞發(fā)展出無(wú)數(shù)事物的形式和我們現(xiàn)今所知道的現(xiàn)象世界。這個(gè)重要的原子論修改??使伊壁鳩魯可以表明一種結(jié)構(gòu)，而能拒絕人類(lèi)行為決定論解釋?zhuān)@也是伊壁鳩魯對(duì)德謨克利特哲學(xué)主要的不滿(mǎn)之一。盡管伊壁鳩魯保持了靈魂只是在肉體中運(yùn)動(dòng)的原子，有些原子可以在空間中突然轉(zhuǎn)向這個(gè)觀念。這個(gè)神秘而完全不可解釋的性質(zhì)使伊壁鳩魯主張人類(lèi)的自由意志以對(duì)抗早期原子論的批評(píng)家們。
It is clear, however, that Epicurus’ real interest was not in speculative metaphysics but with a practical philosophy of life which required atomism only for its theoretical underpinnings. His ethical teaching consisted in the pursuit of happiness, which he conceived of as the elimination of pain, both mental and physical. Of the two, Epicurus taught, mental pain is the worse, for severe physical pain either soon abates and can be brought under control of the mind, or results in death. Death was not to be feared, since there is no afterlife and no avenging gods, the soul being, in accordance with the doctrine of atomism, merely the concatenation of atoms which will be dispersed upon bodily death. Mental anguish, on the other hand, in the form of anxiety and fears, could continue unabated and result in distraction, depression and other psychological ills.
很明顯，伊壁鳩魯真正感興趣的并不是純思辨的形上學(xué)，而是人生的實(shí)踐哲學(xué)，他只是需要原子論作為理論基礎(chǔ)。他的倫理學(xué)教導(dǎo)人要在精神上和身體上都追求幸福，設(shè)法消除痛苦。伊壁鳩魯教導(dǎo)人們，身體上的苦痛會(huì)快速的消退，而且可以被精神控制住，而精神上的痛苦就糟糕的多，兩者控制的不好或許會(huì)導(dǎo)致死亡。死亡并不可怕，因?yàn)闆](méi)有來(lái)世，沒(méi)有復(fù)仇的神，靈魂的存在，按照原子論學(xué)說(shuō)，僅僅是身體死亡后，原子鏈結(jié)的離散。精神上的痛苦，從另一方面來(lái)說(shuō)，在焦慮和恐懼的形式中，會(huì)有增無(wú)減的導(dǎo)致精神錯(cuò)亂，抑郁和其他的心理疾病。
Although thought of as a hedonist because of his emphasis on the pursuit of pleasure, it would be a mistake to think of Epicurus as condoning a promiscuous or decadent lifestyle, an accusation unjustly levelled at him by the stoic philosopher, Epictetus. On the contrary, he was aware that many of the bodily pleasures brought with them pain or had painful consequences. He himself was a man of little means and of poor health, given which it is perhaps unsurprising that central to his philosophy were both prudence and temperance. Epicurus also taught that wisdom was the greatest virtue, for through it we could learn which pleasures to seek and which to avoid. Moreover, he professed that no one could be completely happy unless they lived a virtuous life, not because virtue was good in itself, but because it led to pleasurable consequences and the absence of pain and fear.
雖然伊壁鳩魯因?yàn)閺?qiáng)調(diào)追求快樂(lè)，而被認(rèn)為是個(gè)享樂(lè)主義者，但是就此認(rèn)為伊壁鳩魯縱容淫亂和頹廢的生活方式是錯(cuò)誤的想法，斯多葛派哲學(xué)家埃皮克提圖（Epictetus）曾經(jīng)如此不公正的指責(zé)他。相反的，伊壁鳩魯察覺(jué)到很多身體上的快樂(lè)帶來(lái)了疼痛或是痛苦的后果。他本人是一個(gè)略有財(cái)產(chǎn)而健康狀況不佳的人，或許他的哲學(xué)以審慎和節(jié)制為主就不令人吃驚了。伊壁鳩魯還告訴我們，智慧是最大的美德，通過(guò)它我們可以學(xué)到的如何追求樂(lè)趣，并避免痛苦。此外，他聲稱(chēng)除非人們過(guò)上了合乎道德的生活，否則沒(méi)有人能完全快樂(lè)，這不是因?yàn)榈赖卤旧碛幸嬗谌?，而是因?yàn)樗軒?lái)快樂(lè)的結(jié)果和讓人免于痛苦和恐懼。
Like Democritus and other Presocratics before him, Epicurus rejected the idea of anthropomorphic gods who were cognisant of human affairs. Indeed, he was the first to formulate an argument that later became called ‘the problem of evil’ for those who maintain that there is an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful deity. Noting the many ills suffered by people in the world, Epicurus complained, ‘Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then how can there be evil?’ Even so, Epicurus was not an atheist, since he believed there were gods, but that these gods had no interest in human affairs, which would only have distracted them from their own pursuit of pleasure in contemplation.
就像在他之前的德謨克利特和蘇格拉底之前的哲學(xué)家一般，伊壁鳩魯識(shí)到人類(lèi)事務(wù)的概念而拒絕了擬人化的神的觀念。的確，他是第一個(gè)系統(tǒng)的闡述了與博愛(ài)、全知、全能的神的爭(zhēng)議，這被后世稱(chēng)為“惡的問(wèn)題”。伊壁鳩魯正是注意到在世界上人民遭受到許多痛苦，他如此控訴：〝如果上帝愿意就可以阻止邪惡，但為何不能阻止？所以他不是萬(wàn)能的。如果他能夠阻止，但為何不愿意去阻止？所以他是惡意的。如果他既有能力又愿意去阻止邪惡？那么為何世上還有邪惡〞即便如此，伊壁鳩魯仍然不是一個(gè)無(wú)神論者，因?yàn)樗嘈庞猩瘢@些神對(duì)人類(lèi)事務(wù)沒(méi)有興趣，人只會(huì)使神無(wú)法集中于追求自我沉思的樂(lè)趣。
Epicurus’ philosophy represents a curious mix of opposing ideas. He is at once a hedonist who preaches prudence and temperance, a theist who rejects divine intervention and the survival of the soul, and an atomist who upholds both mechanism and free will. His followers became known as the Epicureans, the most famous of whom was Lucretius. Epicurean philosophy enjoyed almost six hundred years of popularity, remaining faithful to the teachings of its founder throughout, before being eclipsed by the Roman interest in Stoicism.
伊壁鳩魯哲學(xué)代表了一種對(duì)立觀念的奇特混合。他就如同一個(gè)享樂(lè)主義者鼓吹審慎和節(jié)制，一個(gè)有神論者拒絕神的干預(yù)和靈魂的生存，以及一個(gè)原子論者堅(jiān)持機(jī)制和自由意志。他的追隨者成為知名的伊壁鳩魯派，最著名的是盧克萊修（Lucretius）。伊壁鳩魯派哲學(xué)大約流行了600年，忠于其說(shuō)者遍及各地，最后在羅馬人感興趣的斯多葛派之前黯然失色。
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