Text C What Is Philosophy（第1页）

TextChilosophy?

—fromSophie’sWorld

JostienGaarder

TranslatedbyPauletteMiller

DearSophie，

Lotsofpeoplehavehobbies。Somepeoplecollectoldsnstamps，somedohersspendmostoftheirsparetimeonaparticularsport。

Alotofpeopleenj。Butreadingtastesdifferwidely。Somepeopleonlyreadneersorelikereadingnovels，whileotherspreferbooksonastronomy，wildlife，orteologicaldiscoveries。

IfIhappeedinhorsesorprees，Iotexpeeelsetosharemyenthusiasm。IfIramsonTVleasure，Imustputupwiththefactthatotherpeoplefindsp。

Istherenothingthatisusall?Istherenothingthatseveryoterwhotheyareorwheretheyliveintheworld?Yes，dearSophie，therearequestioainlyshouldieveryoheyarepreciselythequestionsthiscourseisabout。

Whatisthemostimportantthinginlife?Ifweasksomeonelivingoarvation，theanswerisfood。Ifweasksomeonedyingofcold，theansweriswarmth。Ifweputthesamequestiontosomeonewhofeelslonelyaheanswerwillprobablybethepanyofotherpeople。

Butwhenthesebasieedshavebeensatisfied—willtherestillbesomethingthateverybodyneeds?Philosophersthinkso。Theybelievethatmanotlivebybreadalone。Ofcourseeveryoneneedsfood。Andeveryoneneedsloveahereissomethifromthat—whiehatistofigureoutwhoweareandwhywearehere。

&erestedinwhywearehereisnota“terestlikegstamps。Peoplewhoasksuchquestipartihasgoneonaslongasmahisplaheuheearth，aobeingisabiggeraahanwhowogoldmedalsiOlympics。

&roagphilosophyistoaskafewphilosophicalquestions:

Hoorldcreated?Isthereanywillbehindens?Istherealifeafterdeath?Hoerthesequestions?Andmostimportant，howoughtwetolive?Peoplehavebeenaskiihouttheages。Weknowofnoculturewhioteditselfwithwhatmanisaheworld。

Basicallytherearenotmanyphilosophicalquestionstoask。Wehavealreadyaskedsomeofthemostimportahistorypresentsuswithmaaoeachquestion。Soitiseasiertoaskphilosophicalquestionsthahem。

Todayaswelleadividualhastodiscoverhisowhesesamequestions。YoudoutwhetherthereisaGodorwhetherthereislifeafterdeathbylookinginanencyclopedia。heeellushowweoughttolive。Heoplehavebelievedhelpusformulateourownviewoflife。

Philosophers’searchforthetruthresemblesadeteethihemurderer，othersthinkitwasNielsehepoliesabletosolvearealcrime。Butitisequallypossiblethattheyhebottomofit，althoughthereisasolutionsomewhere。Soevenifitisdiffisweraquestion，theremaybeone—andoahereisakieh—orthereisnot。

Alotofage-oldenigmashavenowbeenexplainedbysce。Whatthedarksideofthemoonlookslikewasonystery。Itwasnotthekindofthingthatcouldbesolvedbydis，itwaslefttotheimaginationoftheindividual。Buttodayweklywhatthedarksideofthemoonlookslike，andnoone“believe”aheManintheMoon，orthatthemoonismadeofgreencheese。

AGreekphilosopherwholivedmorethantwothousandyearsagobelievedthatphilosophyhaditsininman’ssenseofwohoughtitwassoastonishihatphilosophicalquestioheiro>

Itislikewatgamagictriandhowitisdone。Soweask:howthemagigeacoupleofwhitesilkstoaliverabbit?

Alotofpeopleexperieheworldwiththesameiyaswhenamagisuddenlypullsarabbitoutofahatwhichhasjustbeenshowy。

Iherabbit，weknowthemagihastrickedus。ouldliketoknowisjusthowhedidit。Butwheheworldit’ssomewhatdifferehattheworldisnotallsleightofhaionbecausehereweareiofit。Actually，wearethewhiterabbitbeiofthehat。Theoweenusaerabbitisthattherabbitdoesistakingpartinamagictrilikeus。Wefeelartofsomethingmysteriousandwewouldliketoknoorks。

&dfillintheblankswiththeproperexpressions。

1）IfIramsonTVleasure，Imust_______（容忍，忍受）thefactthatotherpeoplefindsp。

2）Ifweasksomeonelivingontheedgeof______，theanswerisfood。Ifweasksomeonedyingofcold，theansweris______。Ifweputthesamequestiontosomeonewhofeelslonelyaheanswerwillprobablybethe______ofotherpeople。

3）Butthereissomethifromthat—whiehatisto_______（理解，弄明白）whoweareandwhywearehere。

4）Butitisequallypossiblethattheyhebottomofit，althoughthereisasolutioheunderlinedexpressionmeans_____________________。

Notes

1。MaxShulman（1919-1988）:Herolificwriterofsatiricalhumor。HewasborninSt。Paul，Mia，USA，thesonofaRussianimmigraer，andbeganhiswritiheaziheUyofMia。HisworktherecametothenoticeofaDoubledayeditor，whedthestudenttoturworkintoanovel，BarefootBoyWithCheek，whichbecameabest-sellerin1943。Aftergraduation，ShulmaheU。S。ArmyAirCwhichtimehewrotetwomoreheFeatherMerts，aiovelaboutmilitarylife，andTheZebraDerby，publishedafterthewar。Afterreturningtolife，Shulmaimewriter，turningequantityofsteandsplaysandtelevisionscriptsoverthefourdecades。

2。JosteinGaarder（1952-）:Heisaelledauthorofseveralstoriesand’sbooks。Gaarderofteheperspectiveof，expltheirsenseofwoheworld。Heofteioninhiswstorieswithinstaarderwasbornintoapedagogicalfamily。HisbestknownworkisthenovelSophie’sWorld，subtitledAheHistoryofPhilosophy。Thispopularworkhasbeentraofifty-threelahereareoverthirtymillionprint。

3。AlanLightman（1948-）:HeisanAmeriphysidwriter。HeisaprofessorattheMassachusettsIeologyahoroftheiiosellerEinstein’sDreams。HewasthefirstprofessoratMITtoreceiveajointappoihesdthehumanities。

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