Text A The Value of Philosophy（第1页）

TextATheValueofPhilosophy

&randRussell

Pre-reading

&randRussell（May1872-February1970）wasBritishphilosopher，mathemati，historian，oliticalactivist。Russellisbestknownforhisworkiicallogialyticphilosophy，andheissideredasohefoundersofanalyticphilosophyaobeohtury’spremierlogis。Hisrofoundinfluenathematidphilosophy。Overthecourseofalongandprolificcareer，Russellhasalsomadesignifitributionsteofothersubjeglinguistics，artifitelligeivesputersce，history，ethics，politicaltheory，edualtheiousstudies。Geionsofreadershavebeedfromhismanypsoyoftopiboththehumahenaturals1950RussellwasawardedtheNobelPrizeiure“iionofhisvariedandsignifitwritingsinwhichheanitarianidealsahought”。

&ween1920and1921，Russellwasioetoatovisitaures。InOctober1920，RussellanjiheeSoutheastUy）anddeliveredalecturetitledOnphilosophy，advogseekihroughlogidstificmethods。Russellwasaadmirerofeseddeeplyappreciatedeseedualtraditionandsenseofhumor。

Promptsf

1。racti”（Paragraph3）like?

2。Whatkindofkhestudyofphilosophyaimedat?

3。Whataresomeofthequestionsphilosophysitselfwith?

4。Whatwouldhislifeandtheworldbeliketoamanwhohasnotinctureofphilosophy?

5。Howdoesphilosophiplationdifferfromself-assertion?

6。Whatismeaanduniversalkismeantby“thekbythesenses”?（Paragraph10）

7。Whatismeantby“freedomandimpartialityintheworldofaraph11）?

8。Whatisuizenship?Howitbeformed?

[1]Havingheendofourbriefandveryiereviewoftheproblemsofphilosophy，itwillbewelltosider，in，whatisthevalueofphilosophyandwhyitoughttobestudied。Itisthemoreosiderthisquestiohefactthatmanymeheinfluenceofsceorofpracticalaffairs，areiodoubtwhetherphilosophyisahauselesstrifling，hair-splittingdistindtroversiesonmattersgwhiowledgeisimpossible2。

[2]Thisviewofphilosophyappearstoresult，partlyfroftheendsoflife，partlyfrofthekindofgoods3whichphilosophystrivestoachieve。Physiediumofiiooinnumerablepeoplewhoarewhollyignorantofit;thusthestudyofphysimeonly，orprimarily，becauseoftheeffethestudent，butratherbecauseoftheeffeankihisutilitydoesophilosophy。Ifthestudyofphilosophyhasaallforothersthasofphilosophy，itmustbeohroughitseffethelivesofthosewhostudyit。Itisiherefore，ifahevalueofphilosophymustbeprimarilysought。

[3]Butfurther，ifwearenottofailiodetermihevalueofphilosophy，wemustfirstfreeourmindsfromtheprejudiceslycalled“practi。The“practi，asthiswordisoftenused，isnizesonlymaterialneeds，whorealizesthatmenmusthavefoodforthebody，butisobliviousoftheyfoodforthemind。Ifallmenwerewelloff，ifpovertyanddiseasehadbeeheirlowestpossiblepoiillremainmuchtobedooproduceavaluablesodeveingwoodsofthemiasimportantasthegoodsofthebody。Itisexclusivelyamongthegoodsofthemindthatthevalueofphilosophyistobefound;andonlythosewhoarenotihesegoodsbepersuadedthatthestudyofphilosophyisnotawasteoftime。

[4]Philosophy，likeallotherstudies，aimsprimarilyatkhekaimsatisthekindofknowledgewhichgivesunityahebodyofthesdthekindwhichresultsfromacritiationofthegroundsofours，prejudidbeliefs。Butitaiphilosophyhashadameasureofsuitsattemptstoprovidedefisquestions。Ifyouaskamathemati，ami，ahistorian，oranyotherman，whatdefinitebodyoftruthshasbeeainedbyhissswerwilllastaslongasytolisten。Butifyouputthesamequestiontoaphilosopher，hewill，ifheisdid，havetofessthathisstudyhasiveresultssuchashavebeehersces。Itistruethatthisispartlyatedforbythefactthat，assooeknowledgegabeespossible，thissubjectceasestobecalledphilosophy，andbeesaseparatesce。Thewholestudyoftheheavens，whiowbelongstoastronomy，wasonphilosophy;oworkwascalled“themathematiciplesofnaturalphilosophy”。Similarly，thestudyofthehumanmind，artofphilosophy，hasedfromphilosophyahesceofpsychology。Thus，toagreatexteaintyofphilosophyismoreapparehosequestionswhicharealreadycapableofdefiniteanslathesces，whilethoseonlytoreseeanswerbegiveoformtheresiduewhichiscalledphilosophy。

[5]Thisis，however，onlyapartofthetruthgtheuyofphilosophy。Therearemaions—andamohatareoftheprofouoourspirituallife—which，sofaraswesee，mustremainihehumauspowersbeeofquiteadifferentorder5fromwhattheyarenow。Hastheuyofplanorpurpose，orisitafortuitouss?Isessapermaoftheuniverse，givinghopeofihinwisdom，orisitatransitoryaallplaonwhichlifemustultimatelybepossible?Aregoodandevilofimportaheuniverseoronlytoman?Suchquestionsareaskedbyphilosophy，andvariouslyansweredbyvariousphilosophers。Butitwouldseemthat，whetheraherwisediscoverableornot，theanswerssuggestedbyphilosophyarehemdemonstrablytrue。Yet，hhtmaybethehopeofdisgaispartofthebusinessofphilosophytouethesiderationofsuakeusawareoftheirimportaoexamiheapproa，ahatspeculativeiheuniversettobekilledbygourselvestodefiainableknowledge。

[6]Thevalueofphilosophyis，infact，tobeselyiainty。Themanwhohasnotinctureofphilosophyghlifeimprisoheprejudicesderivedfromohehabitualbeliefsofhisageorhisnation，andfromswhichhavegrownupinhismindwithoutthecooperatioofhisdeliberatereason。Tosutheworldtendstobeedefie，obvious;osrouseions，andunfamiliarpossibilitiesareptuouslyrejected。Assooophilosophize，orary，wefind，aswesawinchapters，thateveeverydaythioproblemstowhilyveryieanswersbegiven。Philosophy，thoughuelluswithtywhatisthetrueahedoubtswhichitraises，isabletosuggestmanypossibilitieswhilargehtsahemfromthetyrannyof。Thus，whilediminishingoftyastowhatthigreatlyincreaseseastowhattheymaybe;itremovesthesantdogmatismofthosewhohaveravelledintioingdoubt，anditkeepsaliveoursenseofwonderbyshowingfamiliarthingsinanunfamiliaraspect。

[7]Apartfromitsutilityinshowiedpossibilities，philosophyhasavalue—perhapsitschiefvalue—throughthegreatheobjectswhiplates，andthefreedomfromnarroersonalaimsresultingfromthisplation。Thelifeoftheinstinisshutupwithinthecircleofhisprivateis:familyandfriendsmaybeiheouterworldisnardedexceptasitmayhelporhieswithinthecirstinctivewishes。Insuchalifethereissomethingfeverishanded6，inparisonwiththephilosophiclifewhichisdfree。Theprivateworldofisisasmallohemidstofagreatandpohichmust，sooer，layourprivateworldinruins7。Unlesswelargeourioihewholeouterworld，weremainlikeagarrisoninabeleagueredfortress，knowingthattheesesdthatultimatesurrenderisiable。Insuchalifethereisatstrifebetweeenceofdesireandthepowerlessnessofwill。Inonewayoranother，ifourlifeistobegreataescapethisprisonandthisstrife。

[8]Onewayofescapeisbyphilosophiplation。Philosophiplatio，isurvey，dividetheuwohostilecamps—friendsandfoes，helpfulandhostile，goodandbad—itviewsthewholeimpartially。Philosophiplatioisunalloyed8，doesnotaimatprovingthattherestoftheuniverseisakintoman。AllaofknowledgeisaheSelf，butthiseisbestattaiislysought。Itisobtaihedesirefeisaloive，byastudywhiotwishisobjectsshouldhavethisorthatcharacter，butadaptstheSelftothecharacterswhidsihiseofSelfisnotobtaiakiis，wetrytoshowthattheworldissosimilartothisSelfthatkispossiblewithoutanyadmissionofwhatseemsalieoprovethisisaformofselfassertionand，likeallself-assertion，itisahegrowthofSelfwhichitdesires，andofwhichtheSelfknowsthatitiscapable。Self-assertion，inphilosophicspeaselsewhere，viewstheworldasameanstoitsowhusitmakestheworldoflessatthaheSelfsetsbousgoods。Iiorary，westartfromthehroughitsgreatheboundariesed;throughtheinfinityoftheuhemindwhiplatesitaeshareininfinity。

[9]FreatnessofsoulishosephilosophieswhichassimilatetheuoMan。KnowledgeisaformofunionofSelfandnot-Self;likeallunion，itisimpairedbydominion，andthereforebyaoforiverseintoityefindihereisahilosophicytowardstheviewwhichtellsusthatManisthemeasureofallthings，thattruthismaspadtimeandtheworldofuniversalsarepropertiesofthemind，andthat，iftherebeanythihemind，itisunknowableandofnoatforus。Thisview，ifourpreviousdisswerecorretrue;butinadditiorue，ithastheeffectphilosophiplationofallthatgivesitvalue，siersplatioitowledgeisnotaunio-Self，butasetofprejudices，habits，anddesires，makirableveilbetweenusandtheworldbeyond。Themanwhofindspleasureinsuchatheoryofknowledgeislikethemanwhohedomesticcircleforfearhiswhtnotbelaw。

[10]Thetruephilosophiplatiorary，findsitssatisfaeveryehenot-Self，ihatmags9plated，ahesubjeplatihing，iion，thatispersonalorprivate，everythingthatdependsuponhabit，self-i，ordesire，distortstheobjedhenceimpairstheunionwhitellectseeks。Bythusmakingabarrierbetweea，sualahingsbeeaprisoellect。ThefreeiwillseeasGodmightsee，withoutahereandnow，withouthopesahoutthetrammelsofarybeliefsandtraditionalprejudices，calmly，dispassiohesoleandexclusivedesireofknowledge—knoersonal，aspurelyplative，asitispossibleformantoattaihefreeiwillvaluemoretheabstraiversalkowhichtheatsofprivatehistorydohekbythesenses，a，assuustbe，uponanexdpersonalpointofviewandabodywhosesense-ansdistortasmuchastheyreveal。

[11]Themindwhichhasbeeaedtothefreedomandimpartialityofphilosophiplationwillpreservesomethingofthesamefreedomandimpartialityintheworldofaotion。Itwillviewitspurposesasofthewhole，withtheabsensisteresultsfromseeingthemasinfinitesimalfragmentsinaworldofwhichalltherestisuedbyanyonemaheimpartialitywhiplation，istheunalloyeddesirefortruth，istheverysamequalityofmindwhia，isjustiemotionisthatuniversallovewhibegiventoall，andnotonlytothedusefuloradmirable。Thusplatiesnotoshts，butalsotheobjectsofouradouraffeakesussoftheuonlyofowarwithalltherest。Inthisshipoftheusman’struefreedom，andhisliberatiohralldomofnarrowhopesandfears。

[12]Thus，tosumupourdisofthevalueofphilosophy;Philosophyistobestudied，notforthesakeofaeasquestionssieanswers，asarule，bekrue，butratherforthesakeofthequestionsthemselves;becausethesequestieourofossible，enritellectualimaginationanddimiicewhiindagaiion;butaboveallbecause，throughthegreatheuniversewhichphilosophyplates，themindalsreat，andbeescapableofthatunionwiththeuniversewhistitutesitshighestgood。

Notes

1。inviewof:g，becauseof考虑到，鉴于

2。mattersgwhiowledgeisimpossible:mattersbeyondourcapabilityofknowing知识和理解所不能及的问题

3。goods:此处指（哲学努力想要达到的）目标

4。thebodyofthesces:theofsces全体科学的集合

5。adifferentorder:另一个（更高的）数量级