魔亦有道马丽兹包臀裙:亚里士多德的三个能帮助你富足的关键理念

最近关于亚里士多德的道德学我思考了很多，一方面因为几个礼拜前我教过这门课，更多是因为我在想关于自我发展的问题。“富足”这观点成了有影响力的观点，已融入到我对诸多事项的思考中，比如，做事情(get things done), 自我发展及生活。实际上，这个词在我最近一篇文稿的末尾出现过，且我必须得停止火炉边我其他的文稿，以说出我所指“富足”的含义，以及不管怎样，为什么我认为他是一个理解我们在追求什么的重要框架。为了开始做这件事情，我需要简单地介绍一些亚里士多德的学说。

Aristotelian Ethics…in Ten Minutes

亚里士多德的道德伦理——十分钟介绍

To get the basics of Aristotelian Ethics, you have to understand three basic things: What Eudaimonia is, What Virtue is, and That We Become Better Persons Through Practice.

为了了解亚里士多德伦理学得基础，你必须理解三个基本点：“Eudaimonia”是什么，美德是什么，以及训练使我们成为更好地人

Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia is Greek and translates literally to “having good demons.” Many authors translate it as happiness, but I don’t think that’s the best translation and way to understand it. “Well-being” and “flourishing” are closer to what he means, and I think of the two, “flourishing” captures the full range of the way he uses the word. And someone who is flourishing is living The Good Life.

“Eudaimonia”是一个希腊词汇，字面上的意思是“有好的魔鬼”。 很多作者将它译为幸福，但我不认为这是使我们理解“Eudaimonia”的最好翻译。“安逸”和“富足”更接近“Eudaimonia”的意思。对我而言，富足更确切地反映了亚里士多德使用“Eudaimonia”的方式。另外，也有人认为富足的人过着好日子。

According to Aristotle, all humans seek to flourish. It’s the proper and desired end of all of our actions. Flourishing, however, is a functional definition. And to understand something’s function, you have to understand its nature.

亚里士多德认为所有人都在寻求富足。富足是人类所有行动合理且想得到的结果。然而，富足是一个功用性质的定义。为了理解某事物的功用，你必须理解他得本质。

There are four different aspects to human nature, and Aristotle is often quoted as saying “Man is a political creature.” There’s actually more to it than most attributions give him, for “political” is often misunderstood. A better attribution is the following: Human beings are social, rational animals.

人类的本质有四个不同的方面，人们常引用亚里士多德的言论------人是政治性的生物。事实上，亚里士多德所指比大多数引用所指丰富，因为“政治性的”通常被误解。一个更合理的说法是：人类是社会性的理性动物。

Two of the aspects of our natures come from being thetype of thing we are…that is, we are animals. The other two come from the type of animals we are. So, a breakdown is in order:

人类本质的两个方面来源于我们是什么，也就是说，来源是我们是动物。本质的另外两方面来源于我们是什么样的动物。因此，有了如下的观点：

We are animals.

 我们是动物。

What separates animals from plants, according to Aristotle, is that animals have wants, desires, urges, and reactions. We perceive something in the world that we want and we have the power of volition to get it; likewise, we have the power to avoid the things we don’t want. For humans, these wants can get pretty complex, but at rock bottom we all have (emotional) needs and wants that spring from rather basic sources.

亚里士多德认为动物与植物的不同之处在于，动物有渴求，期望，欲望和反应。我们将世界中的事物认知为我们需要的，和我们有意志力能得到的；同样，我们有能力避免不想发生的事情。对于人类来说，这些需求非常复杂，但最基本的，我们都有（情感的）需求，以及基本的物质需求。

Animals have two components:

动物有两个特征：

They are physical.

他们有身体。

As physical beings, we require nourishment, exercise, rest, and all the other things that it takes to keep our bodies functioning properly.

有身体，我们就需要营养，锻炼，休息，以及其他一切保持身体正常运作的物质。

They are emotional.

他们有情感。

We are social.

我们是社会性的。

We must live and function in particular societies. “No man is an island,” and we are the type of being that does well only in social settings. Our social nature stacks on top of our emotional nature, such that we have wants and needs that we would not have were we not social creatures. For example, if we were the type of creature that flourished as hermits, the need for trust and friendly cooperation would not be nearly so pressing.

我们必须生活在社会中，并在社会中发挥功用。没有人是一个孤岛，我们都是那种只有在社会框架中才能运转良好的生物。我们的社会性基于我们有情感的本质，因此我们有那些除非我们不是社会性生物才不会有的渴求和必须。例如，如果我们是如隐士般感觉富足的生物，对于信任和友好合作的需求就不会近乎紧迫的。

We are rational.

我们是理智的。

We are creative, expressive, knowledge-seeking, and able to obey reason. We might not always obey reason and we may sometimes not want to exercise our minds, but a large part of our existence relates to us being rational animals.

我们是创造性的，有表现力的，寻求知识的，并能服从理智。我们可能并不是总是服从理智，我们也有可能有时不愿意锤炼我们的思想，但大部分我们的行动都与我们是理性的动物相关。

Flourishing Is A Holistic Concept

富足是一个全局性的观点

You can’t truly flourish if you’re not flourishing in one of these aspects. This is played out in our everyday lives when you see people who are so emotionally stunted that they can’t function well in society…or who are so obese that they can’t enjoy life…or who are so socially inept that they can’t fit into the type of society that would develop their intelligence. The list goes on and on.

如果你不能在如下的一个方面富足，那么你不可能真正地富足。这些都是我们生活中得常见状况，不能良好表达情感的人在社会中不能很好地发挥作用，也有人太过肥胖以至于不能享受生活，也有人社交如此差以至于不能融入到能使他变得智慧的社会。这种举例永无终止。

The different aspects of our natures are tiered in the way that they are presented above, so that the physical is below the social which is below the rational.    This may sound familiar to some of you familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy because i t’s in effect the same thing. Only it took Maslow 2500 years to verify what Aristotle had said all along.

上述例证说明了人类本质的不同方面是如下排列一次发展的，生理性，社会性，理性。这对于熟悉Maslow等级的人会很熟悉，因为这实际上是一回事。只是Maslow用了2500年来证实亚里士多德早已明白的事情。

With an understanding of flourishing in hand, discussing virtue becomes easy.

理解了富足之后，讨论美德将会变得容易。

On Virtue

关于美德

What is a virtue?

美德是什么

A virtue is a trait of character that enables a person to flourish.

美德是一部分使人富足的品质。

The Doctrine of the Mean

平均学说

This is a key phrase to understand Aristotle. Consider the virtue of bravery, for example. An excess of bravery leads people to do really stupid things; the example I normally use is the frat-brat who’ll jump of the fraternity house just to prove how brave he is. It’s not brave; it’s rash. On the other hand, people who have a deficiency of bravery are cowards; they won’t put their ass on the line for anything. The virtue of bravery lies somewhere in between the deficiency of bravery (cowardliness) and the excess of bravery (rashness).

这是理解亚里士多德的一个关键词条。例如，想一想勇敢地美德。过多的勇敢使人做傻事，我经常举得例子是，帮派人士会为了证明他得勇敢而脱离帮派。这不是勇敢，而是鲁莽。从另外一个方面说，缺少勇气的人事懦夫，他们不愿意为了任何事情冒险。勇敢的美德处于缺少勇气（懦弱）和勇气过多（鲁莽）之间。

So it is with all of the different virtues: the virtuous trait is that which is between the deficiency of that trait and the excess of that trait.

对于其他所有美德也是如此，某种品质的美德处于缺少此种品质和这种品质过多之间。

What are the specific virtues?

什么是特殊的美德

The Virtues

美德

Vice (Deficiency)    Virtue (Mean)    Vice (Excess)

恶习（缺少）     美德（平均）    恶习（过多）

Cowardliness    Bravery    Rashness

 懦弱                   勇敢        鲁莽

Insensibility    Temperance    Intemperance

 无欲无求            节欲              放纵

Stinginess    Generosity    Extravagance

 吝啬              慷慨            铺张

Self-deprecation    Truthfulness (Modesty)    Boastfulness

自贬                        诚实（谦逊）                     自夸

Boorishness    Wittiness    Buffoonery

   愚钝                  机智            打诨

Quarrelsomeness    Friendliness    Flattery

 好争论                    友好                 谄媚

Melancholiness    Spiritedness    Boisterousness

  忧郁                        活泼           狂躁

Not Responsive to Shame    Conscientiousness    Overly Responsive to Shame

  不知羞耻                                自知                        羞耻心过重

Envious    Indignant    Spiteful

 嫉妒           愤怒的        怀恨的

Unkindliness    Benevolence    Over-kindliness

 不友好              仁爱的             过度友好

Slothful    Industriousness    Over-industriousness

 懒惰的      勤勉的                 过分勤勉的

I’ll not discuss all of the virtues, but some are worth a quick discussion:

我不会讨论所有品德，但有一些是值得简要讨论的。

Temperance

节欲的

This one has to do with calming one’s bodily passions and desires. Always acting on your physical passions and desires will not lead to flourishing. However, always denying your physical passions and desires is also denying component of your nature and will also not lead to flourishing.

这个词与克制肉体的激情和欲望有关。总是受肉体的热情和欲望驱动不会导向富足。然而，总是否定肉体的激情和欲求也是否定你本质的组成部分，也不会导向富足。

Wittiness

机智

Many people don’t think this should be on the list, but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. People naturally want to be around people who are funny and who lighten the mood. We tend to avoid grumps, and buffoons, though initially fun, grow old after a while. So, having the virtue of wittiness enables us to flourish in the social aspect of our lives. The analysis of friendliness is much the same.

很多人认为机智不会出现在美德的列表中，但当你思考下才智，它确实是种美德。人类天生希望处于滑稽的能使氛围轻松的人周围。我们倾向于避开发牢骚的人，和一开始滑稽但很快变老的小丑。因此，有机智的美德使得我们能再社交生活中富足。关于友好的分析差不多相同。

Spiritedness

活

The insight here is that you should be passionate about things in the right circumstances. There are situations where anger is the appropriate, virtuous response, and if you’re never able to become angry, you’re deficient in spirit, and if you’re always angry, you’ve got an excess of anger. This trait is the emotional analogue of temperance.

活泼在这里的意思是，在特定的圈子中你应该对圈中事物充满热情。有些环境中愤怒就是正常的道德反应，如果你永不发怒，你的精神不完整；如果你经常发怒，你的怒气过多。这个品质对应与节欲的情感反应。

Indignant

愤慨的

Aristotle discusses indignity as a virtue in the sense that he thinks we should be upset if people do well undeservedly. For example, if someone wins because she cheated, the proper, virtuous response is to be upset or angry. On the other hand, some people are so envious that they are angry when anyone does well, and some people are so spiteful that they delight in other people’s misfortunes. The proper, virtuous trait is to be delighted when other people do well because they deserve it.

亚里士多德认为愤慨在如下的状况下是美德，即在人们被不公正地对待时感到愤慨。例如，如果有人通过作弊取胜，有道德的反应时焦急和愤怒。另外一方面，有些人如此嫉妒以至于别人做得好时他们会生气，还有些人恶意的以别人的不幸为乐。正常的道德特质是为别人理所当然的进展感到高兴。

Benevolence

 爱心

How can one have benevolence in excess? Isn’t it always a good thing? Nope. If we get an excess of benevolence, we can’t see that sometimes to do the right thing you can’t help someone. Do you know a drama queen that always calls to talk to you when they’re going through their crises? The proper response is to, at a certain point, recognize that you can’t help them (in reality they don’t want it) and walk away. However, never helping anyone is a defect and should be avoided as well. (Some confuse this with generosity. That one has to do with how you handle your resources.)

我们怎么可能有过多的爱心？爱心不总是件好事吗？不是的。如果爱心过多，我们不能意识到有时为了做正确的事情你不能帮助某人。你知不知道有个做戏的人，总是打电话跟你说她们正在经历危机。正确的反应时，在合适的时机，意识到你你不能帮助她们（事实上她们不希望帮助）而走开。然而，绝不助人是一种缺陷，是需要避免的。（有人对慷慨感到迷惑。慷慨是指你应用资源的方式）

How are all of the virtues related?

所有这些美德如何关联？

What links all of the virtues is phronesis, a Greek word best translated as “practical wisdom.” It’s not quite intelligence, although it is a rational trait…it’s more like knowing what the mean is in the particular circumstance you’re in. How does one know what to do in a particular circumstance?…

关联这些美德的方法是"phronesis", 这个希腊词最好的翻译是“实践的智慧”。它并不是智慧，也不是一种理性特征……它更像是身处某个特定环境时了解平均状态。个人如何知道在特定的环境中怎么做了？

We become more virtuous through education and habit.

我们通过教育和习惯而更有道德。

If we’re lucky, we’re brought up in an environment where the adults around us teach us how to be virtuous. There are two ways that they can do this.

如果我们很幸运，在我们成长的环境中，抚养我们的成年人教育我们变得有道德。他们有两种教育方法。

The first way is just by training us to have habits that enable us to flourish. For example, they may instill in us the tendency to exercise or to play sports. They may also instill in us the habit of sharing, being friendly, brave, and all the other virtues. In other words, they make it part of our innate character; they are training us how to be.

第一种方法就是训练我们养成能使我们富足的习惯。例如，他们也许会使我们乐于锻炼或运动。他们也可以培养我们如下的习惯，分享，勇敢，以及其他美德。换言之，他们使美德成为我们内在性格的一部分.他们训练我们如何富足。

The second way normally follows the first. After we reach a certain age of maturity, they can start to teach us why it’s good to have the habits that they’ve been inculcating. Children don’t understand flourishing, but adolescents and adults can. They’re honing our practical wisdom at this stage, since they are teaching us in what circumstances we ought to do certain actions. They are in effect teaching us why we ought to be the type of person we are.

第二种方法与第一种一脉相承。当我们成长到一定年龄，有些成熟，他们开始教育我们为什么拥有他们培养的那些习惯是好的。小孩子不明白什么是富足，但是青少年和成年人可以明白。在青少年这个阶段，他们通过教导我们在各种不同的情景下应该怎样反应而磨砺我们的智慧。事实上，他们是在教我们为什么我们要成为我们是得这种人。

Of course, the best way for them to teach us to be virtuous is to exhibit virtue in their characters. If we ever wonder what we should do in a certain situation, then finding the answer is as easy as finding a virtuous person and asking her what she would do. And how do we know who a virtuous person is? We just look for someone who’s flourishing.

当然，教育我们有道德的最好方法是展示他们自身性格中得美德。如果在某个情景中我们不知道自身应该怎样做，最容易找到答案的方法是找到一个有道德的人，并询问她在同样地情景中会怎样做。我们如何知道一个人是不是有道德的人？我们只需要找那些富足的人。

At a certain point, though, we become responsible for our own characters. It is at that point that we begin to actively, intentionally hone our characters. We continue to improve our physical body, our emotional state, our ability to live with others, and our minds. We continue to reinforce good habits, acquire more knowledge, help those around us, and find peace with ourselves.

然而，在一个特定的时间点，我们开始对我们的性格负责。只是在那个时候，我们在主动地，有意识地磨砺我们的性格。我们不断地提升我们的体质，情感，与他们相处的能力，和我们的思想。我们不断地加强好的习惯，获取知识，帮助周围的人，并与自己和平相处。

We have the knowledge, we have the habits, and we have the understanding that the good life is up to us. The end state: we flourish.

我们有知识，有习惯，知道好生活会到来。最终状态：我们感到富足。

[Sidebar: the metaphor that I often use to explain Aristotle's ideas is that of planting a tree. A tree planted in bad conditions will not flourish, just as a child brought up in a bad environment will not flourish. Just planting the tree in the right conditions, however, will not necessarily lead to the tree's flourishing; to help it flourish, you'll need to prune it and tend to it properly (just as we train children). At a certain point, though, you won't need to prune the tree. It will have the structure and setting such that it can flourish on its own. Just provide it the nutrients it needs and the tree will continue to grow and flourish. The metaphor translates quite well for human development.]

【其他：我经常用来解释亚里士多德思想的一个比喻是种一棵树。一颗种植在恶劣环境中得树不会茂盛，就像一个成长在糟糕环境中得小孩不会富足。仅仅把树种植在正确的环境中，然而不一定能使得树木茂盛；为了使得树木茂盛，你需要适当地修建和照看它（如同我们训练小孩）。在某个特定的点，然而，你不在需要修剪树木。他已经有了自身的结构和布局，能够使其变得茂盛。只要提供养分，树木就能持续生长和翻身。这个比喻对于人类成长非常合适。】

If you understand and remember the points just mentioned above, you can talk meaningfully about Aristotelian ethics. The real reason I’ve discussed Aristotelian ethics, though, is that it will likely infuse a lot of my writing about GTD, personal development, productivity, and creativity. It’s an excellent framework to think about how to flourish in all of the important areas of your life.

如果你理解和记住了上述观点，你已经了解了亚里士多德道德学的意义。我讨论亚里士多德道德学的真正原因是，它会注入很多思想到我的写作中，关于做事，自我发展，执行力和创造力。这是一个优异的框架，用于思考如何在你生活的所有重要领域中变得富足。