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2022-04-25 伊比鸠鲁超越界观念的哲学启示

2022-04-25 伊比鸠鲁超越界观念的哲学启示

作者: 思想筆記 | 来源:发表于2022-04-27 20:30 被阅读0次

    2+1的框架,是归类哲学体系的好帮手。2是物理世界+人,1是超越界(傅佩荣)。伊比鸠鲁的超越界是付之阙如的,他基于物理学研究,而指出不存在上帝和命运。缺乏超越界思想,同时,他也避免了迷信的说法,还给迷信时代,一份清明的理智和勇于求知的精神。

    上帝

    论到是否有上帝?伊比鳩魯的回答是:原子本身的存在狀態,在現象的分析中,並不具有本體論或存有學上的優先性。我們的世界,正如同所有的其他可能世界,都是因為偶然因素而生成的結合體, 只具有有限的存在時間。世界的生成,可以完全是原子因為各種不同運動的聚集,也就不需要任何型態的超越概念作為創造世界的主因。「神」對於伊比鳩魯而言,是理想的存有狀態,也是道德上美好生活的模範,但與人類生活是有區隔的(苑举正:伊比鸠鲁“物理学”)。即便可能有完美不死的存在,这些生命不创造宇宙、不控制宇宙,也不参与人类事务。

    2022-05-06 伊比鸠鲁超越界观念的哲学启示2

    Letter to Menoeceus: “First believe that God is a living being immortal and blessed, according to the notion of a god indicated by the common sense of mankind; and so believing, you shall not affirm of him anything that is foreign to his immortality or that is repugnant to his blessedness. Believe about him whatever may uphold both his blessedness and his immortality. For there are gods, and the knowledge of them is manifest; but they are not such as the multitude believe, seeing that men do not steadfastly maintain the notions they form respecting them. Not the man who denies the gods worshipped by the multitude, but he who affirms of the gods what the multitude believes about them is truly impious. For the utterances of the multitude about the gods are not true preconceptions but false assumptions; hence it is that the greatest evils happen to the wicked and the greatest blessings happen to the good from the hand of the gods, seeing that they are always favorable to their own good qualities and take pleasure in men like themselves, but reject as alien whatever is not of their kind.”

    Letter to Herodotus: Nay more: we are bound to believe that in the sky revolutions, solstices, eclipses, risings and settings, and the like, take place without the ministration or command, either now or in the future, of any being who it the same time enjoys perfect bliss along with immortality. For troubles and anxieties and feelings of anger and partiality do not accord with bliss, but always imply weakness and fear and dependence upon one's neighbors.

    Letter to Pythocles: And further, let the regularity of their orbits be explained in the same way as certain ordinary incidents within our own experience; the divine nature must not on any account be adduced to explain this, but must be kept free from the task and in perfect bliss. Unless this be done, the whole study of celestial phenomena will be in vain, as indeed it has proved to be with some who did not lay hold of a possible method, but fell into the folly of supposing that these events happen in one single way only and of rejecting all the others which are possible, suffering themselves to be carried into the realm of the unintelligible,. and being unable to take a comprehensive view of the facts which must be taken as clues to the rest.

    伊比鸠鲁的观点,很符合我粗糙的当代物理学观点,即,物质不能无中生有。宇宙在大爆炸之前可能就存在,我们现在经历的宇宙只是这个版本大爆炸下的产物。没人知道今天构成我们这个地球、这个人的物质,从前经过几轮不同的组成方式;也没人知道太阳老去、地球毁灭后,这些物质又何去何从。

    超越界只能是信仰,不能是感官或是理性,这些囿于非超越界认识能力的能力能认识的。所以要说有神超越世界万物又同时存在在所有存有之中,这都只能是信仰。

    然而没有超越界的信仰,这种说法让人深思。如果没有一个绝对的完美指引着人生,我们又该何去何从呢?

    伊比鸠鲁很有勇气,他对于物质世界的理解,就是使得他认为无中生有是不可能的,所以他也不能违背理性和感知认为有存在可以“创造”世界。他同时也认为没有存有超越世界万物或是同时存在在所有存有之中。

    而我则认为“相信”也是一种人类的能力,不符合物理学、理性推论,也不妨碍人能相信。只是“相信”脱离哲学探讨范畴了,可能不是伊比鸠鲁这样一名哲学家思维素养下所关心的议题。但不符合科学推论的“相信”,可能是人类短暂文明史一种宝贵的思想精华,引人参考视角更加阔长高深。

    命运

    革除上帝或非人格形式的超越界,是否在人头上还有其他命运的大轮,支配人类呢?

    伊比鸠鲁的回答是:物质宇宙受制于世界形成时启动的规律,但人类(和其他高等生物)却不是。 在大自然设定的界限和界限内,人有“自由意志”来决定自己的生活。 伊壁鸠鲁主义者蔑视命运或运气作为女神的想法(https://newepicurean.com/)。

    伊比鸠鲁是西方哲学史上第一位以“自由意志”为核心哲学议题的哲学家。他清楚用他物理世界的观点为“自由意志”辩护,从而使人摆脱命运的奴役,将选择权还给人类。

    根據物理學(原子論)的論述,無論是我們的靈魂,還是我們的身體,因為完全由原子所組成的緣故,然後再加上這些原子都是依照機械方式運作的結果,我們怎能說哪一個動作或行動是因為我們自己的決定呢?從這個角度來說,我們好像必須承認,所有我們的行動,都是一連串無止境原子碰撞所導致的因果關係下的結果。

    伊比鳩魯的答案認為,原子運動的原則,並不必然是決定論的。伊比鳩魯的原子運動有三種運動。三種運動當中的前兩種中,第一種來自於原子自身重力影響的結果,是垂直掉落的。另一種是原子彼此在運動時有可能發生碰撞,因而導致不是平行的運動結果。但是,第三種運動,偏斜(swerve)則是一種完全無法預料的不規則運動。這種偏斜運動,是完全不可預料的。這也導致伊比鳩魯學派對於決定論所抱持的反對立場。

    除了来自物理学的推论,伊比鳩魯还从逻辑的角度,为“自由意志”辩护(驳倒“命运”或“决定论”)。這是有關真假二值對立原則(the principle of bivalence):所有的命題,也包含未來式的命題,都是非真即假。如果為真,那某此命題所指涉之事件則必然發生。但是,使此命題為真的理由,僅是因為原因已經在這個世界中處於運作的狀態,而且足以使事件發生。所以,會發生的,必然會發生。

    伊比鳩魯的作法是, 否定二元真假值原則可以沿用至未來命題。 這個觀念基本上認為,一個預測,如果證實這個預測為真或為假的準確性,依附於一個尚未做出的決策時,那麼這個預測在提出的那一刻時, 其實既非真亦非假(苑举正:伊比鸠鲁“物理学”)。

    Letter to Herodotus: Hence, where we find phenomena invariably recurring, the invariability of the recurrence must be ascribed to the original interception and conglomeration of atoms whereby the world was formed.

    Letter to Menoeceus: Fate, which some introduce as sovereign over all things, he scorns, affirming rather that some things happen of necessity, others by chance, others through our own agency. For he sees that necessity destroys responsibility and that chance is inconstant; whereas our own actions are autonomous, and it is to them that praise and blame naturally attach. It were better, indeed, to accept the legends of the gods than to bow beneath that yoke of destiny which the natural philosophers have imposed. The one holds out some faint hope that we may escape if we honor the gods, while the necessity of the naturalists is deaf to all entreaties. Nor does he hold chance to be a god, as the world in general does, for in the acts of a god there is no disorder; nor to be a cause, though an uncertain one, for he believes that no good or evil is dispensed by chance to men so as to make life blessed, though it supplies the starting-point of great good and great evil. He believes that the misfortune of the wise is better than the prosperity of the fool. It is better, in short, that what is well judged in action should not owe its successful issue to the aid of chance.

    伊比鸠鲁的原子论承袭自前苏格拉底时代哲学家德谟克里特的说法,但他背离了德谟克里特,引入了“偏斜”以否定决定论的思想(罗素,哲学简史)。

    说实在“偏斜”这个说法,真的树立自由意志的基础了吗?“偏斜”與自由意志之間的關連性要如何建立呢?伊比鳩魯好像只是將“可預期性”轉換成為“不可預期性”,但是這種轉換與發揚自由意志有極大的差距,這又要如何解釋呢?

    我們只能說,非決定論的“偏斜”是最能展現非決定論的方式,也因而間接顯示自由意志的重要性。更可贵的是,通过伊比鸠鲁的背离德谟克里特,我看到一位哲学家无论如何要解决人的自由意志基础难题的勇气。

    此外,当代物理学是否真的有原子“偏斜”一说,我粗浅的物理学是不够的,希望高人指点。当代机率学的观念则指出,事件的发生不过是众多可能路径的一种,不具有必然性。所谓成功可能只是巧合,所谓失败也可能只是运气问题。就像假设检定有一型错误和二型错误一样。人唯一能做的,是不看结果,多试几次,期望本质终于能显现为结果。当代社会科学大师马奇(James March)写了一本书叫《经验的模糊性》,正是对命运的一番深思,人们从有限的社科调查、人类经验所得到的结论是很靠不住的,因为随机项太多而干扰因素不可分离。人所能掌握的不过是对事情的诠释,是否用爱、美与勇气来与模糊不公的经验现象抗衡?

    结论

    2022/05/03新添

    这篇文章,描述伊比鸠鲁如何立基于他的物理学研究,来建立他对超越界的看法,即,不存在超越界,就算有,也不干预人类。没有命运之说,没有什么自然物理之外的因素,是会随自己的喜好或伦理观操弄人类的生活。知识是可得的,人必须相信自己有感官所建立的判断,而不是相信未经自己验证的说法。

    希腊化的时代依旧是充斥迷信的时代,人们不知道自己死后会如何?是否遭到残酷而不能控制的对待?人们不知道厄运为什么降到自己头上,是不是有不知明的神明随自己的喜好和善恶在诅咒自己?

    伊比鸠鲁的后人第歐根尼·拉爾修斯(Diogenes Laertius),整理了一份包含40句格言的清单(Forty Authorized Doctrines),介绍伊壁鳩魯的原則。伊比鸠鲁40句格言最为著名的前4句,第1、2句就是破除迷信的观念:

    1. 如果有神明,这个神明是快乐而不消逝的,他不会造成自己的困扰,也没兴趣带给别人(人类)困扰。说什么神明会愤怒或需要被感谢,都是错的,脆弱的存在才有那些感觉,而神明是快乐而不消逝的。(Any being which is happy and imperishable neither has trouble itself, nor does it cause trouble to anything else. A perfect being does not have feelings either of anger or gratitude, for these feelings only exist in the weak.)
    1. 死了就没了,死了就没感觉了,死亡对人来说不是个事。(Death is nothing to us, because that which is dead has no sensations, and that which cannot be sensed is nothing to us.)

    了解伊比鸠鲁的时代背景,就不难看出,他时代附近的人为什么高度赞美他了,他勇于求知,用物理学的观念破除迷信。

    看他时代附近的人给他的赞美,就更能理解他的贡献了。希腊化时代后期的讽刺作家卢锡安(Lucian)在作品“亚历山大神谕者(Alexander the Oracle-Monger)”讽刺亚历山大时,说到40条格言时:

    这个人(亚历山大)不知道那本书赋予读者的祝福,不知道它所产生的和平、安宁和独立的思想;不知道它免于人们遭受恐怖、幻影、奇迹、空洞的希望和不顺从的欲望的侵扰。它培养判断力和真诚,或者它净化精神,不是用火把和海啸之类的垃圾,而是用正确的理性、真理和直白的说法。(The fellow had no conception of the blessings conferred by that book upon its readers, of the peace, tranquility, and independence of mind it produces, of the protection it gives against terrors, phantoms, and marvels, vain hopes and insubordinate desires, of the judgment and candor that it fosters, or of its true purging of the spirit, not with torches and squills and such rubbish, but with right reason, truth, and frankness.)

    对于当代自然科学盛行,或许伊比鸠鲁的自然观点,不会引起惊讶,只会让人感到心心相印;但当代人是否脱离迷信就不好说了。他作为2000年前的哲学家,现代性十足,不仅与当代人对话,而且带来震撼。

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