The philosophy of cynicism - William D. Desmond

翻译人员: Jiasi Hao 校对人员: Junrui Zheng

In the 4th century BCE,

公元前 4 世纪， 一位银行家的儿子

a banker’s son threw the city of Sinope into scandal by counterfeiting coins.

让一座土耳其城市锡诺普 陷入硬币造假的丑闻。

When the dust finally settled, the young man, Diogenes of Sinope,

最后尘埃落定时，这位年轻男子—— 锡诺普城的第欧根尼——

had been stripped of his citizenship, his money, and all his possessions.

被剥夺了公民权， 以及所有的金钱与财产。

At least, that’s how the story goes.

至少故事里是这么说的。

While many of the details of Diogenes’ life are shadowy,

尽管第欧根尼生平的 许多细节鲜为人知，

the philosophical ideas born out of his disgrace survive today.

但他羞耻的行为所孕育的 哲学思想却留存至今。

In exile, Diogenes decided that by rejecting the opinions of others

流放在外的第欧根尼断定， 如果他能抗拒他人的评判

and societal measures of success, he could be truly free.

以及社会对成功的标准， 他便能真正获得自由。

He would live self-sufficiently, close to nature, without materialism,

他将会过上 自给自足、亲近自然的生活，

而脱离物质崇拜与浮华虚荣， 不再随波逐流。

vanity, or conformity.

In practice, this meant he spent years wandering around Greek cities

实际上，这意味着他花费了多年时间 游荡于各个希腊城市，

with nothing but a cloak, staff, and knapsack—

除了他的斗篷、拐杖和随身行囊之外 不带任何东西，

outdoors year-round, forgoing technology, baths, and cooked food.

一年到头都待在户外， 弃科技、洗浴和熟食于身外。

He didn’t go about this new existence quietly,

据说，他并没有 悄悄地追求这种新的存在形式，

but is said to have teased passers-by and mocked the powerful,

而是取笑路人、嘲讽权贵，

eating, urinating and even masturbating in public.

在众目睽睽之下进食、 如厕，甚至自慰。

The citizens called him a kyôn— a barking dog.

别人都称他为狗(kyôn)—— 一只不停吠叫的狗。

Though meant as an insult,

这称呼即使本来是一种辱骂，

dogs were actually a good symbol for his philosophy—

但对于他的哲学思想来说， 实际上是一个挺好的象征——

they’re happy creatures,

狗是一种快乐的生物，

free from abstractions like wealth or reputation.

不受财富或声誉这种抽象概念困扰。

Diogenes and his growing number of followers

第欧根尼， 和他日益增加的追随者们

became known as “dog philosophers,” or kynikoi,

后来以“狗哲人”，或犬（Kynikoi）的 称呼而闻名，

a designation that eventually became the word “Cynic.”

最终这个称呼也演变成了一个词语 “犬儒”（Cynic）。

These early Cynics were a carefree bunch,

这些早期的犬儒主义者无拘无束，

drawn to the freedom of a wandering lifestyle.

被徘徊流浪的生活方式所吸引。

As Diogenes’ reputation grew, others tried to challenge his commitment.

随着第欧根尼名声大噪， 人们也开始试着挑战他对自己思想的坚持。

Alexander the Great offered him anything he desired.

亚历山大大帝 曾承诺给予他想要的一切。

But instead of asking for material goods,

但第欧根尼并没有 向他提出任何物质需求，

Diogenes only asked Alexander to get out of his sunshine.

而是让亚历山大大帝挪开， 别挡着他的阳光。

After Diogenes’ death,

第欧根尼逝世后，

adherents to his philosophy continued to call themselves Cynics

其哲学思想的追随者们 在之后的大约 900 年间，

for about 900 years, until 500 CE.

直到公元500年， 仍自称为犬儒主义者。

Some Greek philosophers, like the Stoics,

一些希腊哲学家， 例如斯多葛学派学者，

thought everyone should follow Diogenes’ example.

认为每个人 都应该以第欧根尼为榜样。

They also attempted to tone down his philosophy

他们也尝试调整并缓和 第欧根尼的哲学思想以适应大众，

to be more acceptable to conventional society—

从而使得传统社会 更能接纳这一思想——

which, of course,

当然，

was fundamentally at odds with his approach.

这与第欧根尼的方式 本质上是相矛盾的。

Others viewed the Cynics less charitably.

其他人对犬儒主义的态度则没那么包容。

In the Roman province of Syria in the 2nd century CE,

公元 2 世纪， 在古罗马的叙利亚行省，

the satirist Lucian described the Cynics of his own time as unprincipled,

讽刺作家琉善曾将 他那个时代的犬儒主义者描述为

不讲原则、贪图享乐， 自我标榜的伪君子，

materialistic, self-promoting hypocrites,

who only preached what Diogenes had once actually practiced.

他们只宣扬第欧根尼 实践过的东西。

Reading Lucian’s texts centuries later,

几个世纪后，

Renaissance and Reformation writers called their rivals cynics as an insult—

文艺复兴和宗教改革时期的作家 阅读了琉善的文字，

将他们的对手称为犬儒主义者， 以此羞辱他们——

meaning people who criticized others without having anything worthwhile to say.

说他们只是在批判别人， 而自己却没能发表任何有价值的言论。

This usage eventually laid the groundwork for the modern meaning

这种说法后来为 “犬儒主义者”这个词的现代释义

of the word “cynic:"

奠定了基础：

a person who thinks everyone else is acting out of pure self-interest,

一个人认为，即便其他人声称 自己有更高尚的动机，

even if they claim a higher motive.

他们都是根据个人利益行事的。

Still, the philosophy of cynicism had admirers,

不过，犬儒主义的哲学思想 仍旧有其拥护者，

especially among those who wished to question

尤其是那些对社会状况

the state of society.

心存质疑的人。

The 18th-century French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau

18 世纪法国哲学家 让-雅克·卢梭

was called the “new Diogenes”

因主张 艺术、科学和科技会使人堕落，

when he argued that the arts, sciences, and technology,

而被称为“新第欧根尼”。

corrupt people.

In 1882, Friedrich Nietzsche reimagined a story

在 1882 年，弗里德里希·尼采 重构了一个故事。

in which Diogenes went into the Athenian marketplace

在原本的故事里， 第欧根尼提着灯前去雅典市场，

with a lantern,

searching in vain for a single honest person.

徒劳地寻找一个真正诚实的人。

In Nietszche’s version,

在尼采版本的故事中，

a so-called madman rushes into a town square

一个所谓的疯子冲进小镇广场，

to proclaim that “God is dead.”

向大家宣告：“上帝死了。”

This was Nietzsche’s way of calling for a “revaluation of values,”

这是尼采 呼吁“重新审视价值观”的方式，

他也以此抗拒 基督教派和柏拉图派的主导思想

and rejecting the dominant Christian and Platonic idea

对超越物质世界的、 客观唯心主义的认知。

of universal, spiritual insights beyond the physical world.

Nietzsche admired Diogenes for sticking stubbornly

尼采一直以来都很欣赏 第欧根尼对当下实际的

to the here-and-now.

固执与执着。

More recently,

更近些时，

the hippies of the 1960s have been compared with Diogenes

1960 年代的嬉皮士， 作为一种逆文化的反叛者，

as counter-cultural rebels.

被人们拿来与第欧根尼进行比较。

Diogenes’ ideas have been adopted

第欧根尼的思想不断被

and reimagined over and over again.

采用、重构。

The original cynics might not have approved

最初的犬儒主义 可能不会允许这些新兴行为：

of these fresh takes:

they believed that their values of rejecting custom

他们相信，自己拒绝世俗习惯 并亲近自然的价值观，

and living closely with nature were the only true values.

是唯一真实的价值观。

Whether or not you agree with that, or with any of the later incarnations,

不论你是否同意这个观点， 或是任何后来的衍生学说，

all have one thing in common: they questioned the status quo.

它们都有一个共同之处： 它们质疑现状。

And that’s an example we can still follow:

而这仍是一个值得我们学习的榜样：

not to blindly follow conventional or majority views,

不要盲从传统或大众思想，

but to think hard about what is truly valuable.

而是认真思考，真正的价值所在。