關(guān)于人的尊嚴(yán)的演說
Pico della Mirandola：皮科·德拉·米朗多拉（1463－1494）是意大利文藝復(fù)興時期的思想家，他的《關(guān)于人的尊嚴(yán)的演說》被稱為“人文主義宣言”。在這篇節(jié)選的簡短演說詞中，米朗多拉熱情洋溢地宣告，人是世間的奇跡與宇宙的精華；人的命運(yùn)完全掌握在自己手中，不受任何外在之物的制約；人擁有理性、自由意志與高貴品質(zhì)，通過自身的努力不僅可以超越萬物，而且可以進(jìn)入神的境界，與上帝融為一體。和其他人文主義者一樣，米朗多拉也并未否定上帝的存在。但具有劃時代意義的是，與中世紀(jì)的世界觀形成鮮明對照，人文主義者肯定了人在宇宙的中心地位以及現(xiàn)世人生的美好和意義。因此，從某種意義上可以說，米朗多拉的人文主義宣言拉開了西方現(xiàn)代文明的序幕。
……At last it seems to me I have come to understand why man is the most fortunate of creatures and consequently worthy of all admiration and what precisely is that rank which is his lot in the universal chain of Being -a rank to be envied not only by brutes but even by the stars and by minds beyond this world. It is a matter past faith and a wondrous one. Why should it not be? For it is on this very account that man is rightly called and judged a great miracle and a wonderful creature indeed……
……God the Father, the supreme Architect, had already built this cosmic home we behold, the most sacred temple of His godhead, by the laws of His mysterious wisdom. The region above the heavens He had adorned with Intelligences, the heavenly spheres He had quickened with eternal souls, and the excrementary and filthy parts of the lower world He had filled with a multitude of animals of every kind. But, when the work was finished, the Craftsman kept wishing that there were someone to ponder the plan of so great a work, to love its beauty, and to wonder at its vastness. Therefore, when everything was done(……), He finally took thought concerning the creation of man. But there was not among His archetypes that from which He could fashion a new offspring, nor was there in His treasure-houses anything which He might bestow on His new son as an inheritance, nor was there in the seats of all the world a place where the latter might sit to contemplate the universe. All was now complete; all things had been assigned to the highest, the middle, and the lowest orders. But in its final creation it was not the part of the Father's power to fail as though exhausted. It was not the part of His wisdom to waver in a needful matter through poverty of counsel. It was not the part of His kindly love that he who was to praise God's divine generosity in regard to others should be compelled to condemn it in regard to himself.
At last the best of artisans [God] ordained that that creature to whom He had been able to give nothing proper to himself should have joint possession of whatever had been peculiar to each of the different kinds of being. He therefore took man as a creature of indeterminate nature and, assigning him a place in the middle of the world, addressed him thus: "neither a fixed abode nor a form that is thine alone nor any function peculiar to thyself have we given thee, Adam, to the end that according to thy longing and according to thy judgment thou mayest have and possess what abode, what form, and what functions thou thyself shalt desire. The nature of all other beings is limited and constrained within the bounds of laws prescribed by Us. Thou, constrained by no limits, in accordance with thine own free will, in whose hand We have placed thee, shalt ordain for thyself the limits of thy nature. We have set thee at the world's center that thou mayest from thence more easily observe whatever is in the world. We have made thee neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with freedom of choice and with honor, as though the maker and molder of thyself, thou mayest fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shalt prefer. Thou shalt have the power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish. Thou shalt have the power, out of thy soul's judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, which are divine."
O supreme generosity of God the Father, O highest and most marvelous felicity of man! To him it is granted to have whatever he chooses, to be whatever he wills. Beasts as soon as they are born(……) bring with them from their mother's womb all they will ever possess. Spiritual beings [angels], either from the beginning or soon thereafter, become what they are to be for ever and ever. On man when he came into life the Father conferred the seeds of all kinds and the germs of every way of life. Whatever seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit. If they be vegetative, he will be like a plant. If sensitive, he will become brutish. If rational, he will grow into a heavenly being. If intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of God. And if, happy in the lot of no created thing, he withdraws into the center of his own unity, his spirit, made one with God, in the solitary darkness of God, who is set above all things, shall surpass them all.
……最后，我似乎明白了為什么說人是凌駕于萬物之上的幸運(yùn)兒 并因而值得無限贊美，明白了在這大千世界注定了屬于他的地位 ——這地位不僅令野蠻人而且令塵世之外的星辰和神靈忌妒。這一點(diǎn)已超越信仰，妙不可言。難道不應(yīng)當(dāng)如此嗎？正是在此意義上人被恰如其分地稱呼和評價為世間奇跡和宇宙精華……
……上帝——我們的在天之父與至高無上的——按照他那神秘智慧的法則，已經(jīng)建造了我們所目睹的這宇宙家園，這無比圣潔的神殿。他用神靈裝點(diǎn)天界之上的區(qū)域；他用永恒的靈魂加速天球的運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)；至于惡濁骯臟的下界，他便用形形色色的動物填滿。但是，當(dāng)這些都做完后，這位工匠一心希望有人來思索這偉業(yè)宏圖，來愛慕其美妙，來贊嘆其遼闊。因此，當(dāng)大功告成之時，他終于想到要創(chuàng)造人?？墒牵谒膭?chuàng)作原型中沒有可供他為自己塑造后代的模型，在他的寶庫里也沒有可供他饋贈給新生子的遺產(chǎn)，而普天之下也沒有任何地方可供后者坐下來凝思這宇宙的奧秘。萬事俱備，萬物按高、中、低三層各就其位。然而，在其創(chuàng)造的最后階段，我們在天之父的力量不可能衰竭不濟(jì)。他的智慧不可能因缺乏咨議而陷于窘迫。他的仁愛也不可能使本要贊美上帝施予萬物之神圣慷慨的人因其自身所受榮寵不及而心生怨尤。
最后，這位舉世無雙的工匠【上帝】決定，由于找不到任何恰當(dāng)?shù)臇|西給予人，那么人將同時擁有萬物的特性。上帝于是把人視為特性待定的生命，把他安置在世界的中央，并對他指示如下：“亞當(dāng)，我們既沒有給你固定的住所，也沒有給你獨(dú)自擁有的形式，也沒有給你任何特殊的功能，目的在于你可以根據(jù)自己的愿望，根據(jù)自己的判斷去獲取和擁有你希望的任何住所、任何形式和任何功能。所有其它事物的特性都受到我們所制定的法則的限制與約束。而你將由自己來決定你的特性的邊界，不受任何約束，按照你自己的自由意志——我們讓你聽從自由意志的支配。我們把你置于世界的中心，以便你從這里更容易觀察這世上的一切。我們既未確定你屬于天上，也未確定你屬于地下，既未確定你終有一死，也未確定你永恒不滅，以便你憑著自由意志與高尚情操——就像你的造物主一樣——隨心所欲地塑造你自己的形象。你將有能力墮落為低級的生命形式，那將與禽獸無異。你將有能力憑借你心靈的判斷力，再生為高級的形式，那將與神靈同在?！?BR> 啊，至高無上的厚愛來自上帝，我們的在天之父！啊，無比崇高而又神奇的幸福歸于人！受上帝的恩賜，他可以擁有他所選擇的一切，成為他所愿意的一切。野獸來到世上便從母胎中帶來它們將終身擁有的一切。精靈【天使】或自初生之時或隨后便永遠(yuǎn)保持他們本來的形態(tài)。而當(dāng)人誕生之時，我們的在天之父便賜予他各類種子和每一樣生命的胚胎。每一個人無論培育什么種子，這種子都會成熟并在他身上結(jié)出果實(shí)。這種子如果是植物的，他便形同草木；如果是感性的，他便與禽獸無異；如果是理性的，他便會成長為天上的神靈；如果是智慧的，他便會成為天使和上帝之子。而如果他不滿足于任何創(chuàng)造物的命運(yùn)，復(fù)歸于自身統(tǒng)一體的中心，其精神在上帝自在的幽暗中與凌駕萬物的上帝融為一體，那么，他便會超越世間萬物。
Pico della Mirandola：皮科·德拉·米朗多拉（1463－1494）是意大利文藝復(fù)興時期的思想家，他的《關(guān)于人的尊嚴(yán)的演說》被稱為“人文主義宣言”。在這篇節(jié)選的簡短演說詞中，米朗多拉熱情洋溢地宣告，人是世間的奇跡與宇宙的精華；人的命運(yùn)完全掌握在自己手中，不受任何外在之物的制約；人擁有理性、自由意志與高貴品質(zhì)，通過自身的努力不僅可以超越萬物，而且可以進(jìn)入神的境界，與上帝融為一體。和其他人文主義者一樣，米朗多拉也并未否定上帝的存在。但具有劃時代意義的是，與中世紀(jì)的世界觀形成鮮明對照，人文主義者肯定了人在宇宙的中心地位以及現(xiàn)世人生的美好和意義。因此，從某種意義上可以說，米朗多拉的人文主義宣言拉開了西方現(xiàn)代文明的序幕。
……At last it seems to me I have come to understand why man is the most fortunate of creatures and consequently worthy of all admiration and what precisely is that rank which is his lot in the universal chain of Being -a rank to be envied not only by brutes but even by the stars and by minds beyond this world. It is a matter past faith and a wondrous one. Why should it not be? For it is on this very account that man is rightly called and judged a great miracle and a wonderful creature indeed……
……God the Father, the supreme Architect, had already built this cosmic home we behold, the most sacred temple of His godhead, by the laws of His mysterious wisdom. The region above the heavens He had adorned with Intelligences, the heavenly spheres He had quickened with eternal souls, and the excrementary and filthy parts of the lower world He had filled with a multitude of animals of every kind. But, when the work was finished, the Craftsman kept wishing that there were someone to ponder the plan of so great a work, to love its beauty, and to wonder at its vastness. Therefore, when everything was done(……), He finally took thought concerning the creation of man. But there was not among His archetypes that from which He could fashion a new offspring, nor was there in His treasure-houses anything which He might bestow on His new son as an inheritance, nor was there in the seats of all the world a place where the latter might sit to contemplate the universe. All was now complete; all things had been assigned to the highest, the middle, and the lowest orders. But in its final creation it was not the part of the Father's power to fail as though exhausted. It was not the part of His wisdom to waver in a needful matter through poverty of counsel. It was not the part of His kindly love that he who was to praise God's divine generosity in regard to others should be compelled to condemn it in regard to himself.
At last the best of artisans [God] ordained that that creature to whom He had been able to give nothing proper to himself should have joint possession of whatever had been peculiar to each of the different kinds of being. He therefore took man as a creature of indeterminate nature and, assigning him a place in the middle of the world, addressed him thus: "neither a fixed abode nor a form that is thine alone nor any function peculiar to thyself have we given thee, Adam, to the end that according to thy longing and according to thy judgment thou mayest have and possess what abode, what form, and what functions thou thyself shalt desire. The nature of all other beings is limited and constrained within the bounds of laws prescribed by Us. Thou, constrained by no limits, in accordance with thine own free will, in whose hand We have placed thee, shalt ordain for thyself the limits of thy nature. We have set thee at the world's center that thou mayest from thence more easily observe whatever is in the world. We have made thee neither of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with freedom of choice and with honor, as though the maker and molder of thyself, thou mayest fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shalt prefer. Thou shalt have the power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish. Thou shalt have the power, out of thy soul's judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, which are divine."
O supreme generosity of God the Father, O highest and most marvelous felicity of man! To him it is granted to have whatever he chooses, to be whatever he wills. Beasts as soon as they are born(……) bring with them from their mother's womb all they will ever possess. Spiritual beings [angels], either from the beginning or soon thereafter, become what they are to be for ever and ever. On man when he came into life the Father conferred the seeds of all kinds and the germs of every way of life. Whatever seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit. If they be vegetative, he will be like a plant. If sensitive, he will become brutish. If rational, he will grow into a heavenly being. If intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of God. And if, happy in the lot of no created thing, he withdraws into the center of his own unity, his spirit, made one with God, in the solitary darkness of God, who is set above all things, shall surpass them all.
……最后，我似乎明白了為什么說人是凌駕于萬物之上的幸運(yùn)兒 并因而值得無限贊美，明白了在這大千世界注定了屬于他的地位 ——這地位不僅令野蠻人而且令塵世之外的星辰和神靈忌妒。這一點(diǎn)已超越信仰，妙不可言。難道不應(yīng)當(dāng)如此嗎？正是在此意義上人被恰如其分地稱呼和評價為世間奇跡和宇宙精華……
……上帝——我們的在天之父與至高無上的——按照他那神秘智慧的法則，已經(jīng)建造了我們所目睹的這宇宙家園，這無比圣潔的神殿。他用神靈裝點(diǎn)天界之上的區(qū)域；他用永恒的靈魂加速天球的運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)；至于惡濁骯臟的下界，他便用形形色色的動物填滿。但是，當(dāng)這些都做完后，這位工匠一心希望有人來思索這偉業(yè)宏圖，來愛慕其美妙，來贊嘆其遼闊。因此，當(dāng)大功告成之時，他終于想到要創(chuàng)造人?？墒牵谒膭?chuàng)作原型中沒有可供他為自己塑造后代的模型，在他的寶庫里也沒有可供他饋贈給新生子的遺產(chǎn)，而普天之下也沒有任何地方可供后者坐下來凝思這宇宙的奧秘。萬事俱備，萬物按高、中、低三層各就其位。然而，在其創(chuàng)造的最后階段，我們在天之父的力量不可能衰竭不濟(jì)。他的智慧不可能因缺乏咨議而陷于窘迫。他的仁愛也不可能使本要贊美上帝施予萬物之神圣慷慨的人因其自身所受榮寵不及而心生怨尤。
最后，這位舉世無雙的工匠【上帝】決定，由于找不到任何恰當(dāng)?shù)臇|西給予人，那么人將同時擁有萬物的特性。上帝于是把人視為特性待定的生命，把他安置在世界的中央，并對他指示如下：“亞當(dāng)，我們既沒有給你固定的住所，也沒有給你獨(dú)自擁有的形式，也沒有給你任何特殊的功能，目的在于你可以根據(jù)自己的愿望，根據(jù)自己的判斷去獲取和擁有你希望的任何住所、任何形式和任何功能。所有其它事物的特性都受到我們所制定的法則的限制與約束。而你將由自己來決定你的特性的邊界，不受任何約束，按照你自己的自由意志——我們讓你聽從自由意志的支配。我們把你置于世界的中心，以便你從這里更容易觀察這世上的一切。我們既未確定你屬于天上，也未確定你屬于地下，既未確定你終有一死，也未確定你永恒不滅，以便你憑著自由意志與高尚情操——就像你的造物主一樣——隨心所欲地塑造你自己的形象。你將有能力墮落為低級的生命形式，那將與禽獸無異。你將有能力憑借你心靈的判斷力，再生為高級的形式，那將與神靈同在?！?BR> 啊，至高無上的厚愛來自上帝，我們的在天之父！啊，無比崇高而又神奇的幸福歸于人！受上帝的恩賜，他可以擁有他所選擇的一切，成為他所愿意的一切。野獸來到世上便從母胎中帶來它們將終身擁有的一切。精靈【天使】或自初生之時或隨后便永遠(yuǎn)保持他們本來的形態(tài)。而當(dāng)人誕生之時，我們的在天之父便賜予他各類種子和每一樣生命的胚胎。每一個人無論培育什么種子，這種子都會成熟并在他身上結(jié)出果實(shí)。這種子如果是植物的，他便形同草木；如果是感性的，他便與禽獸無異；如果是理性的，他便會成長為天上的神靈；如果是智慧的，他便會成為天使和上帝之子。而如果他不滿足于任何創(chuàng)造物的命運(yùn)，復(fù)歸于自身統(tǒng)一體的中心，其精神在上帝自在的幽暗中與凌駕萬物的上帝融為一體，那么，他便會超越世間萬物。