Great philosophy is not always easy. Some philosophers—Kant, Hegel, Heidegger—write in a way that seems almost perversely obscur

admin2023-02-22  29

问题     Great philosophy is not always easy. Some philosophers—Kant, Hegel, Heidegger—write in a way that seems almost perversely obscure. Others—Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Wittgenstein—adopt an aphoristic style. Modern analytic philosophers can present their arguments in a compressed form that places heavy demands on the reader. Hence, there is ample scope for philosophers to interpret the work of their predecessors. One might get the impression that obscurity is a virtue in philosophy, a mark of a certain kind of greatness—but I’m skeptical.
    To some degree, all texts need interpretation. Working out what people mean isn’t simply a matter of decoding their words, but speculating about their mental states. The same words could express quite different thoughts, and the reader has to decide between the interpretations.【B16】________________________Why should philosophy need more interpretation than other texts?
    Academics assume an advanced knowledge of their field, as well as familiarity with conceptual nuances, contemporary references, cultural norms. All this background needs filling in for those outside the tradition. When dealing with work from another time or culture, different scholars might produce different interpretations of the original.【B17】______________________This doesn’t explain the special difficulties presented by some philosophical texts.
    Maybe these difficulties exist because great philosophers operate at a higher intellectual level than the rest of us, packing their work with profound insights, complex ideas and subtle distinctions.【B18】__________
    Such a failure of communication is a defect rather than a virtue. Skilled writers shouldn’t need interpreters to patch up holes in their texts.
    Another explanation focuses on the nature of philosophical enquiry.【B19】_______Consequently, great works of philosophy naturally generate different interpretations. But is that because readers engage with the problem being discussed and explore their own ideas about it? Or because they engage with the problem of what the author meant and try to come up with hypotheses? Only the former is the mark of good philosophy. A work can be tentative, exploratory and suggestive without being hard to understand.
    Perhaps obscure texts are more open to reinterpretation. Philosophy, some argue, does not progress
    as science does.【B20】______________By contrast, unambiguous texts can soon seem sterile and dated.
    If one is grappling with the same problem as an earlier writer, it might be useful to study his work, but devotion to reinterpretation betrays a misplaced focus on philosophers rather than philosophical problems. It is not easy to write clearly, especially on philosophical topics. Clear writers stand naked before their critics, with all their argumentative blemishes visible; but they are braver, more honest and more respectful of the true aims of intellectual enquiry.
    [A]   But this openness to interpretation is merely an accident of distance. The text could have been quite clear to its original readers, and with sufficient knowledge we might settle on a definitive reading.
    [B]   But it doesn’t follow that all texts are equally hard to interpret. Some interpretations might be more psychologically plausible than others, and a writer can narrow the range of possible interpretations.
    [C]  It’s prudent to be very suspicious of such texts; they must earn their status as serious works through a long history of intellectual fertility.
    [D]  Philosophical problems aren’t solved but continually re-explored in new contexts, and each generation returns to great works of the past and reinterprets them for its own time. So texts that are obscure are more likely to become classics, since they naturally lend themselves to reinterpretation.
    [E]   We might need these difficult thoughts unpacked by interpreters and, since these are usually less gifted than the original authors, they might differ on the correct reading. But then, if a clear interpretation of the ideas can be provided, why didn’t the original authors do it themselves?
    [F]  Philosophers do not simply marshal facts: they engage reflectively with a problem, raising questions, teasing out connections, investigating ideas. Readers can respond with their own questions, connections and ideas.
    [G]  Some great philosophers might write obscurely because it creates an aura of profundity and mystery. This invites interpretation and scholarly attention: special effort is required to engage with the work, helping to create a cult following among scholars.
【B16】

选项

答案B

解析 空格前提到理解哲学文本有一定难度:除了弄清言辞的含义之外,还要推测作者的精神状态,因此读者必须在不同的诠释之间进行选择。B指出并非所有的文本都难以诠释,与空格前的内容形成转折关系,以But过渡,衔接自然。其中的equally hard to interpret对应前文提到的诠释难的问题。故本题选B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/f4MD777K
0

随机试题
最新回复(0)