首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers—perhaps there are even more. After three millennia of phil
There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers—perhaps there are even more. After three millennia of phil
admin
2019-08-17
20
问题
There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers—perhaps there are even more. After three millennia of philosophical activity and disagreement, it is unlikely that we’ll reach consensus, and I certainly don’t want to add more hot air to the volcanic cloud of unknowing. What I’d like to do in the opening column in this new venture is to kick things off by asking a slightly different question: What is a philosopher?
【R1】______
Socrates tells the story of Thales, who was by some accounts the first philosopher. He was looking so intently at the stars that he fell into a well. Some witty Thracian servant girl is said to have made a joke at Thales’ expense—that in his eagerness to know what went on in the sky he was unaware of the things in front of him and at his feet. Socrates adds, in Seth Benardete’s translation, "The same jest suffices for all those who engage in philosophy. "
What is a philosopher, then? The answer is clear: a laughing stock, an absent-minded buffoon, the butt of countless jokes from Aristophanes’ "The Clouds" to Mel Brooks’ "History of the World". Whenever the philosopher is compelled to talk about the things at his feet, he gives not only the Thracian girl but the rest of the crowd a belly laugh.
【R2】______
But as always with Plato, things are not necessarily as they first appear, and Socrates is the greatest of ironists. First, we should recall that Thales believed that water was the universal substance out of which all things were composed. Water was Thales’ philosophers’ stone, as it were. Therefore, by falling into a well, he inadvertently presses his basic philosophical claim.
But there is a deeper and more troubling layer of irony here that I would like to peel off more slowly. Socrates introduces the "digression" by making a distinction between the philosopher and the lawyer, or what Benardete nicely renders as the "pettifogger".
【R3】______
By contrast, we might say, the philosopher is the person who has time or who takes time. Theodorus, Socrates’ interlocutor, introduces the "digression" with the words, "Aren’t we at leisure, Socrates?" The latter’s response is interesting. He says, "It appears we are. " As we know, in philosophy appearances can be deceptive.
【R4】______
Pushing this a little further, we might say that to philosophize is to take your time, even when you have no time, when time is constantly pressing at your back. The busy readers of The New York Times will understand this sentiment.
【R5】______
Socrates says that those in the constant press of business, like lawyers, policy-makers, mortgage brokers and hedge fund managers, become "bent and stunted" and they are compelled "to do crooked things". The pettifogger is undoubtedly successful, wealthy and extraordinarily honey-tongued, but, Socrates adds, "small in his soul and shrewd and a shyster. " The philosopher, by contrast, is free by virtue of his or her other-worldliness, by their capacity to fall into wells and appear silly.
A. The philosopher’s clumsiness in worldly affairs makes him appear stupid, or, "gives the impression of plain silliness. " We are left with a rather Monty Pythonesque definition of the philosopher: the one who is silly.
B. The lawyer is compelled to present a case in court and time is of the essence. In Greek legal proceedings, a strictly limited amount of time was allotted for the presentation of cases. Time was measured with a water clock or clepsydra, which literally steals time, as in the Greek kleptes, a thief or embezzler. The pettifogger, the jury, and by implication the whole society , live with the constant pressure of time. The water of time’s flow is constantly threatening to drown them.
C. But the basic contrast here is that between the lawyer, who has no time, or for whom time is money, and the philosopher, who takes time. The freedom of the philosopher consists in either moving freely from topic to topic or simply spending years returning to the same topic out of perplexity, fascination and curiosity.
D. It is our hope that some of them will make the time to read The Stone. As Wittgenstein says, "This is how philosophers should salute each other: ’Take your time. ’
E. Socrates believes that the philosopher neither sees nor hears the so-called unwritten laws of the city, that is, the mores and conventions that govern public life. The philosopher will disregard the societal titles given to a person.
F. As Alfred North Whitehead said, philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato. Let me risk adding a footnote by looking at Plato’s provocative definition of the philosopher that appears in the middle of his dialogue, " Theaetetus, " in a passage that some scholars consider a " digression". But far from being a footnote to a digression, I think in this moment Plato tells us something hugely important about what a philosopher is and what philosophy does.
【R3】
选项
答案
B
解析
上一段中有“Socrates introduces the‘digression’by makinga distinction between the philosopher and the lawyer,or what Benar-dete nicely renders as the‘pettifogger’.”,简单的引入苏格拉底区分律师与哲学家的区别,这一段开始详细描述,故选B。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/s8Wd777K
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
TherecentsocialandeconomicchangesintheU.S.havegreatimpactonalltheAmericanhousingsystem.
Perhaps(31)arefarmorewivesthatIimaginewhotakeitfor(32)thathouseworkisneithersatisfyingnorevenimportantonce
Accordingtothetext,whatistheStockExchange?Accordingtoparagraph3,whathappenedon16thNovember,1971?
______thereisapalacesituatedonthetipofoldConstantinople?______Constantinoplewasanotherimportantcityintheworld
AnotherearlyNativeAmericantribein(31)isnowthesouthwesternpartoftheUnitedStateswastheAnasazi.ByA.D.800theA
AnotherearlyNativeAmericantribein(31)isnowthesouthwesternpartoftheUnitedStateswastheAnasazi.ByA.D.800theA
AnotherearlyNativeAmericantribein(31)isnowthesouthwesternpartoftheUnitedStateswastheAnasazi.ByA.D.800theA
AnotherearlyNativeAmericantribein(31)isnowthesouthwesternpartoftheUnitedStateswastheAnasazi.ByA.D.800theA
AnotherearlyNativeAmericantribein(31)isnowthesouthwesternpartoftheUnitedStateswastheAnasazi.ByA.D.800theA
随机试题
男,20岁。左腰部被刺后伤口持续溢出淡红色液体2小时。查体:P110次/分,BP95/70mmHg。左上腹有压痛,无肌紧张及反跳痛。最重要的治疗措施为
属于苯巴比妥的鉴别反应有
腹部的缝合伤口,出现红肿、压痛、有波动,最主要的处理是( )。【历年考试真题】
银行业金融机构能否有效管理贷款合同,是其经营管理成败和服务水平高低的一个重要标志。
经营者与具有竞争关系的经营者达成的下列协议中,属于反垄断法禁止的有()。
我国义务教育阶段的课程计划应该具有三个特征是()。
简述法律移植的必要性。
千兆以太网比快速以太网有(29)数据传输率和(30)的碰撞域。
Theproblemwithhistoryissimple.Thereistoomuchofit,Andmoreofitcomesalongeveryday.Weneedsomethingthatwillc
A、Cowardly.B、Anxious.C、Lazy.D、Courageous.DM:Whatwouldyoudoifyouheardastrangenoiseinthemiddleofthenight?W:I
最新回复
(
0
)