第 31 节
作者:      更新:2021-02-18 23:31      字数:9320
  private who carries off the palm of victory in public。
  Charm。   But   do   you   not   see   that   modesty   and   timidity   are   feelings
  implanted in man's nature? and these are much more powerfully present to
  us in a crowd than within the cirlce of our intimates。
  Soc。 Yes; but what I am bent on teaching you is that while you feel no
  such bashfulness and timidity before the wisest and strongest of men; you
  are ashamed of opening your lips in the midst of weaklings and dullards。'6'
  Is it the fullers among them of whom you stand in awe; or the cobblers; or
  the carpenters;   or the   coppersmiths; or   the   merchants; or   the   farmers;   or
  the hucksters of the market…place exchanging their wares; and bethinking
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  them how they are to buy this thing cheap; and to sell the other dearis it
  before   these   you   are   ashamed;   for   these   are   the  individual   atoms   out   of
  which the Public Assembly is composed?'7' And what is the  difference;
  pray; between your behaviour and that of a man who; being the superior of
  trained athletes; quails before a set of amateurs? Is it not the case that you
  who can argue so readily with the foremost statesmen in the city; some of
  whom affect to look down upon youyou; with your vast superiority over
  practised   popular   debatersare   no   sooner   confronted   with   a   set   of   folk
  who   never   in   their   lives   gave   politics   a   thought;   and   into   whose   heads
  certainly it never entered to look down upon youthan you are afraid to
  open your lips in mortal terror of being laughed at?
  '6' Cf。 Cic。 〃Tusc。〃 v。 36; 104; Plat。 〃Gorg。〃 452 E; 454 B。
  '7' Cf。 Plat。 〃Protag。〃 319 C。 See W。 L。 Newman; op。 cit。 i。 103。
  Well;   but   you   would   admit   (he   answered)   that   sound   argument   does
  frequently bring down the ridicule of the Popular Assembly。
  Soc。   Which   is   equally   true   of   the   others。'8'   And   that   is   just   what
  rouses my astonishment; that you who can cope so easily with these lordly
  people (when guilty of ridicule) should persuade yourself that you cannot
  stand     up  against    a  set  of   commoners。'9'        My    good    fellow;   do   not   be
  ignorant of yourself!'10' do not fall into that commonest of errorstheirs
  who rush off to investigate the concerns of the rest of the world; and have
  no time to turn and examine themselves。 Yet that is a duty which you must
  not in cowardly sort draw back from: rather must you brace ourself to give
  good heed to your own self; and as to public affairs; if by any manner of
  means they may be improved through you; do not neglect them。 Success in
  the sphere of politics means that not only the mass of your fellow…citizens;
  but your personal friends and you yourself last but not least; will profit by
  your action。
  '8'   {oi   eteroi};   i。e。   〃the   foremost   statesmen〃   mentioned   before。   Al。
  〃the opposite party;〃 the 〃Tories;〃 if one may so say; of the                        political
  clubs。
  '9' Lit。 〃those 。 。 。 these。〃
  '10'   Ernesti   aptly   cf。   Cic。   〃ad   Quint。〃   iii。   6。   See   below;   III。   ix。   6;
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  IV。 ii。 24。
  VIII
  Once   when Aristippus'1'   set   himself   to   subject   Socrates   to   a   cross…
  examination; such as he had himself undergone at the hands of Socrates on
  a former occasion;'2' Socrates; being   minded to benefit those who were
  with him; gave his answers less in the style of a debater guarding against
  perversions   of   his   argument;   than   of   a   man   persuaded   of   the   supreme
  importance of right conduct。'3'
  '1' For Aristippus see above; p。 38; for the connection; {boulomenos
  tous    sunontas     ophelein};      between     this   and   the   preceeding      chapter;
  see above; Conspectus; p。 xxvi。
  '2'   Possibly   in   reference   to   the   conversation   above。   In   reference   to
  the present dialogue see Grote; 〃Plato;〃 I。 xi。 p。 380 foll。
  '3'   For   {prattein   ta   deonta}   cf。   below;   III。   ix。   4;   11;   Plat。   〃Charm。〃
  164 B; but see J。 J。 Hartman; 〃An。 Xen。〃 p。 141。
  Aristippus asked him 〃if he knew of anything good;〃'4' intending in
  case he assented and named any particular good thing; like food or drink;
  or   wealth;   or   health;   or   strength;   or   courage;   to   point   out   that   the   thing
  named was sometimes bad。 But he; knowing that if a thing troubles us; we
  immediately   want   that   which   will   put   an   end   to   our   trouble;   answered
  precisely as it was best to do。'5'
  '4' See Grote; 〃Plato;〃 ii。 585; on Philebus。
  '5' Or; 〃made the happiest answer。〃
  Soc。 Do I understand you to ask me whether I know anything good for
  fever?
  No (he replied); that is not my question。
  Soc。 Then for inflammation of the eyes?
  Aristip。 No; nor yet that。
  Soc。 Well then; for hunger?
  Aristip。 No; nor yet for hunger。
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  Well;  but   (answered   Socrates) if   you   ask   me   whether   I know  of   any
  good   thing   which   is   good   for   nothing;   I   neither   know   of   it   nor   want   to
  know。
  And when Aristippus; returning to the charge; asked him 〃if he knew
  of any thing beautiful;〃
  He answered: Yes; many things。
  Aristip。 Are they all like each other?
  Soc。 On the contrary; they are often as unlike as possible。
  How      then   (he   asked)    can   that   be   beautiful    which    is  unlike    the
  beautiful?
  Soc。 Bless me! for the simple reason that it is possible for a man who
  is   a   beautiful   runner   to   be   quite   unlike   another   man   who   is   a   beautiful
  boxer;'6' or for a shield; which is a beautiful weapon for the purpose of
  defence; to be absolutely unlike a javelin; which is a beautiful weapon of
  swift and sure discharge。
  '6'   See   Grote;   〃H。   G。〃   x。   164;   in   reference   to   Epaminondas   and   his
  gymnastic training; below; III。 x。 6。
  Aristip。   Your   answers   are   no   better   now   than'7'   when   I   asked   you
  whether you knew any good thing。 They are both of a pattern。
  '7' Or; 〃You answer precisely as you did when 。 。 。〃
  Soc。 And so they should be。 Do you imagine that one thing is good and
  another beautiful? Do not you know that relatively to the same standard all
  things are at once beautiful and good?'8' In the first place; virtue is not a
  good   thing   relatively   to   one   standard   and   a   beautiful   thing   relatively   to
  another     standard;    and    in  the  next   place;   human     beings;    on   the  same
  principle'9' and relatively to the same standard; are called 〃beautiful and
  good〃; and so the bodily frames of men relatively to the same standards
  are seen to be 〃beautiful and good;〃 and in general all things capable of
  being used by man are regarded as at once beautiful and good relatively to
  the same standard the standing being in each case what the thing happens
  to be useful for。'10'
  '8' Or; 〃good and beautiful are convertible terms: whatever is good is
  beautiful; or whatever is beautiful is good。〃
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  '9'   Or;   〃in   the   same   breath。〃   Cf。   Plat。   〃Hipp。   maj。〃   295   D;   〃Gorg。〃
  474 D。
  '10'    Or;   〃and   this   standard    is  the   serviceableness      of  the   thing   in
  question。〃
  Aristip。   Then     I   presume    even   a   basket   for   carrying   dung'11'   is     a
  beautiful thing?
  '11'  Cf。   Plat。   〃Hipp。   maj。〃   288   D;  290   D;   and   Grote's   note;   loc。   cit。
  p。 381: 〃in regard to the question wherein consists {to kalon}?〃
  Soc。    To   be   sure;   and   a  spear    of  gold    an  ugly    thing;   if  for  their
  respective usesthe former is well and the latter ill adapted。
  Aristip。 Do you mean to assert that the same things may be beautiful
  and ugly?
  Soc。 Yes; to be sure; and by the same showing things may be good and
  bad: as; for instance; what is good for hunger may be bad for fever; and
  what   is   good   for   fever   bad   for   hunger;   or   again;   what   is   beautiful   for
  wrestling is often ugly for running; and in general everything is good and
  beautiful   when   well   adapted   for   the   end   in