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Rene Descartes was a French 17th century philosopher,
勒内·笛卡儿是17世纪的法国哲学家，
famous above all for saying 'I think therefore I am',
他的至理名言是：“我思故我在”。
but worthy of our attention for many reasons beyond this.
除此之外他还有许多值得我们注意的地方。
What makes him stand out is that he was a fierce rationalist.
他的独特之处在于他是个极端的理性主义者。
In an age when many philosophers still backed up their arguments with appeals to God,
在许多哲学家仍将论证诉诸上帝的力量的年代。
Descartes trusted in nothing more than the human power of logic.
笛卡儿只相信人类逻辑推理的能力。
This is how he defiantly kicked off his book 'Rules for the Direction of the Mind':
他在《心灵趋向的规律》一书如此开头：
'I shall bring to light the true riches of our souls,
“我将唤醒我们灵魂中最宝贵的部分，
opening up to each of us the means whereby we confined within ourselves,
让我们不靠任何他人的协助，
without any help from anyone else, all the knowledge that we may need for the conduct of life.'
透过自身内在得到人生所需的知识。”
Descartes had immense faith in what introspection guided by definition, sound argument, and clarity of thought could achieve.
笛卡儿对内省能力透过定义、有效的论证、清楚的思绪之引导能达到的成果有极大的信心。
He believed that much of what was wrong with the world
他认为世上的许多问题，
was caused by misusing our minds by confusion, bad definition, and unconscious illogicality.
是起因于错误的思考、混淆、不正确的定义和未意识到的逻辑错误。
His life was an attempt to make our minds better equipped for the task of thinking.
他企图让我们的心灵为思考做好更多准备。
To solve key questions,
为了解决关键的问题，
Descartes proposed that one always had to divide large problems into small, understandable sections by way of incisive questions.
笛卡儿说：我们得利用锐利的提问，把大问题分割成许多得以被理解的部分。
This is what he called his 'method of doubts'.
这就是笛卡儿的“怀疑论方法”。
We get muddled by certain questions like 'what's the meaning of life', or 'what is love?',
些特定的问题使我们困惑，例如，人生的意义是什么？、爱是什么？
because we're not careful enough about how we break these big inquiries down.
这是因为我们没有好好的把这些问题拆解。
He described the method of doubts as akin to having a large barrel of apples
他把怀疑论方法形容成一大桶苹果，
where good ones are mixed with bad ones.
里面有好苹果与坏苹果。
To be a philosopher means a commitment to sorting out the entire barrel to inspecting each apple individually
哲学家要将这些苹果分类，个别检查每颗苹果，
and throwing away all the bad ones to ensure only those of the best quality are left.
把坏的苹果全丢掉，确保只留下质量最好的苹果。
Another way to think about Descartes,
还有另一种思考笛卡儿的方向，
and this explains why he would among other things, turn out to be such a hero to the leaders of the French revolution,
也解释了他为什么是法国大革命中领袖们的英雄，
is that he believed in grounding all of our ideas in individual experience and reason,
在于他认为我们要将想法建立在自身经验和理性之上，
rather than authority and tradition.
而不是建立在权威、传统上。
In his greatest book 'Discourse on the Method' published in 1637,
在1637年出版的重要著作《谈谈方法》中，
he explained how he had come to write it:
他解释了写作此书的原因：
'A long time ago, I entirely abandoned the study of letters resolving to seek no knowledge,
“许久以前，我完全抛弃了阅读，
other than that which could be found in myself or else in the great book of the world,
只在我自身以及所处的广大世界中学习知识，
I spent my youth traveling visiting courts and armies,
我在年轻时旅行，走访法院、军队，
mixing with people of diverse temperaments and ranks gathering various experiences,
接触各种不同性格和阶层的人，收集许多不同的经验，
testing myself in situations which fortune afforded me,
在命运带给我的事件中自我考验，
and at all times reflecting personally upon whatever came my way so as to derive some profit from it.'
然后将所有遭遇内省，从中得到益处。”
Descartes spent a large part of his adult life away from his native France in the Dutch Republic,
笛卡儿成年后多数时间不在家乡法国，而在荷兰共和国，
since he held the belief, not entirely unwisely,
因为他不无理由的相信
that the mercantile Dutch would, as a people, be far too concerned with earning money to pester a free-thinking man like himself.
重商的荷兰人太专注于赚钱，不会来打扰像他这样的自由思想家。
However it turned out that the Dutch were a little less materialistic than he'd hoped,
但是，荷兰人并没有如他所望的那么物质主义。
and the philosopher ended up moving 24 times to keep ahead of spies and government agents.
使这位哲学家搬家搬了24次，以躲避间谍和情报人员。
Descartes' subjective approach to philosophy reached its climax when he arrived at the famous phrase
笛卡儿内省式的哲学方法在他提出那句名言时达到顶峰：
'Cogito ergo sum'—'I think therefore I am'.
“我思故我在”。
The phrase first appeared in French—'Je pense donc je suis'—in the Discourse on the Method
这句话首先以法语出现在《谈谈方法》中：'Je pense donc je suis'，
before then appearing in Latin in the Principles of Philosophy of 1644.
然后以拉丁文出现在1644年的《哲学原理》。
It was intended to be Descartes' ultimate answer to a question that philosophers sometimes get perhaps unreasonably interested in, namely
这是笛卡儿对一个哲学界大感兴趣的问题的终极解答：
'How can one know that anything including oneself, actually exists rather than being some sort of dream or phantasm?'
“一个人如何知道任何事物，包括自己，真的存在，而不只是某种梦境或幻想？”
On his quest was certainty around this question of whether it might all be a dream
在这个“是否一切都是梦？”的问题上，
Descartes began by observing that our human senses are deeply unreliable.
笛卡儿首先观察到人类感官的不可靠性。
He couldn't, for example, he said, be trusted to know whether he was actually sitting in a room in his dressing gown next to a fire,
他举例说明，他无法确信自己是否正穿着长袍坐在居室的火炉边，
or merely dreaming of such a thing.
或着只是梦到如此。
But there was one thing he could know for sure: he could trust that he was actually thinking.
但有一件事他能够确定：他能够确信他正在思考。
His existence could be proved by a neat tautological trick.
他的存在能够透过套套逻辑予以证明。
He could not be thinking and wondering if he existed if he did not exist,
如果他不存在，他就不能怀疑他是否存在。
therefore his thinking was a very basic proof of his being
因此他的思考正是他存在的基本证明，
or to return to the maxim 'I think therefore I am'.
也就是那句箴言：我思故我在。
This might not sound like a huge insight, but Descartes used it as an Archimedean point in an epistemologically unsteady world.
这听起来不是了不起的洞见，但笛卡儿在一个知识论上不稳固的世界中，将它当作一个支点。
With this certainty safely banked, Descartes argued that his mind could go to discover other similarly irrefutable truths.
有了这个稳固的保证，笛卡儿论证它的心灵能够进一步发现其他类似的无可反驳的真理。
Some of the charm of Descartes' work comes through his entwining of personal details, along with more arid philosophical passages.
笛卡儿作品的其一诱人之处在于枯燥哲学段落之外，对个人细节的描写。
He tells us, for example, that his revolutionary idea came to him during the winter of 1619,
比如他描述他的革命性想法来自1619年的冬天，
when he'd escaped the fierce cold of the low countries by hopping into a stove and spending the whole day meditating inside.
当时他为了躲避寒冬，躲进了一个火炉里冥想了一整天。
Descartes epitomizes the solitary end of philosophy.
笛卡儿象征着哲学孤独的一面。
One can, in his eyes, solve the most profound problems by searching deep within oneself.
在他眼中，一个人能够透过自省解决最深切的难题。
Teams of individuals, or ideas passed through the generations as they are in universities are deeply suspect for Descartes.
成群结队的人、传递数个世代的想法…如大学里的想法，笛卡儿都深深怀疑
Philosophers don't need gangs of scientists using expensive equipment, unheard-of terminology and huge datasets.
哲学家不需要成群结党的科学家、最新的仪器、新奇的字眼、数据。
They just need a quiet room and a rational mind.
哲学家只需要一个安静的居室和理性的心灵。
At another point, Descartes recounts that he mocked friends of his who once showed up at his home at 11 in the morning and was surprised to find him still in bed.
有一次，笛卡儿嘲弄了一群早上11:00来访，惊讶地发现他还在床上的朋友。
'What are you doing?' they inquired skeptically.
“你在干嘛？”他们质问。
'Thinking,' Descartes replied.
笛卡儿回答：“思考。”
The group was stunned,
朋友们大吃一惊，
but Descartes criticized them in turn for privileging often nonsensical practical tasks over the beauty of pure quiet reflection in bed.
笛卡儿接着批评他们：把无意义的日常琐事看得比在床上纯粹寂静反省之美来得重要
In 1649, Descartes finished another great work: 'Passions of the Soul'.
1649年笛卡儿完成另一部钜著《论灵魂之情》。
It was the outcome of six years of correspondence with a royal acquaintance,
那是六年间与皇室成员来往的成果，
the Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia, who was a keen amateur philosopher, and a rather emotional and turbulent soul.
波西米亚的伊丽莎白公主是一位热切的业余哲学家，也是个情绪丰富、紊乱的灵魂。
She had written to Descartes begging him to write about passions in order that she might get to know and control her own more clearly.
他写信给笛卡儿恳求他书写激情，借以让她能更理解和控制自己的激情。
Descartes obliged.
笛卡儿接受了，
Thinking that the ancient philosophers had done a poor job of analyzing the passions
想着古代哲学在激情的议题上多么地缺乏
and that ordinary and not-so-ordinary people would benefit immensely from another look at the topic,
因此一般人和特别的人们将会因此而大大受惠。
he therefore opened the Passions of the Soul with a characteristic claim:
他以一个特别的宣称开启《论灵魂之情》：
'I shall be obliged to write just as if I were considering a topic that no one had dealt with before me.'
“我仅接受书写一个在我之前没人解决过的题目。”
The word provides a beautiful taxonomy of pretty much any passion one might feel,
这部作品出色的分类了各种可能的激情，
as well as descriptions of their causes, effects, and functions.
并且描述了它们的成因、影响、功能。
This is followed by another section called 'The Discipline of Virtue',
在这之后接着是另一本《美德的纪律》，
a manual of advice on how we can control our passions and enjoy a virtuous life.
一本关于如何控制激情和享受有美德之生活的手册。
Descartes identified six fundamental passions:
笛卡儿指出六种基本的激情：
wonder, love, hatred, desire, joy, and sadness.
纳闷、爱、恨、欲望、欢乐、悲伤。
From these they're followed in his eyes an unlimited number of specific passions; combinations of the original ones.
从这些再延伸出无限多种的激情组合
Descartes didn't believe in vanquishing passions as the ancient stoic philosophers had proposed,
笛卡儿不相信古老斯多葛学派所说的征服激情，
merely in learning how to identify them in oneself and understand their impact on one's behavior.
而只是学习如何在自身中辨认激情，并了解它们对行为的影响。
He would have been very sympathetic to psychotherapy.
他大概会很支持心理疗法。
He believed that a key task of being a philosopher was to help people understand and therefore control their passions;
他相信哲学家的主要任务是是教导人们了解并控制激情，
that is, become a little less anxious, status-driven,
借此减少焦虑，不过度看重身份地位，
scared, or inclined to fall head over heels in love with inappropriate people.
降低恐惧，避免盲目爱上不适合的对象。
He was optimistic about how much progress we could make psychologically.
他对于我们心理上能够达成的进展感到乐观。
Even those who have the weakest souls can acquire absolute mastery over their passions
就连最软弱的灵魂也能完全掌握自己的激情，
if they work hard enough at training and guiding them.
只要有足够的努力、训练、引导即可。
Descartes' psychological and philosophical work attracted ever more powerful admirers.
笛卡儿的哲学与心理著作吸引了更多掌权的崇拜者。
In 1646, Queen Christina of Sweden got interested in sorting out issues in her mind and began a correspondence with Descartes.
1646年瑞典皇后克里斯蒂娜对她内心的问题感到兴趣，因此与笛卡儿通信。
She even persuaded the philosopher to move to Sweden to tutor her in passion and philosophy in 1649.
1649年她说服了笛卡儿到瑞典教导她哲学与激情。
However, the early working hour was required. the queen could only make time for lessons at 5:00 a.m.,
早起工作的皇后只能在早上5点上课，
and the harsh cold soon made Descartes ill.
严寒的天气很快就让笛卡儿生了病。
He died of pneumonia in 1650 at the age of 53.
他于1650年因肺炎死于53岁。
To remember Descartes by 'I think therefore I am' is perhaps not as shallow as one might initially have presumed.
以“我思故我在”来记得笛卡儿可能没有乍看之下来得浅薄。
The sentence does truly capture something important about him and the task of philosophy in general.
那句话的确掌握住了他以及哲学工作中重要的部分。
It signals a commitment to working through emotional confusion, prejudice, and unhelpful tradition,
它标示了一项承诺，要透过克服情绪带来的困惑、偏见、无用的传统
in order to arrive at an independent rationally founded vision of existence.
来达到一种：独立、理性基础的存在视野。
