【简译】爱比克泰德（Epictetus）

2022-10-07 16:27 作者:神尾智代 0人读过 | 我要投稿

爱比克泰德是谁？

爱比克泰德是一位斯多葛派哲学家，以其奠基之作《爱比克泰德手册》和《爱比克泰德语录》最为著名。

爱比克泰德因什么而闻名？

爱比克泰德以充分发展早期思想家如赫拉克利特和季蒂昂的芝诺的斯多葛哲学而闻名。他充分阐述了斯多葛的观点，并通过对逻各斯的关注在罗马建立了斯多葛主义，这是一种指导宇宙运行的理性力量。

爱比克泰德最著名的主张是什么？

爱比克泰德以许多重要的语录而闻名，但他最著名的主张是：使人不安的不是环境，而是他们应该如何解释环境。

爱比克泰德相信有自由意志吗？

爱比克泰德认为自由意志的形式是有限的。一个人可以选择如何解释环境并对其作出反应，但他不能以自己的自由意志改变任何特定的环境。人只能控制自己对生活挑战的反应，而不是挑战本身。

Epictetus (l.c. 50 - c. 130 CE) was a Stoic philosopher best known for his works The Enchiridion (the handbook) and his Discourses, both foundational works in Stoic philosophy and both thought to have been written down from his teachings by his student Arrian.

爱比克泰德（公元50 -130 年）是一位斯多葛派的哲学家，以其作品《爱比克泰德手册》和《爱比克泰德语录》而闻名，这两部作品都是斯多葛派哲学的奠基之作，都被认为是由他的学生阿瑞安（《亚历山大远征记》的作者）根据其教义写下来的。

Stoicism is the belief that the individual is wholly responsible for his or her interpretations of circumstance and that all of life is natural and normal in spite of one's impressions. To the Stoics, philosophy was synonymous with life. One did not dabble in philosophy; one became fully immersed in it to understand and appreciate how best to live one's life.

斯多葛主义认为，个人要对自己对环境的解释负全部责任，尽管有自己的印象，但所有的生活都是自然和正常的。对斯多葛派来说，哲学是生活的同义词。一个人不只是涉足哲学，而是完全沉浸在其中，以了解和理解如何更好地生活。

The foundations of Stoicism, especially its recognition of the logos, an underlying force behind all things, was first laid by the Pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus (l. c. 500 BCE). Antisthenes, a student of Socrates, then developed the philosophy c. 390 BCE and expounded upon it through his Cynic School (though, no doubt, mixed with Socratic concepts). These ideas were then further developed by the later philosopher Zeno of Citium in c. 300 BCE.

斯多葛主义的基础，特别是它对逻各斯的认识，即所有事物背后的潜在力量，是由前苏格拉底哲学家赫拉克利特（约公元前500年）首先奠定的。苏格拉底的学生安提西尼（Antisthenes）在公元前390年左右发展了这一哲学，并通过他的犬儒学派对其进行了阐述（不过，毫无疑问，其中掺杂了苏格拉底的思想）。这些思想随后在公元前300年左右由后来的哲学家季蒂昂的芝诺进一步发展。

The Greek Stoics (the so-called `Old Stoa') Cleanthes and Chryissippus, who followed Zeno of Citium, wrote many volumes on the Stoic way of life but, unfortunately, of the 165 works attributed to Chrysippus, we have only fragments and the same holds true for Cleanthes. Their influence must have been far-reaching, however, because Stoic principles were known and practiced as far away as Rome.

希腊斯多葛派（所谓的 "老斯多葛"）克里安西斯和克律西波斯，在季蒂昂的芝诺之后，写了很多关于斯多葛生活方式的书。但不幸的是，在克律西波斯的165部作品中，我们暂时只发现一些片段，克里安西斯的情况也是如此。然而，他们的影响肯定是深远的，因为斯多葛派的原则在遥远的罗马也被人们所熟知和实践。

早期生活

Epictetus was born in the Phrygian city of Hierapolis in Asia Minor to a slave woman and so was, himself, a slave. He was granted his freedom sometime after the death of Emperor Nero in the year 68 CE by his master Epaphroditus who had also been a slave and was freed by Nero for revealing a coup against the Emperor. Tacitus calls Epaphroditus “Nero's Freedman” and reports he was with Nero when the Emperor committed suicide, and offered to help him do so.

爱比克泰德出生在小亚细亚的弗里吉亚城市希拉波利斯，父母是奴隶，所以他自己也是一名奴隶。在尼禄皇帝死后的某一天，他被他的主人埃弗弗洛迪图斯赋予了自由；埃弗弗洛迪图斯也曾是一名奴隶，因为揭露了一场针对皇帝的政变而被尼禄释放。塔西佗称埃弗弗洛迪图斯为 "尼禄的自由人"；当尼禄皇帝自杀时，他和尼禄在一起，并提出帮助他自杀。

It should not seem strange that Epaphroditus, having been a slave, should own slaves once he, himself, had been freed. According to Nardo, “Slavery was the largest and most entrenched social institution in ancient Rome (especially at its height, between 200 BCE and 200 CE) and affected every aspect of life and society” (41). Epaphroditus, as secretary to emperor Nero, would have been expected to own slaves as standard custom.

埃弗弗洛迪图斯曾经是一个奴隶，一旦他自己获得了自由，就应该拥有奴隶，这似乎并不奇怪。根据纳尔多的说法，"奴隶制是古罗马最大、最根深蒂固的社会制度（尤其是在公元前200年至公元前200年的鼎盛时期），影响到生活和社会的各个方面"（41）。作为尼禄皇帝的秘书，埃弗弗洛迪图斯本应按照标准惯例拥有奴隶。

Epaphroditus, recognizing his slave's intellectual abilities, recommended the young Epictetus to study with the great Stoic teacher C. Musonius Rufus and, clearly, Rufus influenced the younger man greatly as Epictetus' thought seems almost identical to some of the fragments, we have of Musonius Rufus. Rufus was very impressed by Epictetus' keen mind and trained him well in the discipline of Stoic philosophy.

埃帕弗罗迪塔斯认识到他的奴隶很有能力，他推荐年轻的爱比克泰德向伟大的斯多葛派教师莫索尼乌斯·鲁弗斯学习。显然，鲁弗斯对这个年轻人影响很大，因为爱比克泰德的思想似乎与鲁弗斯的一些思想几乎相同。鲁弗斯对爱比克泰德敏锐的思维留下了深刻的印象，并在斯多葛哲学方面对他进行了良好的训练。

Once freed, Epictetus set up his own school and taught the philosophy to others until he, along with all the other philosophers in Rome, was banished by the emperor Domitian in the year 89 CE. Even so, the impact of Epictetus' thought became an integral part of Roman understanding. Scholar Forrest E. Baird writes：

Despite Emperor Domitian's condemnation, Stoicism had a special appeal to the Roman mind. The Romans were not much interested in the speculative and theoretical content of Zeno's early Stoa. Instead, in the austere moral emphasis of Epictetus, with his concomitant stress on self-control and superiority to pain, the Romans found an ideal for the wise man, whereas the Stoic description of natural law provided a basis for Roman law. One might say that the pillars of republican Rome tended to be Stoical, even if some Romans had never heard of Stoicism. (519)

获得自由后，爱比克泰德建立了自己的学校，并向其他人传授哲学，直到公元89年，他和罗马的其他哲学家一起被皇帝多米提安放逐。即便如此，爱比克泰德思想的影响仍成为罗马人思维的组成部分。学者福雷斯特·E·拜尔德写道：

尽管多米提安皇帝发布谴责，斯多葛主义对罗马人的思想仍有一种特殊的吸引力。罗马人对芝诺早期斯多葛的推测和理论内容不感兴趣。相反，在爱比克泰德对道德的强调中，以及他对自我控制和优于痛苦的强调中，罗马人找到了智者的理想，而斯多葛派对自然法的描述为罗马法律提供了基础。可以说，共和制罗马的支柱往往是斯多葛派，即使有些罗马人从未听说过斯多葛派。(519)

Epictetus' influence was not confined to Rome, however, as his banishment led to his formation of the school which would preserve his teachings.

然而，爱比克泰德的影响并不局限于罗马，因为他的放逐导致他在外邦成立了一个新的学校，这个学校将保留他的教义。

尼科波利斯

Epictetus traveled to Nicopolis, Greece where he opened a Stoic school and taught philosophy through lectures, and by his own example in living, up until his death in the year 130 CE. Among his students was the young historian Flavius Arrianus (popularly known as Arrian) whose classnotes (written in Koine Greek although Epictetus taught in Attic Greek) have preserved Epictetus' thought as the philosopher himself apparently wrote nothing down.

爱比克泰德来到希腊的尼科波利斯，在那里开设了一所斯多葛派学校，通过讲座和自己的生活实例来教授哲学，直到他于公元130年去世。他的学生中有年轻的历史学家尼科梅迪亚的阿里安（Flavius Arrianus）（俗称阿里安），他的课堂笔记（虽然爱比克泰德用雅典希腊语授课，但却是用民间（通用）希腊语写的）保留了爱比克泰德的思想，因为这位哲学家本人显然没有写下什么。

Arrian collected and edited the lectures and discussions he attended in eight books, of which four remain extant, and distilled his master's thoughts in the Enchiridion. That philosophy was a way of living, not merely an academic discipline, is apparent throughout the Enchiridion and is expanded upon in Epictetus' other work, the Discourses, which Arrian purports to be verbatim transcripts of discussions he had and classes he and others participated in with Epictetus (though this is doubtful). Scholars are confident that the works ascribed to Epictetus are his own, not the creation of Arrian, based upon Arrian's other extant writings.

阿里安将他参加的讲座和讨论收集并编辑成八本书，其中四本现存，并将他老师的思想提炼成《爱比克泰德手册》。哲学是一种生活方式，而不仅仅是一门学术学科，这一点在《爱比克泰德手册》中显而易见，并在爱比克泰德的另一部作品《爱比克泰德语录》中得到了扩展。据阿里安称，这些作品是他和其他人与爱比克泰德讨论和上课的逐字记录（尽管这一点值得怀疑）。学者们确信，根据阿里安的其他现存著作，爱比克泰德的作品归于本人，而不是阿里安的创作。

逻各斯

Epictetus' focus was on the responsibility of the individual to live the best life possible. He insisted that human beings do have freedom of choice in all matters even though that choice may be limited by the operation of the logos. This logos (Greek for `word' or `speech' but containing a much greater range of meaning including `to convey thought') was an eternal force which moved through all things and all people, which created and guided the operation of the universe and which had always existed. In many English translations of Epictetus' works logos is often given as God. As Hays writes：

Logos operates both in individuals and in the universe as a whole. In individuals it is the faculty of reason. On a cosmic level it is the rational principle that governs the organization of the universe. In this sense it is synonymous with 'nature', 'Providence' or 'God' (when the author of John's Gospel tells us that `the Word' – logos –was with God and is to be identified with God, he is borrowing Stoic terminology). (xix)

爱比克泰德思想的重点是个人有责任尽可能过上最好的生活。他坚持认为，人类在所有问题上都有选择的自由，尽管这种选择可能受到逻各斯运作的限制。这个逻各斯（希腊语意为 "词 "或 "话语"，但包含更广泛的含义，包括 "传达思想"）是一种永恒的力量，它在所有事物和所有的人中运行，它创造并指导宇宙的运行，而且一直都存在。在爱比克泰德作品的许多英译本中，逻各斯通常被译为上帝。正如海斯所写：

逻各斯在个人和整个宇宙中都在运作。在个人中，它是理性的能力。在宇宙层面上，它是管理宇宙组织的理性原则。在这个意义上，它是 "自然"、"天意 "或 "上帝 "的同义词（当《约翰福音》的作者告诉我们 "道"——逻各斯——与上帝同在，并与上帝认同时，他借用了斯多葛的术语）。(xix)

This use of logos as a force characterized by rationality, and perceived through reason, though it has roots in the teachings of Heraclitus, was more clearly explained by Epictetus as Heraclitus' writings were thought to be difficult to understand. According to Epictetus, the logos is the underlying form of the perceived world which sets the parameters of the human experience and maintains the order of the universe by immutable laws.

这种将逻各斯作为一种以理性为特征的力量，并通过理性来感知的做法，虽然植根于赫拉克利特的学说，但由于赫拉克利特的著作很难被人理解，所以爱比克泰德对其进行了更清晰的解释。根据爱比克泰德的观点，逻各斯是感知世界的基本形式，它设定了人类经验的参数，并通过不可改变的法律维持宇宙的秩序。

Because of the natural operation of this logos, then, the individual was limited in choice but still had the power over how to interpret external circumstance and how to respond to it. As the Enchiridion puts it, “Men are disturbed not by the things which happen, but by the opinions about the things: for example, death is nothing terrible, for if it were it would have seemed so to Socrates; for the opinion about death, that it is terrible, is the terrible thing.” How one chooses to interpret external circumstances, not the circumstances themselves, leads one to enjoy a good life or suffer from a bad one. The immense power, and responsibility, of personal choice and free will was at the heart of the Stoicism of Epictetus while he simultaneously acknowledged that there was much in life which was simply beyond one's control. As Hays has it：

The Stoics [defined] free will as a voluntary accommodation to what is in any case inevitable. According to this theory, man is like a dog tied to a moving wagon. If the dog refuses to run along with the wagon he will be dragged by it, yet the choice remains his: to run or be dragged. In the same way, humans are responsible for their choices and actions, even though these have been anticipated by the logos and form part of its plan. (Xix-xx)

由于这种逻各斯的自然运作，个人的选择是有限的，但仍有权力决定如何解释外部环境和应对方式。正如《爱比克泰德手册》中提到，"人们不是被发生的事情所困扰，而是被关于这些事情的观点所困扰：例如，死亡并不可怕，因为如果它是可怕的，苏格拉底就会这样认为：‘因为关于死亡的观点，即它是可怕的，才是可怕的事情’。" 一个人如何选择解释外部环境，而不是环境本身，导致一个人享受美好的生活或遭受糟糕的生活。个人选择和自由意志的巨大力量和责任是爱比克泰德的斯多葛主义的核心，同时他也承认，生活中的许多事情根本无法控制。正如海斯所说：

斯多葛派[定义]自由意志是对任何情况下都是不可避免的事情的自愿适应。根据这一理论，人就像一只被绑在移动的马车上的狗。如果狗拒绝跟着马车跑，它就会被马车拖走，但它仍然可以选择：是跑还是被拖走。同样，人类要对自己的选择和行动负责，尽管这些选择和行动已经被逻各斯预料到，并构成其计划的一部分。(Xix-xx)

Human choice may be bound by the laws of the logos but that does not mean people's choices are directed by any outside force. It is always one's individual choice to engage in life willingly or to be dragged through existence reluctantly.

人类的选择可能受到逻各斯法则的约束，但这并不意味着人们的选择受到任何外部力量的指导。是心甘情愿地参与生活，还是心不甘情不愿地被拖着走，始终是个人的选择。

Epictetus insisted that, though life may be subject to constant change, human beings are ultimately responsible for how they interpret and respond to those changes. By accepting responsibility for the way, one views the world, and how that view affects one's behavior, one frees the self from slavery to external circumstances to become master of one's own life. It was this emphasis on the superiority of the individual over circumstance which made Stoicism so appealing to the Roman character.

爱比克泰德坚持认为，尽管生活可能受到不断变化的影响，但人类最终要对自己如何解释和应对这些变化负责。通过对自己看待世界的方式负责，以及这种观点如何影响自己的行为，人们将自己从外部环境的奴役中解放出来，成为自己生活的主人。正是这种对个人优于环境的强调，使斯多葛主义对罗马人的性格如此具有吸引力。

Epictetus' work was so influential that it became the central doctrine of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180 CE), known as `the last of the good emperors of Rome', who acknowledges Epictetus in his book, The Meditations. Aurelius was by no means the last person to draw strength and inspiration from the teachings of Epictetus as he is acknowledged by many as a formidable influence up to the present day.

爱比克泰德的著作影响巨大，成为被称为"罗马最后一位好皇帝 "的马可·奥理略皇帝（Marcus Aurelius，公元161-180年）的核心学说，他在《沉思录》一书中承认了爱比克泰德。奥理略皇帝绝不是最后一个从爱比克泰德的教义中汲取力量和灵感的人，因为爱比克泰德的思想被许多人认同，直到今天也是如此。