休谟关于道德与幸福的看法十分复杂

标签： 时光悠悠的批评引发了这篇考证
 
偶然地，我从子俊那里找到了我的文章，他在那儿写着，难以抑制地喜欢思想史。然后，我找这篇文章的目的，是要回答网友“时光悠悠”的批评，也是一位很适合从事思想史研究的网友，心很细，而且当真发现了我不少引文错误。以前还有梁捷喜欢思想史。这让我好奇，为什么现在的年轻人喜欢思想史？难道他们感觉历史比他们现在浸泡在其中的好日子和好朋友更亲切吗？或者，他们厌倦了虚伪的说教？或者，他们厌倦了无历史感的市场社会？或者，他们是在消费历史，如同消费超级女生那样？总之，无头绪。

引自“Hume’s Essays on Happiness”，
John Immerwahr，Hume Studies Volume XV Number 2(November 1989)：

The second volume of Hume’s Essays, Moral and Political (1742) includes a set of four pieces on the sects, that naturally form themselves in the world. These essays, ”The Epicurean,” “The Stoic,” “The Platonist,” and”The Sceptic,”……”The Sceptic,” does represent Hume’s own position, and that in this essay Hume presents himself “under the thinnest possible disguise…… and in a footnote to The Epicurean,” Hume signals to his readers that these four are to be taken as a group ……that picking Hume's spokesperson from a set of characters is not necessarily an easy task.…… Hume distinguishes these artificial but natural qualities from a third category of things that are not only artificial but arbitrary (T 484). This category would presumably include the monkish virtues (celibacy, fasting, penance, mortifmation, etc.) that Hume discusses in a later work. Although these virtues can be incul-cated by bad education, they have no real basis and in reality are vices rather than virtues?'…… In an earlier essay in the same volume, for example, Hume
points out that the Stoic search for perfection inevitably ends up by
despising the most valuable parts of human nature.…… the Sceptic then argues that happiness depends on the quality of
our passions, more than on the nature of their objects.…… To be happy, thepassion must be benign and social; not rough
or fierce. The affections of the latter kind are not near so agreeable to the feeling, as those of the former. 这里出现了“友谊”和“社交情感”，怀疑派的看法，激情的质量决定了幸福程度。上面考证的是，休谟大体上借助于怀疑派的论证，来转述他自己的看法。不过，这一点仍有争议。这篇论文1989年发表，稍晚于哈耶克《致命的自负》，故哈耶克很可能不知道这篇论文所代表的看法。……There is a great deal of similarity between Hume and the Sceptic on the definition of happiness.…… Although the Sceptic is close to Hume on the definition ofhappiness, he differs about the means to obtain it. Hume, as we shall see, is much less pessimistic about the power of human beings to control their feelings.…… We know from Hume’s letters that during the years when he was projecting and writing the Treatise he was preoccupied by questions
about human happiness. The Hellenistic search for happiness was, for Hume, a Subject I think much on……

然后，在《Inquiry》1777年版第139-140页，我找到了这一段：I acknowledge, that, in the present order of things, virtue is attended with more peace of mind than vice, and meets with a more favourable reception from the world. I am sensible, that, according to the past experience of mankind, friendship is the chief joy of human life, and moderation the only source of tranquillity and
happiness.大致而言，已经很清楚了。休谟确实将友谊视为最大幸福之一，但不是在谈论产权的那一节里。