泰勒斯「水本原说」到底有什么思想价值?
Thales 认为「水是最终的实在」「世界作为一种现象,它是由水这一本体构成的」。他第一次发现了,「世界好像是什么」与「世界实际是什么」之间是有区别的。他第一次提供了这种思考世界的解释模型「表象及其背后的本体是有区别的」。
[总结] 这些早期哲学家的基本观念很大程度上依然是我们今天的思维模式。尽管我们不再认为原子本身就是最基本的粒子,但我们依然假定存在着某种类似的物质基本成分,只是这些新的粒子更小、更不可分解 —— 现代物理学的基本思想 与 Democritus 的「原子本原说」是一样的。Heraclitus 的「火本原说」可以被理解成一种现代观点「实在的本性不是物质、而是能量」。Anaximander 的「无定形本原说」也可以被看作某种现代物理观点的源头「实在的本性既不是物质也不是能量、而是某种更基本的成分 —— 物质-能量」,这种「物质-能量」作为最终实在、是无法被观察到的。更一般地,我们对现象世界和本体世界的区分缘于 Thales 的解释模型 ——「世界好像是什么」与「世界实际是什么」之间是有区别的。
Laypersons often talk as if modern science has established what the ultimate nature of reality is. But the basic debate – whether reality should be thought of in terms of basic building blocks or rather, perhaps, in larger, more holistic terms, whether matter or energy should be primary – still goes on. Some people clearly do interpret the universe as Democritus understood it, consisting of an elaborate order of singular elements that can be understood by taking them apart and analyzing them. Some people do see the world as Thales did: comprehensible, solid, and substantial, like a pool of water, like the Mediterranean. Some people see the world with Anaximander, as unknowable, mysterious, beyond everyday experiences. And some people see the world as constant energy and change, with excitement and enthusiasm being among its manifestations. (The Big Questions, 9e: 117)
Metaphysics is not just an ancient, unsophisticated set of views about science. Metaphysics is a basic outlook on the world, and its terms are much the same today as they were 2,500 years ago.
形而上学并非一套陈旧的关于世界的拙劣看法,形而上学乃是一种理解世界的基本方式 —— 这些2500年前的观念与现代科学的方法并没有本质上的差别。
[中英人命对照] 泰勒斯 Thales|阿那克西曼德 Anaximander|阿那克西米尼 Anaximenes|赫拉克利特 Heraclitus|德谟克利特 Democritus