首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers—perhaps there are even more. After three millennia of phil
There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers—perhaps there are even more. After three millennia of phil
admin
2014-06-20
43
问题
There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers—perhaps there are even more. After three millennia of philosophical activity and disagreement, it is unlikely that we’ll reach consensus, and I certainly don’t want to add more hot air to the volcanic cloud of unknowing. What I’d like to do in the opening column in this new venture is to kick things off by asking a slightly different question: What is a philosopher?
【R1】______
Socrates tells the story of Thales, who was by some accounts the first philosopher. He was looking so intently at the stars that he fell into a well. Some witty Thracian servant girl is said to have made a joke at Thales’ expense—that in his eagerness to know what went on in the sky he was unaware of the things in front of him and at his feet. Socrates adds, in Seth Benardete’s translation, "The same jest suffices for all those who engage in philosophy. "
What is a philosopher, then? The answer is clear: a laughing stock, an absent-minded buffoon, the butt of countless jokes from Aristophanes’ "The Clouds" to Mel Brooks’ "History of the World". Whenever the philosopher is compelled to talk about the things at his feet, he gives not only the Thracian girl but the rest of the crowd a belly laugh.
【R2】______
But as always with Plato, things are not necessarily as they first appear, and Socrates is the greatest of ironists. First, we should recall that Thales believed that water was the universal substance out of which all things were composed. Water was Thales’ philosophers’ stone, as it were. Therefore, by falling into a well, he inadvertently presses his basic philosophical claim.
But there is a deeper and more troubling layer of irony here that I would like to peel off more slowly. Socrates introduces the "digression" by making a distinction between the philosopher and the lawyer, or what Benardete nicely renders as the "pettifogger".
【R3】______
By contrast, we might say, the philosopher is the person who has time or who takes time. Theodorus, Socrates’ interlocutor, introduces the "digression" with the words, "Aren’t we at leisure, Socrates?" The latter’s response is interesting. He says, "It appears we are. " As we know, in philosophy appearances can be deceptive.
【R4】______
Pushing this a little further, we might say that to philosophize is to take your time, even when you have no time, when time is constantly pressing at your back. The busy readers of The New York Times will understand this sentiment.
【R5】______
Socrates says that those in the constant press of business, like lawyers, policy-makers, mortgage brokers and hedge fund managers, become "bent and stunted" and they are compelled "to do crooked things". The pettifogger is undoubtedly successful, wealthy and extraordinarily honey-tongued, but, Socrates adds, "small in his soul and shrewd and a shyster. " The philosopher, by contrast, is free by virtue of his or her other-worldliness, by their capacity to fall into wells and appear silly.
A. The philosopher’s clumsiness in worldly affairs makes him appear stupid, or, "gives the impression of plain silliness. " We are left with a rather Monty Pythonesque definition of the philosopher: the one who is silly.
B. The lawyer is compelled to present a case in court and time is of the essence. In Greek legal proceedings, a strictly limited amount of time was allotted for the presentation of cases. Time was measured with a water clock or clepsydra, which literally steals time, as in the Greek kleptes, a thief or embezzler. The pettifogger, the jury, and by implication the whole society , live with the constant pressure of time. The water of time’s flow is constantly threatening to drown them.
C. But the basic contrast here is that between the lawyer, who has no time, or for whom time is money, and the philosopher, who takes time. The freedom of the philosopher consists in either moving freely from topic to topic or simply spending years returning to the same topic out of perplexity, fascination and curiosity.
D. It is our hope that some of them will make the time to read The Stone. As Wittgenstein says, "This is how philosophers should salute each other: ’Take your time. ’
E. Socrates believes that the philosopher neither sees nor hears the so-called unwritten laws of the city, that is, the mores and conventions that govern public life. The philosopher will disregard the societal titles given to a person.
F. As Alfred North Whitehead said, philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato. Let me risk adding a footnote by looking at Plato’s provocative definition of the philosopher that appears in the middle of his dialogue, " Theaetetus, " in a passage that some scholars consider a " digression". But far from being a footnote to a digression, I think in this moment Plato tells us something hugely important about what a philosopher is and what philosophy does.
【R5】
选项
答案
D
解析
上一段提出“Pushing this a little further,we might say thatto philosophize is to take your time,even when you have no time,when time is constantly pressing at your back.”,关于时间的话题,在结尾又说道“The busy readers of The New York Times will understand this sentiment.”,关于读者的问题,本段承接了上一段,借维特根斯坦的话提出希望,故选D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/HAKsFFFM
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
______iswillingtospendalottofollowfashiondesign?______willprobablybeamongthemostbeautifulpeopleforalongt
Ajobinterviewisyourchanceto(31)anemployerwhatheorshewillgetifyou’re(32).Thatiswhyitis(33)tobewellpre
Ajobinterviewisyourchanceto(31)anemployerwhatheorshewillgetifyou’re(32).Thatiswhyitis(33)tobewellpre
______hasadriverseatthatcanbeadjustedtofitmostpeople?______allowseasyaccesstothebackseats?
______hasadriverseatthatcanbeadjustedtofitmostpeople?______hasaconvenientwaytoextendthespaceforsuitcases?
______hasadriverseatthatcanbeadjustedtofitmostpeople?______offersapoorviewevenwhenthemirrorsareused?
TherecentsocialandeconomicchangesintheU.S.havegreatimpactonalltheAmericanhousingsystem.
Chocolateisnotagreatsourceofnutrients,butthere’snoharmineatingamoderateamount,especiallythedarkvariety,(31)
Chocolateisnotagreatsourceofnutrients,butthere’snoharmineatingamoderateamount,especiallythedarkvariety,(31)
______hadappliedJohnLocke’stheoryinhisstudiesofphilosophy?______wrotesomephilosophicalworkswhichwasmetwithlit
随机试题
“贻笑大方”这个成语源自
项目可行性研究中,项目财务评价的投资现金流量估算的原则是()。
关于井下火灾的特点,下列说法正确的是()。
根据《期货交易所管理办法》规定,结算会员由()组成。
阅读下面这首宋词,然后回答问题。满江红.登黄鹤楼有感岳飞遥望中原,荒烟外,许多城郭。想当年,花遮柳护,凤楼龙阁。万岁山前珠翠绕,蓬壶殿里笙歌作①。到而今,铁骑满郊畿,风尘恶。兵安在?膏锋锷。民安在?填沟壑。叹江山
全班幼儿在同一时间内做相同的事情,活动过程以教师的引导和组织为主的活动是()
简述教育研究课题论证的基本内容。
关于罪数及其犯罪认定的说法,下列选项中说法正确的是()。
“乒乓外交”取得轰动性的最有影响的外交成就是()
Accordingtothefirsttwoparagraphs,theauthorthinksthatWhatisNOTtrueoftheeffectivenessof"sunscreen",accordingt
最新回复
(
0
)