皮科·德拉·米朗多拉 关于人的尊严的演说
2010-04-27 19:40阅读：
皮科·德拉·米朗多拉关于人的尊严的演说
Pico della
Mirandola：皮科·德拉·米朗多拉（1463－1494）是意大利文艺复兴时期的著名思想家，他的《关于人的尊严的演说》被称为“人文主义宣言”。在这篇节选的简短演说词中，米朗多拉热情洋溢地宣告，人是世间的奇迹与宇宙的精华；人的命运完全掌握在自己手中，不受任何外在之物的制约；人拥有理性、自由意志与高贵品质，通过自身的努力不仅可以超越万物，而且可以进入神的境界，与上帝融为一体。和其他人文主义者一样，米朗多拉也并未否定上帝的存在。但具有划时代意义的是，与中世纪的世界观形成鲜明对照，人文主义者肯定了人在宇宙的中心地位以及现世人生的美好和意义。因此，从某种意义上可以说，米朗多拉的人文主义宣言拉开了西方现代文明的序幕。
……At last it seems to me I have come to understand
why man is the most fortunate of creatures and consequently worthy
of all admiration and what precisely is that rank which is his lot
in the universal chain of Being -a rank to be envied not only by
brutes but even by the stars and by minds beyond this world. It is
a matter past faith and a wondrous one. Why should it not be? For
it is on this very account that man is rightly called and judged a
great miracle and a wonderful creature
indeed……
……God the Father, the supreme Architect, had
already built this cosmic home we behold, the most sacred temple of
His godhead, by the laws of His mysterious wisdom. The region above
the heavens He had adorned with Intelligences, the heavenly spheres
He had quickened with eternal souls, and the excrementary and
filthy parts of the lower world He had filled with a multitude of
animals of every kind. But, when the work was finished, the
Craftsman kept wishing that there were someone to ponder the plan
of so great a work, to love its beauty, and to wonder at its
vastness. Therefore, when everything was done(……), He finally took
thought concerning the creation of man. But there was not among His
archetypes that from which He could fashion a new offspring, nor
was there in His treasure-houses anything which He might bestow on
His new son as an inheritance, nor was there in the seats of all
the world a place where the latter might sit to contemplate the
universe. All was now complete; all things had been assigned to the
highest, the middle, and the lowest orders. But in its final
creation it was not the part of the Father's power to fail as
though exhausted. It was not the part of His wisdom to waver in a
needful matter through poverty of counsel. It was not the part of
His kindly love that he who was to praise God's divine generosity
in regard to others should be compelled to condemn it in regard to
himself.
At last the best of artisans [God] ordained that
that creature to whom He had been able to give nothing proper to
himself should have joint possession of whatever had been peculiar
to each of the different kinds of being. He therefore took man as a
creature of indeterminate nature and, assigning him a place in the
middle of the world, addressed him thus: 'neither a fixed abode nor
a form that is thine alone nor any function peculiar to thyself
have we given thee, Adam, to the end that according to thy longing
and according to thy judgment thou mayest have and possess what
abode, what form, and what functions thou thyself shalt desire. The
nature of all other beings is limited and constrained within the
bounds of laws prescribed by Us. Thou, constrained by no limits, in
accordance with thine own free will, in whose hand We have placed
thee, shalt ordain for thyself the limits of thy nature. We have
set thee at the world's center that thou mayest from thence more
easily observe whatever is in the world. We have made thee neither
of heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with
freedom of choice and with honor, as though the maker and molder of
thyself, thou mayest fashion thyself in whatever shape thou shalt
prefer. Thou shalt have the power to degenerate into the lower
forms of life, which are brutish. Thou shalt have the power, out of
thy soul's judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, which are
divine.'
O supreme generosity of God the Father, O highest
and most marvelous felicity of man! To him it is granted to have
whatever he chooses, to be whatever he wills. Beasts as soon as
they are born(……) bring with them from their mother's womb all they
will ever possess. Spiritual beings [angels], either from the
beginning or soon thereafter, become what they are to be for ever
and ever. On man when he came into life the Father conferred the
seeds of all kinds and the germs of every way of life. Whatever
seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him
their own fruit. If they be vegetative, he will be like a plant. If
sensitive, he will become brutish. If rational, he will grow into a
heavenly being. If intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of
God. And if, happy in the lot of no created thing, he withdraws
into the center of his own unity, his spirit, made one with God, in
the solitary darkness of God, who is set above all things, shall
surpass them all.
……最后，我似乎明白了为什么说人是凌驾于万物之上的幸运儿并因而值得无限赞美，明白了在这大千世界注定了属于他的地位
——这地位不仅令野蛮人而且令尘世之外的星辰和神灵忌妒。这一点已超越信仰，妙不可言。难道不应当如此吗？正是在此意义上人被恰如其分地称呼和评价为世间奇迹和宇宙精华……
……上帝——我们的在天之父与至高无上的缔造者——按照他那神秘智慧的法则，已经建造了我们所目睹的这宇宙家园，这无比圣洁的神殿。他用神灵装点天界之上的区域；他用永恒的灵魂加速天球的运转；至于恶浊肮脏的下界，他便用形形色色的动物填满。但是，当这些都做完后，这位工匠一心希望有人来思索这伟业宏图，来爱慕其美妙，来赞叹其辽阔。因此，当大功告成之时，他终于想到要创造人。可是，在他的创作原型中没有可供他为自己塑造后代的模型，在他的宝库里也没有可供他馈赠给新生子的遗产，而普天之下也没有任何地方可供后者坐下来凝思这宇宙的奥秘。万事俱备，万物按高、中、低三层各就其位。然而，在其创造的最后阶段，我们在天之父的力量不可能衰竭不济。他的智慧不可能因缺乏咨议而陷于窘迫。他的仁爱也不可能使本要赞美上帝施予万物之神圣慷慨的人因其自身所受荣宠不及而心生怨尤。
最后，这位举世无双的工匠【上帝】决定，由于找不到任何恰当的东西给予人，那么人将同时拥有万物的特性。上帝于是把人视为特性待定的生命，把他安置在世界的中央，并对他指示如下：“亚当，我们既没有给你固定的住所，也没有给你独自拥有的形式，也没有给你任何特殊的功能，目的在于你可以根据自己的愿望，根据自己的判断去获取和拥有你希望的任何住所、任何形式和任何功能。所有其它事物的特性都受到我们所制定的法则的限制与约束。而你将由自己来决定你的特性的边界，不受任何约束，按照你自己的自由意志——我们让你听从自由意志的支配。我们把你置于世界的中心，以便你从这里更容易观察这世上的一切。我们既未确定你属于天上，也未确定你属于地下，既未确定你终有一死，也未确定你永恒不灭，以便你凭着自由意志与高尚情操——就像你的造物主一样——随心所欲地塑造你自己的形象。你将有能力堕落为低级的生命形式，那将与禽兽无异。你将有能力凭借你心灵的判断力，再生为高级的形式，那将与神灵同在。”
啊，至高无上的厚爱来自上帝，我们的在天之父！啊，无比崇高而又神奇的幸福归于人！受上帝的恩赐，他可以拥有他所选择的一切，成为他所愿意的一切。野兽来到世上便从母胎中带来它们将终身拥有的一切。精灵【天使】或自初生之时或随后便永远保持他们本来的形态。而当人诞生之时，我们的在天之父便赐予他各类种子和每一样生命的胚胎。每一个人无论培育什么种子，这种子都会成熟并在他身上结出果实。这种子如果是植物的，他便形同草木；如果是感性的，他便与禽兽无异；如果是理性的，他便会成长为天上的神灵；如果是智慧的，他便会成为天使和上帝之子。而如果他不满足于任何创造物的命运，复归于自身统一体的中心，其精神在上帝自在的幽暗中与凌驾万物的上帝融为一体，那么，他便会超越世间万物。
