第 41 节
作者:      更新:2021-02-18 23:31      字数:9322
  Euth。 Deceit clearly on the side of wrong。
  Soc。 Well; and chicanery'27' or mischief of any sort?
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  '27' Reading {to kakourgein} (= furari; Sturz); al。 {kleptein}; Stob。
  Euth。 That too。
  Soc。 And the enslavement of free…born men?'28'
  '28' Or; 〃the kidnapping of men into slavery。〃 {to andrapodizesthai} =
  the reduction of a free…born man to a state of slavery。 Slavery                       itself
  ({douleia})      being   regarded     as  the  normal    condition     of  a        certain
  portion of the human race and not in itself immoral。
  Euth。 That too。
  Soc。 And   we   cannot   allow   any   of   these   to   lie   on   the   R   side   of   the
  account; to the side of right and justice; can we; Euthydemus?
  It would be monstrous (he replied)。
  Soc。  Very   good。   But   supposing   a   man   to   be   elected   general;   and   he
  succeeds in enslaving an unjust; wicked; and hostile state; are we to say
  that he is doing wrong?
  Euth。 By no means。
  Soc。 Shall we not admit that he is doing what is right?
  Euth。 Certainly。
  Soc。 Again; suppose he deceives the foe while at war with them?
  Euth。 That would be all fair and right also。
  Soc。 Or steals and pillages their property? would he not be doing what
  is right?
  Euth。   Certainly;     when    you   began    I  thought   you   were    limiting   the
  question to the case of friends。
  Soc。 So then everything which we set down on the side of Wrong will
  now have to be placed to the credit of Right?
  Euth。 Apparently。
  Soc。 Very  well   then; let us so   place them;   and   please;   let us   make   a
  new definitionthat while it is right to do such things to a foe; it is wrong
  to do them to a friend; but in dealing with the latter it behoves us to be as
  straightforward as possible。'29'
  '29' Or; 〃an absolutely straightforward course is necessary。〃
  I quite assent (replied Euthydemus)。
  So far so good (remarked Socrates); but if a general; seeing his troops
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  demoralised; were to invent a tale to the effect that reinforcements were
  coming; and by means of this false statement should revive the courage of
  his men; to which of the two accounts shall we place that act of fraud?'30'
  '30' Cf。 〃Hell。〃 IV。 iii。 10; 〃Cyrop。〃 I。 vi。 31。
  On the side of right; to my notion (he replied)。
  Soc。   Or   again;   if   a   man   chanced   to   have   a   son   ill   and   in   need   of
  medicine; which the child refused to take; and supposing the father by an
  act of deceit to administer it under the guise of something nice to eat; and
  by service of that lie to restore the boy to health; to which account shall we
  set down this fraud?
  Euth。 In my judgment it too should be placed to the same account。
  Soc。 Well; supposing you have a friend in deplorably low spirits; and
  you are afraid he will make away with himselfaccordingly you rob him
  of his knife   or other such instrument:   to   which side ought   we to set the
  theft?
  Euth。 That too must surely be placed to the score of right behaviour。
  Soc。   I   understand   you   to   say   that   a   straightforward   course   is   not   in
  every case to be pursued even in dealing with friends?
  Heaven forbid! (the youth exclaimed)。 If you will allow me; I rescind
  my former statement。'31'
  '31' See above; I。 ii。 44 ({anatithemai})。
  Soc。 Allow you! Of course you mayanything rather than make a false
  entry on our lists。 。 。 。 But there is just another point we ought not to leave
  uninvestigated。 Let us take the case of deceiving a friend to his detriment:
  which is the more wrongfulto do so voluntarily or unintentionally?
  Euth。 Really; Socrates;   I have ceased   to believe in   my own   answers;
  for all my former admissions and conceptions seem to me other than I first
  supposed them。'32' Still; if I may hazard one more opinion; the intentional
  deceiver; I should say; is worse than the involuntary。
  '32' Or; 〃all my original positions seem to me now other than I first
  conceived      them〃;     or;  〃everything     I  first  asserted    seems    now     to  be
  twisted topsy…turvy。〃
  Soc。 And is it your opinion that there is a lore and science of Right and
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  Justice just as there is of letters and grammar?'33'
  '33' {mathesis kai episteme tou dikaiou}a doctrine and a knowledge
  of the Just。
  Euth。 That is my opinion。
  Soc。 And which should you say was more a man of letters'34'he who
  intentionally misspells or misreads; or he who does so unconsciously?
  '34' Or; 〃more grammatical〃; 〃the better grammarian。〃
  Euth。 He who does so intentionally; I should say; because he can spell
  or read correctly whenever he chooses。
  Soc。 Then the voluntary  misspeller may be a lettered person; but the
  involuntary offender is an illiterate?'35'
  '35'    Or;    〃In   fact;   he   who    sins   against     the   lore   of   grammer
  intentionally may be a good grammarian and a man of letters; but                          he
  who does so involuntarily is illiterate and a bad grammarian?〃
  Euth。    True;   he   must    be。   I  do  not   see   how    to  escape    from    that
  conclusion。
  Soc。 And which of the two knows what is righthe who intentionally
  lies and deceives; or he who lies and deceives unconsciously?'36'
  '36'   Or;   Soc。 And   does   he   who   lies   and   deceives   with   intent   know
  what          is right rather than he who does either or both unconsciously?
  Euth。 Clearly he does。
  Euth。 The intentional and conscious liar clearly。
  Soc。 Well then; your statement is this: on the one hand; the man who
  has   the   knowledge   of   letters   is   more   lettered   than   he   who   has   no   such
  knowledge?'37'
  '37'    Or;   Soc。   It   is   a   fair   inference;   is   it   not;   that   he   who   has   the
  {episteme}   of   grammar   is   more   grammatical   than   he   who   has   no   such
  {episteme}?
  Euth。 Yes。
  Soc。 And   he   who   has   the   {episteme}   of   things   rightful   is   more
  righteous than he who lacks the {episteme}? See Plat。 〃Hipp。                         min。〃;
  Arist。 〃Eth。 Eud。〃 VI。 v。 7。
  Euth。 Yes。
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  Soc。 And; on the other; he who has the knowledge of what is right is
  more righteous than he who lacks that knowledge?
  Euth。 I suppose it is; but for the life of me I cannot make head or tail of
  my own admission。'38'
  '38'   Lit。   〃Apparently;   but   I   appear   to   myself   to   be   saying   this   also;
  heaven knows how。〃 See Jowett; 〃Plato;〃 ii。 p。 416 (ed。 2)。
  Soc。 Well (look at it like this)。 Suppose a man to be anxious to speak
  the truth; but he is never able to hold the same language about a thing for
  two   minutes   together。   First   he   says:   〃The   road   is   towards   the   east;〃   and
  then   he   says;   〃No;   it's   towards   the   west〃;   or;   running   up   a   column   of
  figures; now he makes the product this; and again he makes it that; now
  more; now lesswhat do you think of such a man?
  Euth。 Heaven help us! clearly he does not know what he thought   he
  knew。
  Soc。     And    you    know     the    appellation     given    to   certain   people
  〃slavish;〃'39' or; 〃little better than a slave?〃
  '39'   {andropododeis};   which   has   the   connotation   of   mental   dulness;
  and           a    low    order   of   intellect;   cf。  〃boorish;'    〃rustic;〃   〃loutish;〃
  (〃pariah;〃   conceivably)。  〃Slavish;〃   〃servile;〃   with   us   connote              moral
  rather than intellectual deficiency; I suppose。 Hence it is                     impossible
  to preserve the humour of the Socratic argument。 See                         Newman; op。
  cit。 i。 107。
  Euth。 I do。
  Soc。 Is it a term suggestive of the wisdom or the ignorance of those to
  whom it is applied?
  Euth。 Clearly of their ignorance。
  Soc。 Ignorance; for instance; of smithying?
  Euth。 No; certainly not。
  Soc。 Then possibly ignorance of carpentering?
  Euth。 No; nor yet ignorance of carpentering。
  Soc。 Well; ignorance of shoemaking?
  Euth。   No;   nor   ignorance   of   any   of   these:   rather   the   re