Allegory of the Cave
柏拉图的《山洞寓言》
- 作 者：[美] Alex Gendler
- 翻 译：岛主·Sean
2400 years ago, one of the history’s most famous thinkers said life is like being chained up in a cave, forced to watch shadows flitting across a stone wall.
2400年前，有史以来最著名的一位思想家说：人的一生恰似被锁链拴住，囚禁在山洞之中，被迫观看投射在石墙上斑驳的光影。
Pretty cheery, right?
听起来很厉害吧？
That’s actually what Plato suggested in his Allegory of the Cave, found in the book VII of The Republic, in which the Greek philosopher envisioned the ideal society by examining concepts like justice, truth and beauty.
实际上，这个想法是柏拉图在其《山洞寓言》中提及的，收录在《理想国》第七卷。在这本书中，这位希腊哲学家设想了一个理想的社会，借此概述诸如公正、真理和美的概念。
In this allegory, a group of prisoners have been confined in a cavern since birth, with no knowledge of the outside world.
在这个寓言中，有一群囚徒从出生起就被关押在一个山洞里，对洞外世界一无所知。
They are chained, facing a wall, unable to turn their heads, while a fire behind them gives off a faint light.
他们被锁链拴住，只能面朝墙壁，无法转过头来。在他们的身后，有一堆火散发着微弱的光。
Occasionally, people pass by the fire, carrying figures of animals and other objects that cast shadows on the wall.
时不时有人经过这堆火，他们抬着动物或其他雕像走过时，影子都会投在墙上。
The prisoners name and classify these illusions, believing they’re perceiving actually entities.
囚徒们给这些幻影命名、分类，十分确信自己洞察到了真相。
Suddenly, one prisoner is free and brought outside for the first time.
突然，有个囚徒获得了自由，并且被平生第一次带出山洞。
The sunlight hurt his eyes and he finds the new environment disorienting.
阳光照得他眼睛生疼，他感到这个崭新的环境让人头晕脑胀。
When told that the things around hims are real, while the shadows were mere reflections, he cannot believe it.
人们告诉他这一切都是真实的，唯独地上的影子是光线投射的结果，他无法相信。
The shadows appeared much clearer to him.
在他看来，分明影子才更清晰啊！
But gradually, his eyes adjust until he can look at reflections in the water, at objects directly, and finally at the Sun, whose light is the ultimate source of everything he has seen.
但是，当他的眼睛逐渐适应了一切，他可以看到水中的倒影，可以直接观看各种物体，最后，他看到了太阳——他所能看到的万事万物的终极原因。
The prisoner returns to the cave to share his discovery, but he is no longer used to the darkness, and has a hard time seeing the shadows on the wall.
他回到山洞里，跟其他囚徒分享了自己的发现。但是，他已经不能适应黑暗，也再不能看清墙上的影子。
The other prisoners think the journey has made him stupid and blind, and violently resist any attempts to free them.
其他一众囚徒觉得这次外出让他变得既蠢又瞎，激烈地反对妄图释放他们的做法。
Plato introduces this passage as an analogy of what it’s like to be a philosopher trying to educate the public.
柏拉图通过这段话说明了一个哲学家试图教育大众的难度。
Most people are not just comfortable in their ignorance, but hostile to anyone who points in out.
对大多数人来说，他们不仅仅是在无知中沉迷，更是对指出此事的人不共戴天。
In fact, the real life Socrates was sentences to death by the Athenian government for disrupting the social order, and his student Plato spends much of “The Republic” disparaging Athenian democracy, while promoting rule by philosopher kings.
其实在真实的历史中，苏格拉底就是以“破坏社会秩序”的罪名被雅典政府判为死刑，而他的学生柏拉图在其著作《理想国》中也大篇幅表达了对雅典式民主的蔑视，他坚信应当由哲学家治国。
With the cave parable, Plato may be arguing that the masses are too stubborn and ignorant to govern themselves.
在这篇山洞寓言中，柏拉图也许试图说明普罗大众的顽固无知，他们根本无法自我管理。
But the allegory has captured imaginations for 2,400 years because it can be read in far more ways.
但这篇寓言之所以在2400年中一直激发着人们的想象，正是因为它有着千百种解读角度。
As we go about our lives, can we be confident in what we think we know?
在人生之路漫步前行时，我们究竟能否确定我们的知识是真实的？
Perhaps one day, a glimmer of light may punch a hole in your most basic assumptions.
也许有一天，会有那么一缕光线射出，猛然刺破你最基本的认知逻辑。
Will you break free to struggle towards the light, even if it cost you your friends and family, or stick with comfortable and familiar illusions?
你会不会打破一切桎梏一路冲向阳光，即便，它会让你付出众叛亲离的代价？又或者，你会紧守着舒适宜人的幻觉度过一生？
Truth or habit? Light or shadow?
要真相，还是习惯？要光亮，还是黑暗？
Hard choices, but if it’s any consolation, you’re not alone.
艰难的抉择。不知道说出来会不会让你有所安慰：你，并不孤单。
There are lots of us down here.
像我们这样的人多着呢。
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