
柏拉图-船的寓言.doc
10页Comment [a1]: 使陷入Comment [a2]: 寓言Comment [a3]: 贫乏Comment [a4]: 痛苦的Comment [a5]: 依靠于Comment [a6]: 寓言中的,难以置信的Comment [a7]: 缺点,疾病Comment [a8]: 掌舵Comment [a9]: 群集Comment [a10]: 领导地位,掌舵Comment [a11]: 锁住Comment [a12]: 麻醉的额、Comment [a13]: 暴动,叛变Comment [a14]: 备用品,储藏Comment [a15]: 航程Comment [a16]: 党羽Comment [a17]: 船舶Comment [a18]: 空谈者I perceive, I said, that you are vastly amused at having plunged me into such a hopeless discussion; but now hear the parable, and then you will be still more amused at the meagreness of my imagination: for the manner in which the best men are treated in their own States is so grievous that no single thing on earth is comparable to it; and therefore, if I am to plead their cause, I must have recourse to fiction, and put together a figure made up of many things, like the fabulous unions of goats and stags which are found in pictures. Imagine then a fleet or a ship in which there is a captain who is taller and stronger than any of the crew, but he is a little deaf and has a similar infirmity in sight, and his knowledge of navigation is not much better. The sailors are quarrelling with one another about the steering—every one is of opinion that he has a right to steer, though he has never learned the art of navigation and cannot tell who taught him or when he learned, and will further assert that it cannot be taught, and they are ready to cut in pieces any one who says the contrary. They throng about the captain, begging and praying him to commit the helm to them; and if at any time they do not prevail, but others are preferred to them, they kill the others or throw them overboard, and having first chained up the noble captain's senses with drink or some narcotic drug, they mutiny and take possession of the ship and make free with the stores; thus, eating and drinking, they proceed on their voyage in such manner as might be expected of them. Him who is their partisan and cleverly aids them in their plot for getting the ship out of the captain's hands into their own whether by force or persuasion, they compliment with the name of sailor, pilot, able seaman, and abuse the other sort of man, whom they call a good-for-nothing; but that the true pilot must pay attention to the year and seasons and sky and stars and winds, and whatever else belongs to his art, if he intends to be really qualified for the command of a ship, and that he must and will be the steerer, whether other people like or not—the possibility of this union of authority with the steerer's art has never seriously entered into their thoughts or been made part of their calling. Now in vessels which are in a state of mutiny and by sailors who are mutineers, how will the true pilot be regarded? Will he not be called by them a prater, a star-gazer, a good-for-nothing?思考民主制的缺陷——柏拉图《理想国》中的船长隐喻请设想有一队船或一只船,船上发生这样的事情:船上有一个船长,他身高力大超过船上所有的船员,但是耳朵有点聋,眼睛不怎么好使,他的航海知识也不太高明。
船上水手们都争吵着要替代他做船长,都说自己有权掌舵,虽然他们从没学过航海术,都说不出自己在何时跟谁学过航海术而且,他们还断言,航海术是根本无法教的,谁要是说可以教,他们就准备把他碎尸万段同时,他们围住船长强求他,甚至不择手段地骗他把舵交给自己;有时他们失败了,别人被船长同意代为指挥,他们就杀死别人或把别人逐出船去,然后用麻醉药或酒之类的东西把高贵的船长困住;他们夺得了船只的领导权,于是尽出船上库存,吃喝玩乐,他们就照自己希望的这么航行着不仅如此,凡是曾经参与阴谋,狡猾地帮助过他们从船长手里夺取权力的人,不论是出过主意的还是出过力的,都被授以航海家、领航、船老大等等荣誉称号,对不同伙的人,他们就骂是废物其实,真正的航海家必须注意年、季节、天空、星辰、风云,以及一切与航海有关的事情,如果他要成为船只的真正当权者的话;并且,不管别人赞成不赞成,这样的人是必定会成为航海家的如果不是事实如此的话,那些人大概连想都没想到过,在学会航海学的同时精通和实践这一技术是有可能的你再说说看,在发生过这种变故之后的船上,一个真正的航海家在这些篡了权的水手中会被怎样看待呢?他们不会把他叫做唠叨鬼、看星迷或大废物吗?船:一个古老的国家隐喻【掌舵人,你要让船只远离那边的烟雾和波澜,靠近这边悬崖,切不可漫不经心地把船只驶往那里,把我们抛进灾难。
——荷马《奥德赛》XII 219-221】 【先生们,我们国家这只航船,在巨浪中颠簸之后,诸神再一次把它平安地稳定下来了——索福克勒斯《安提格涅》162-163】 【看哪,船只虽然甚大,又被大风催逼,只用小小的舵,就随着掌舵的意思转动——(《雅各书》3:4)】 柏拉图曾经用简短明了的语言提出过一个关于国家统治权的根本问题:“谁应该来统治?”【1】不幸的是,这个问题的答案似乎不止一个柏拉图本人至少就列举出了七种,他继而看到,由于这个问题的答案过于纷乱杂多,而且在本性上相互冲突,所以国家往往从内部瓦解,这就是古代希腊诸多王国灭亡的根本原因2 】 在这个问题的七种答案里,柏拉图十分排斥诗人品达称之为“自然法则”的那个答案,那就是“强者应该统治,弱者应该被统治”柏拉图轻蔑地说,品达的方案只是一种“在动物王国中通行无阻”的自然法则柏拉图自己比较心仪的答案是另一种自然法则,那就是“无知的人应该听从有智慧的人的统治”【3 】所谓“有智慧的人”就是哲人哲人治国早已经成为柏拉图的思想标签,众所周知,这一思想在《理想国》中被柏拉图用一种令人难以置信的语言不加任何保留地表述过,那就是:除非哲人成为国王,或者国王追求哲人的智慧,否则国家将永远受制于罪恶,永远没有安宁的日子【4】。
为了论证“哲人王” 的思想,柏拉图甚至“发现”了一款“自然法则” ,那就是权利与智慧在本性上就像男女情人那样彼此爱慕、互相追逐的【5】为了求得印证,他甚至不惜拖着老迈的身躯远赴叙拉古,试图亲近国王狄俄尼修斯二世(Dionysius the younger),籍以实现哲人王的抱负遗憾的是,三赴叙拉古,不仅无功而返,甚至还曾被狄俄尼修斯一世卖身为奴!在柏拉图的书信集里,我们仍然能够体会到哲人经受到的这种罕见的羞辱以及柏拉图为哲学所做的苍白申辩【6】 柏拉图似乎至死都没有发现十六—十七世纪政治思想家发现的“国家理由”国家自身就有其存在和维续的理由,这个理由就是国家自己,它和柏拉图式的哲人“智慧 ”完全是两个层面的东西霍布斯对这一点看得比任何人都清楚:“国家理由”就是 “利维坦 ”自己,而所谓哲人的“ 智慧”在政治上的职分只不过是 “咨议”(counsel)也就是说,哲人在政治层面上顶多就是个参事院的“参事”——参事提建议,而利维坦下命令【7】可是,柏拉图的哲人王理论所致力的目标恰恰违背了“国家理由” :哲人不是去给国家提建议,而是要教育国家,甚至自己变身成为国家,直接下命令了哲人在“国家理由”之外又提出了一个“哲学理由”,这就像一个人长了两个头,酷似中世纪政教并立的国家统治样式。
哲学与政治的所谓冲突,其根源就在于此 由于哲人拥有高超的智慧,哲人心目中的国家的样式和统治国家的技艺也异常艰深复杂这意味着,哲人有时候必须以教育者的身份出场然而,治国的技艺太高超了,它简直成了少数人秘而不宣的教义,以至于这个教育者面对民众的时候往往显得欲言又止就这样,哲人一方面与一般民众保持距离,但另一方面似乎又十分热心地去教育民众这直接导致了哲人在国家中尴尬地位以及由此引发的混乱如果去教育民众,那么哲人权力的秘密基础被暴露在光天化日之下,哲人将因此丧失权力;如果不去教育民众,又有谁会在一开始就信服并跟从哲人呢? 柏拉图屡次用“船” 的隐喻来说明国家需要哲人来统治的道理遗憾的是,这个隐喻与其说是澄清了问题,不如说它使得问题更加混乱了 以“船”隐喻“国家”,以“大海行船 ”隐喻“统治国家”,以 “航海术”隐喻统治国家的技艺、知识乃至秘密,这在古代希腊政治与历史文献中屡见不鲜在这种隐喻中,。