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The Etiquette of Talking Back 回应的礼节

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2019年06月17日

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The Etiquette of Talking Back

回应的礼节

Mortimer Jerome Adler

莫蒂默·杰尔姆·阿德勒

作者简介

莫蒂默·杰尔姆·阿德勒(Mortimer Jerome Adler,1902—2001),以学者、教育家、编辑等多重身份享有盛名。在芝加哥大学执教时,他协助策划了“名著计划”,并于1952年起任哲学研究所所长。他在著作中普及推广西方文明的伟大思想,如《西方世界的伟大著作》(Great Books of the Western World)、《如何阅读一本书》(How to Read a Book)和《六种伟大思想》(Six Great Ideas)等。他还是1974年第15版《大英百科全书》(Encyclopedia Britannica)的编辑。

本文节选自1940年出版的《如何阅读一本书》。莫蒂默认为,阅读就像一种无声的对话,既然作者娓娓道来,读者就该认真回应。如此这般,才能对一本书有真正的了解,才能不辜负作者的一片苦心。

回应的礼节

Reading a book is a kind of conversation. You may think it is not conversation at all, because the author does all the talking and you have nothing to say. If you think that, you do not realize your opportunities and obligations as a reader.

读书是一种对话。或许你认为这根本不是对话,因为作者侃侃而谈,你却无话可说。如果你这么想,说明你没有意识到作为读者应有的机会和责任。

As a matter of fact, the reader has the last word. The author has had his say, and then it is the reader's turn. The conversation between a book and its reader would appear to be an orderly one, each party talking in turn, no interruptions, and so forth. If, however, the reader is undisciplined and impolite, it may be anything but orderly. The poor author cannot defend himself. He cannot say, “Here, wait till I've finished, before you start disagreeing. ”He cannot protest that the reader has missed his point.

事实上,读者在作者之后发言。作者说完了要说的话,接下来轮到读者了。书和读者之间的对话有序可循,双方轮流陈述,不会被打断、干扰。但如果读者缺乏修养、蛮横无理,这番对话就可能毫无章法。可怜的作者无法为自己辩护。他没法说:“抱歉,等我把话说完,您再提出异议。”读者的理解有偏差,他也无法据理力争。

Ordinary conversations between persons who confront each other are good only when they are carried on decently. I am not thinking merely of the decencies according to conventions of social politeness. There is, in addition, an intellectual etiquette one should observe. Without it, conversation is bickering rather than profitable communication. I am assuming here, of course, that the conversation is about a serious matter on which men can agree or disagree. Then it becomes important that they conduct themselves well. Otherwise, there is no profit in the enterprise. The profit in good conversation is something learned.

只有当双方都有礼有节,普通的对话才可能顺利进行。我设想的有礼有节,不仅是社交礼仪意义上的习俗,更是一个人应该遵循的知性礼仪。没有这样的礼节,对话就不是有效的沟通,而是混乱的争吵。当然,我在此假设的是围绕一个严肃问题的对话,一个人可以赞成也可以反对。然后,双方的自制就变得相当重要,否则整个过程就无益可言。好的对话之所以有益,就在于你能从中学到东西。

回应的礼节

What is true of ordinary conversation is even more true of the rather special situation in which a book has talked to a reader and the reader answers back. That the author is well disciplined, we shall take for granted temporarily. That he has conducted his part of the conversation well can be assumed in the case of great books. What can the reader do to reciprocate? What must he do to hold up his end well?

日常对话中是这样,阅读时更是这样——在某种特殊情境下,书向读者倾诉,读者作出回应。我们暂且假定作者遵守礼仪。假定在一本好书中,作者对话时会很好地控制自己。读者该如何回报?他要如何扮演好自己的角色?

The reader has an obligation as well as an opportunity to talk back. The opportunity is clear. Nothing can stop a reader from pronouncing judgment. The roots of the obligation, however, lie a little deeper in the nature of the relation between books and readers.

读者有机会也有责任回应。这里说的“机会”很明显。没有什么能阻止读者宣布自己的判断。然而,“责任”则深植于书与读者关系的本质。

If a book is of the sort which conveys knowledge, the author's aim was to instruct. He has tried to teach. He has tried to convince or persuade his reader about something. His effort is crowned with success only if the reader finally says, “I am taught. You have convinced me that such and such is true, or persuaded me that it is probable.”But even if the reader is not convinced or persuaded, the author's intention and effort should be respected. The reader owes him a considered judgment. If he cannot say, “I agree,”he should at least have grounds for disagreeing or even suspending judgment on the question.

在一本传授知识的书里,作者的目标是指导。他试着教育读者,说服读者相信某事。只有读者最后说出“我懂了!你说服了我这是真的,这是有可能的”,作者才算成功。但即便读者没有被说服,作者的意图和努力仍需得到尊重。读者欠作者一个经过深思熟虑的判断。如果读者不能说“我同意”,至少也要给出个不同意或稍后再判断的理由。

I am saying no more than that a good book deserves an active reading. The activity of reading does not stop with the work of understanding what a book says. It must be completed by the work of criticism, the work of judging. The passive reader sins against this requirement, probably even more than against the rules of analysis and interpretation. He not only makes no effort to understand; he dismisses a book simply by putting it down or forgetting it. Worse than faint praise, he damns it by no critical consideration whatsoever.

我只想说,一本好书值得我们主动去阅读。阅读的主动性不应停留在理解书的内容,要加上批评和判断,主动阅读才算完成。被动阅读者违背了这个要求,甚至可以说违背了分析和阐释的原则。他们不仅不试图理解,而且看书时随随便便就放下,或者忘得一干二净。比苍白无力的赞美之词更糟的是不假思索就破口大骂。

回应的礼节

Remember Bacon's recommendation to the reader: “Read not to contradict and confute; not to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider.”Sir Walter Scott cast even more direful aspersions on those “who read to doubt or read to scorn.”

请记住培根对读者的忠告:“读书不为争长道短,不为轻信盲从,不为高谈阔论,而应推敲度量。”沃尔特·司各特爵士1对那些“阅读只为怀疑,或只会嘲讽”的人给出了更严厉的批判。

There is a certain truth here, as we shall see, but I do not like the aura of impeccability with which books are thus surrounded, and the false piety it breeds. Readers may be like children, in the sense that great authors can teach them, but that does not mean they must not be heard from. I am not sure Cervantes was right in saying, “There is no book so bad but something good may be found in it.”I do think, however, that there is no book so good that fault cannot be found with it.

我们都知道,这种说法是对的。但我不喜欢所谓“毫无瑕疵”的书,也不喜欢它们导致的盲目崇拜。伟大作家可以教导读者,从这个意义上看,读者或许像是孩子;但这不意味着读者就不能对书作出批评。塞万提斯2说:“没有一本书会坏到找不到优点。”我不知道这个说法是否正确。但我认为,没有一本书会好到找不到缺点。

It is true that a book which can enlighten its readers, and is in this sense better, should not be criticized by them until they understand it. When they do, they have elevated themselves almost to peerage with the author. Now they are fit to exercise the rights and privileges of their new position. Unless they exercise their critical faculties now, they are doing the author an injustice. He has done what he could to make them his equal. He deserves that they act like his peers, that they engage in conversation with him, that they talk back.

确实,对于一本能带给读者启迪的书,即在这一意义上优点多于缺点的书,读者应该等理解之后再作评论。这么做的时候,读者已将自己提升到几乎与作者平等的地位。现在,他们该熟悉一下自己的新职权和新特权。除非不具备评论能力,否则他们得给作者一个公正的评判。作者已倾尽所有,对读者平等相待。读者也应对作者平等相待,全身心投入对话、积极作出回应。

As I pointed out before, docility is generally confused with subservience. (We tend to forget that the word “docile”is derived from the Latin root which means to teach or be taught.) A person is wrongly thought to be docile if he is passive and pliable. On the contrary, docility is the extremely active virtue of being teachable. No one is really teachable who does not freely exercise his power of independent judgment. The most docile reader is, therefore, the most critical. He is the reader who finally responds to a book by the greatest effort to make up his own mind on the matters the author has discussed.

正如我此前所说,顺从和卑躬屈膝通常被混为一谈。(我们忘记了“顺从”这个词源于拉丁语,本义是“教导”或“传授”。)如果一个人被动且易受影响,我们会误认为他很顺从。恰恰相反,顺从是一种易于受教的、极其积极的品质。一个人如果无法独立判断,就不是真的易于受教。因此,最顺从的读者也最具批判精神。这种读者在经过深思熟虑之后,最终会对一本书作出回应,就作者讨论的问题发表意见。

* * *

一个人如果无法独立判断,就不是真的易于受教。

Mortimer Jerome Adler 莫蒂默·杰尔姆·阿德勒

* * *

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1.沃尔特·司各特(Walter Scott,1771—1832),英国著名历史小说家和诗人,一生创作了20余部历史小说。

2.米盖尔·德·塞万提斯·萨韦德拉(Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra,1547—1616),文艺复兴时期西班牙小说家、剧作家、诗人,讽喻小说《堂吉诃德》是其代表作。


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