罗素论人性和政治

伯特兰·罗素（Bertrand Russell 1872－1970）

罗素是20世纪声誉卓著、影响深远的思想家之一。在其漫长的一生中，完成了40余部著作，涉及哲学、数学、科学、论理学、社会学、教育、历史、宗教及政治等各个领域，对西方哲学产生了深刻影响。1950年获诺贝尔文学奖。

On Human Nature and Politics

论人性和政治

Undoubtedly the desire for food has been, and still is ,one of the main causes of great political events. But man differs from other animals in one very important respect, and that is that he has desires which are , so to speak, intimate, which can never be fully gratified, and which should keep him restless even in Paradise. The boa constrictor, when he had an adequate meal, goes to sleep, and does not wake until he needs another meal. Human beings, for the most not part are not like this. When the Arabs, who had been used to living sparingly on a few dates acquired the riches of the Eastern Roman Empire and dwelt in palaces of almost unbelievable luxury, they did not, on that account, become inactive. Hunger could no longer be a motive, for Greek slaves supplied them with exquisite viands at the slightest nod. But other desires kept them active; four in particular , which we can label acquisitiveness , rivalry, vanity and love of power.毫无疑问，占有食物的欲望过去一直是，而且现在也仍然是导致重大政治事件的主要原因之一。而人不同于其他动物的一个重要方面在于人具有无止境的、永远无法满足的欲望，欲望使人即使到了天堂也会坐立不安。巨蟒饱食后就去睡觉，直到需要再进食时它才醒来，绝大部分人不像巨蟒那样。习惯于吃几个枣充饥的阿拉伯人没有因为获得了东罗马帝国的财富，稍一点头，希腊奴隶就会为他们端上最精美的食物，然而是其他欲望使他们行动起来，尤其是以下四种。可以称之为：占有欲，竞争欲、虚荣心、权力欲。

Acquisitiveness-the wish to possess as much as possible of goods , or the title to goods-is a motive which, I suppose, has its origin in a combination of fear with the desire for necessaries.占有欲--希望尽可能多地占有财产或拥有财产的所有权--是一个动机。我认为该动机产生于恐惧心理和拥有必需品的欲望结合之中。

I once befriended two little girls from Esthonia, who had narrowly escaped death from starvation in a famine. They lived in my family ,and of course had plenty to eat.But they spent all their leisure visiting neighbouring farms and stealing potatoes, which they hoarded . Rockfeller ,who in his infancy had experienced great poverty ,spent his adult life in a similar manner.Similarly the Arab chieftains on their silken Byzantine divans could not forget the desert ,and hoarded riches far beyond any possible physical need. But whatever the psychoanalysis of acquisitiveness, no one can deny that it is one of the great motives -especially among the more powerful, for ,as I said before, it is one of the infinite motives .However much you may acquire you will always wish to acquire more ;satiety is a dream which will always elude you.

我曾经帮助过两个来自爱沙尼亚的小姑娘，她俩在一次饥荒中差点被饿死。她们住在我家，当然有许多吃的，可是她们却利用整个闲暇时间到附近的农场去转，偷土豆，还把偷来的土豆贮藏起来。洛克菲勒年幼时经历了极大的贫穷，成年后他仍以同样节俭的方式生活。同样，坐在拜占庭帝国丝绒沙发椅上的阿拉伯酋长也不会忘记沙漠，他们把远远超出任何可能物质需要的财富囤积起来。然而，无论对占有欲进行怎样的精神分析，没有人否认：占有欲是巨大动机之一--尤其在享有较多权力的人当中更是如此，正如我上面讲到的那样，占有欲是永无止境的动机之一。无论你得到了多少，你还希望得到更多，满足是个你永远实现不了的梦。

But acquisitiveness, although it is the mainspring of the capitalist system , is by no means the most powerful of the motives that survive the conquest of hunger .Rivalry is a much stronger motive ,Over and over again in Muhammadan history, dynasties have come to grief because the sons of a sultan by different mothers could not agree, and in the resulting civil war universal ruin resulted. The same sort of thing happens in modern Europe When the British Government very unwisely allowed the Kaiser to be present at a naval review at Spithead ,the thought which arose in his mind was not the one which we had intended.What he thought was."I must have a Navy as good as Grandmamma's."And from this thought pier place than it is if acquisitiveness were always stronger than rivalry.But in fact ,a great many men will cheerfully face impoverishment if they can thereby secure complete ruin for their rivals, Hence the present level of taxation.虽然占有欲是资本主义制度的主要动机，但它并不是征服饥饿后的一个强大动机，更为强烈的动机乃是竞争。在伊斯兰教史上，王朝一次又一次的遭难，是因为同父异母的子女们常常意见不同，从而导致了内战，赞成了普遍的破坏。现代欧洲也发生过同样的事情。当英国政府极不明智地允许德皇出席斯匹特海德海军检阅式时，出现在德皇脑海里的想法并不是我们所想的那种，他想的是"我必须拥有一个海军，跟祖母的一样好"。就是他的这个想法造成了一系列的麻烦。如果占有欲总是比竞争欲强烈，那么世界会比现在列充满幸福。但事实上，许多人只要保证把他们的竞争对手彻底击败宁肯面对贫穷，于是就出现了目前的税制。

motive of immense potency. Anyone who has much to do with children knows how they are constantly performing some antic and saying "Look at me" "Look at me "is one of the most fundamental desires of the human heart. It can take innumerable was a Renaissance Italian princeling who was asked by the priest on his deathbed if he had anything to repent of "Yes,"he said "There is one thing.On one occasion I had a visit from the Emperor and the Pope simultaneously .I too tem to the top of my tower to see the view ,and I neglected the opportunity to throw them both down .which would have given me immortal fame." history does not relate whether the priest gave him absolution. One of the troubles about vanity is that it grows with what it feeds on .The talked about. The condemned murderer who is allowed to see the account of his trial in the Press is indignant if he finds a newspaper which has reported it inadequately.