Finding Enlightenment in Scotland

　　In the 1740s, the famous French philosophy Voltaire said "We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilization." That's not a bad advertisement for any country, especially when it comes to attracting people in search of a first class education.

　　Yet some people go even further than that. According to the American author Arthur Herman, the Scots invented the modem world itself. He argues that Scottish thinkers and intellectuals worked out many of the most important ideas on which modem life depends - everything from the scientific method to market economics. Their ideas did not just spread amongst intellectuals, but to those people in business, government and the sciences who actually shaped the Western world.

　　It all started during the period that historians call the Scottish Enlightenment, which is usually seen as taking place between the years 1740 and 1800, At this time, Scotland was home to a number of thinkers who made an important shift in the course of Western philosophy. Before that, philosophy was mainly concerned with religion. For the thinkers of the Scottish Enlightenment, the proper study of humanity was mankind itself.

　　Their reasoning was practical. For the philosopher David Hume, humanity was the right subject for philosophy because we can examine human behavior and so find real evidence of how people think and feel. And from that we can make judgments about the societies we live in and make concrete suggestions about how they can be improved, for universal benefit.

　　Hume was not a scientist himself, but his enquiry into the nature of knowledge laid the foundations for the scientific method - the pursuit of truth through experiment. His friend and fellow resident of Edinburgh, Adam Smith, famously applied the study of mankind to the ways in which mankind does business. Trade, he argued, was a form of information. Money is the way in which people tell each other what they want, and how much people pay is the best way we have of knowing how much somebody wants something. In pursuing our own interests through trading in markets, we all come to benefit each other.

　　Smith's idea of "enlightened self-interest" has come to dominate modem views of economics. It also has wider applications. He was one of the first major philosophers to point out that nations can become rich, free and powerful more efficiently through peace, trade and invention than by means of war and plunder.

　　The original Scottish Enlightenment is thought to have ended with the lives of Smith, Hume anti the other thinkers who lived in Scotland at that time. But a wider Scottish Enlightenment can still be seen. It exists in the way that the ideas evolved at that time still underpin our theories. It also exists in Scotland itself in an educational tradition that combines academic excellence with practical orientation.

　　The Institute for System Level Integration (ISLI) is a good example. Founded in 1998 by a group of four Scottish universities, ISLI draws on the academic expertise of the university departments of computer science, electronic and electrical engineering and informatics. But though it works at the cutting edge1 of science, ISLI's ultimate aims are rooted in the needs of the real world2: to produce highly skilled design engineers and researchers to meet the needs of the rapidly changing global semiconductor industry.

　　Though only one amongst many educational institutions in Scotland, ISLI's existence shows that the principles of the Scottish Enlightenment still live on. It's a country that's still inventing, still modernizing, and still doing its best to spread enlightenment.

　　詞匯：

　　enlightenment /in'laitnmsnt/ w.啟蒙

　　plunder /plAnds/ n.掠奪

　　underpin /Andipin/ v.作為 的基礎

　　semiconductor /isemikan'dAkto/ n.半導體

　　1.cutting edge;(科錢發(fā)展的)前沿

　　2. rodted in the needs of the real world 基于現(xiàn)實世界夠需要

　　練習：

　　1.Scotland is thought to have made important contributions to the civilization of the Western world because of

　　A the great thinkers who were born there

　　B the methods introduced by its distinguished scholars

　　C the first-class education it provides

　　D the ideas proposed by some famous thinkers and intellectuals

　　2.Which of the following is the ultimate aim of Hume's huittamty-oriented studies?

　　A To observe and investigate humaii behaviour.

　　B To find ways to improve human society as a whole.:

　　C To find out how people think aiid feel.

　　D To judge the societies humans live iii.

　　3. Smith's idea of "enlightened self-interest" has great significance for ?

　　A the pursuit of personal interest

　　B the prosperity of all nations

　　C the improvement of international trade

　　D the study of economics only

　　4.Which of the following statements is true of the Scottish Enlightenment?

　　A It ended with the death of such thinkers as Hume and Adam Smith.

　　B It is embodied only in the way Scottish universities are run.

　　C Its influence is found only in economics.

　　D It is still alive in a broad sense.

　　5. The Institute for System Level Integration is used as an example to illustrate .

　　A the practical orientation of Scottish higher edueation

　　B the tradition of Scottish higher education

　　C Smith's application of Hume's philosophical ideas to ecoiiomics ?

　　D the high level of education Scottish universities have attiiiied

　　答案與題解：

　　1、D這道k的答案在第二段里可以找到。根據(jù)Arthur Herman,蘇格蘭的思想家和知識分子提出了很多現(xiàn)代生活引以為據(jù)的思想，這些思想不僅對知識分子來說具有學術意義,而且還流傳到商業(yè)、政府和科學等領域。

　　2、B文章的第四段解釋了 Hume的研究是如何以人為本的。人的行為、人的思維方式等都是他所要研究的，但他研究的最終目的是這段的最后一句話，g卩make concrete suggestions/for universal benefit.

　　3、B答案見第六段。Smith的這個想法對現(xiàn)代經濟學固然有重要意義,但如文中所說，It also has wider applications.即下文所說的世界各國可以通過和平、貿易和創(chuàng)造轟明而不是通過戰(zhàn) 爭和掠奪來變得富裕、自由、強大。

　　4、D 答案的依據(jù)在第七段：A wider Scottish Enlightenment can still be seen.

　　5、B文章的倒數(shù)第二段介紹了這個被用作例子的學校，這個例乎要說明什么可以看再前一 段。最后一句說：It also exists in Scotland itself in an educational tradition that combines academic excellence with practical orientation.

　　譯文：

　　蘇格蘭啟蒙運動

　　18世紀40年代法國著名哲學家伏爾泰曾經說過：“蘇格蘭匯集了我們所要尋找的所有文明”。這對一個國家來說無疑是不錯的廣告，尤其可以吸引那些正在尋求一流教育的人。

　　然而有些人認為還不僅如此。據(jù)美國作家阿瑟·赫爾曼所說，是蘇格蘭人創(chuàng)造了現(xiàn)代社會的一切。他認為蘇格蘭思想家和知識分子提出了很多現(xiàn)代生活弓[以為據(jù)的思想，涵蓋科學理論到市場經濟等多個領域。他們的思想不僅在學術界廣為流傳，那些構建西方世界的商人，政府官員及科學家等也深受他們的影響。

　　各種思潮的蓬勃開始于1740年到1800年之間發(fā)生的蘇格蘭啟蒙運動。當時蘇格蘭聚集了一大批使西方哲學產生巨大轉變的思想家。在這之前，哲學以宗教作為它的主要研究對象。而蘇格蘭啟蒙思想家則認為人類應以人本身作為研究對象。

　　啟蒙思想家們主張分析的實用性。哲學家大衛(wèi)·休謨認為哲學應把人類作為研究對象，因為這樣我們可以審視人的行為從而求證人類究竟是如何思考和感知的。在此基礎上我們就可以對我們居住的社會作出評價，進而提出具體的改進意見，造福全人類。

　　休謨本身不是科學家，但他對知識性質的研究為從經驗中尋求真理的科學理論奠定了思想基礎。他的好友也是他在愛丁堡時的室友，亞當·斯密以將人類學研究應用于經濟學而著稱。亞當斯密曾經說過貿易是一種信息。金錢是人們相互告知自己需求的一種方式，而人們的消費金額使我們了解一個人對某種商品的需求程度的最好途徑。人們在市場貿易中尋求自身利益的過程是互利互惠的。

　　亞當斯密的啟蒙性的 “自身利益”的觀點不僅已成為現(xiàn)代經濟學的主流，它在其他方面還有更廣的應用。他是第一個提出世界各國可以通過和平、貿易和創(chuàng)造發(fā)明而不是通過戰(zhàn)爭和掠奪來變得富裕、自由、強大的哲學家。

　　最初的蘇格蘭啟蒙運動隨著亞當斯密，休謨等在蘇格蘭居住的思想家們的去世而衰落了。但是我們仍可以看到啟蒙運動的痕跡，那時產生的思想仍是我們當今很多理論的基礎。在今天的蘇格蘭，其教育傳統(tǒng)仍是將學術精湛和實用目的相結合的。

　　系統(tǒng)水平整合研究所就是一個很好的例子。該所1998年由四所蘇格蘭大學創(chuàng)建，以計算機科學，電子工程和信息學為學術專長。雖然他的許多學科都走在科學前沿，其最終教學目的還是基于現(xiàn)實社會的需求，即為當今全球多變的半導體工業(yè)培養(yǎng)高水平的設計工程師和研究者。

　　雖然這只是蘇格蘭眾多教育機構中的一個，但是該研究所的教育理念證實了蘇格蘭啟蒙運動思想在今天仍有體現(xiàn)。蘇格蘭仍然在創(chuàng)造，發(fā)展，并努力地傳播著它的啟蒙思想。

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