本質論 Essentialism

 本質論 Essentialism

●例句（約190 words，字源放在句首）

Essentialism, a name that descends from the Latin essentia, which Seneca says Cicero devised from esse, "to be", in order to render the Greek ousia, itself built on the participle of einai, "to be", designates the doctrine that things of a given kind share an essence, without which they would cease to be what they are, and that it is this essence, not any accidental feature, that makes them members of their kind; a doctrine which Aristotle articulated and the scholastics refined, but against which Locke argued that, even if real essences exist, they lie beyond our knowledge, so that the essences by which we sort things are merely nominal, a doctrine, moreover, which Popper, wary of explanations that stop at what a thing "really is", later attacked as a barrier to inquiry; yet were it abandoned altogether, it would remain unclear how science could speak of natural kinds such as gold or water, a difficulty that Kripke and Putnam, by arguing that water is necessarily H2O, sought to turn into a case for its revival, although critics, notably where gender and race are concerned, object that essentialist thinking, however innocent its origin, tends to freeze contingent differences into fixed natures.

●排列為比較容易閱讀的方式

Essentialism,

a name that descends from the Latin essentia,

which Seneca says

Cicero devised from esse,

"to be",

in order to render the Greek ousia,

itself built on the participle of einai,

"to be",

designates the doctrine

that things of a given kind share an essence,

without which they would cease to be what they are,

and that it is this essence,

not any accidental feature,

that makes them members of their kind;

a doctrine

which Aristotle articulated

and the scholastics refined,

but against which Locke argued

that,

even if real essences exist,

they lie beyond our knowledge,

so that the essences

by which we sort things

are merely nominal,

a doctrine,

moreover,

which Popper,

wary of explanations

that stop at what a thing "really is",

later attacked as a barrier to inquiry;

yet were it abandoned altogether,

it would remain unclear

how science could speak of natural kinds

such as gold or water,

a difficulty

that Kripke and Putnam,

by arguing that water is necessarily H2O,

sought to turn into a case for its revival,

although critics,

notably where gender and race are concerned,

object

that essentialist thinking,

however innocent its origin,

tends to freeze contingent differences into fixed natures.

●分解為原初的短小句

Essentialism designates the doctrine.（主結構，4字。主詞後插入約四十個字的字源說明，必須讀到 designates 才看到動詞。）

The name descends from the Latin essentia.

Seneca says Cicero devised essentia.

Cicero devised it from esse.

Esse means "to be".

He did so in order to render the Greek ousia.

Ousia is built on the participle of einai.

Einai also means "to be".

Things of a given kind share an essence.

Without the essence they would cease to be what they are.

The essence, not any accidental feature, makes them members of their kind.

Aristotle articulated the doctrine.

The scholastics refined it.

Locke argued against it.

Real essences, if they exist, lie beyond our knowledge.

The essences by which we sort things are therefore merely nominal.

Popper was wary of explanations that stop at what a thing "really is".

He later attacked the doctrine as a barrier to inquiry.

The doctrine might be abandoned altogether.

It would then remain unclear how science could speak of natural kinds.

Gold and water are natural kinds.

Kripke and Putnam argued that water is necessarily H2O.

They sought to turn the difficulty into a case for the doctrine's revival.

Critics object that essentialist thinking tends to freeze contingent differences into fixed natures.

This objection arises notably where gender and race are concerned.

It holds however innocent the origin of such thinking.

●文法解析

主句：Essentialism…designates the doctrine that…。主詞之後是同位語 a name that descends from…，再接 which 子句與 in order to 片語，層層堆疊，designates 到很後面才出現。

which Seneca says Cicero devised from esse：which 是 devised 的受詞，Seneca says 是插入的主句，等於 Seneca says that Cicero devised which。這是「連鎖式關係子句」，which 要跨過 Seneca says 才接回 devised。

in order to render the Greek ousia：in order to + 原形動詞，表目的，比單用 to 更明確。render 在此意為「翻譯、對譯」。

itself built on the participle of einai：itself 是強調用的反身代名詞，後接過去分詞片語，意為「而它本身又是由……構成」，等於 which is itself built on…。

the doctrine that things…share an essence, without which they would cease…, and that it is this essence…that makes…：兩個 that 同位語子句並列，都說明 the doctrine 的內容。without which 是介係詞前置，等於 they would cease to be what they are without the essence。第二個 that 子句裡是 it is…that… 的強調句型，被強調的是 this essence, not any accidental feature。

what they are：what 名詞子句，當 be 的補語，意為「它們本來的樣子」。

a doctrine which Aristotle articulated and the scholastics refined, but against which Locke argued：同位語 a doctrine 帶兩組以 but 對等的關係子句。第一組 which 是 articulated 與 refined 兩個動詞共同的受詞，後一個動詞省略了 which，不重複。第二組是 against which，介係詞前置，等於 Locke argued against which。

argued that, even if real essences exist, they lie…, so that the essences by which we sort things are merely nominal：that 子句當 argued 的受詞，even if 讓步子句插在 that 與主詞 they 之間。so that 表結果。by which we sort things 是介係詞前置，等於 we sort things by the essences。

a doctrine, moreover, which Popper, wary of…, later attacked as…：第二個 a doctrine 與前面的 a doctrine 並列，moreover 是插入的連接副詞。which 是 attacked 的受詞，wary of 是形容詞片語插在主詞與動詞之間。attack A as B 意為「把 A 抨擊為 B」。

explanations that stop at what a thing "really is"：that 關係子句內，what 名詞子句當 at 的受詞，語序 is 在句尾。

yet were it abandoned altogether, it would remain…：省略 if 的倒裝，等於 if it were abandoned altogether。與前篇 were the two to be separated 不同，這裡是 were + 過去分詞，表被動。主句 would remain unclear 的 unclear 是補語。

how science could speak of natural kinds such as gold or water：how 名詞子句當形式主詞 it 的真主詞補充說明，it 指後面整個 how 子句。

a difficulty that Kripke and Putnam, by arguing that…, sought to turn into a case for…：a difficulty 是前面整個 it would remain unclear 的同位語。that 是 turn 的受詞，語序是 that Kripke and Putnam…sought to turn，by arguing 片語插入主詞與動詞之間。turn A into B 意為「把 A 轉變為 B」，into 後面接 a case for its revival。

although critics, notably where gender and race are concerned, object that…：although 引導讓步子句，notably where…are concerned 是插入語，where…are concerned 意為「就……而言」。

however innocent its origin：讓步結構，however + 形容詞，等於 no matter how innocent its origin is，句中省略 is。tends to + 原形動詞，意為「傾向於」。

●參考譯文

「本質論」（essentialism）一詞源自拉丁文 essentia。據塞內卡說，這個字是西塞羅從 esse（「是」）造出，用來對譯希臘文 ousia，而 ousia 本身又由 einai（也是「是」）的分詞構成。本質論主張：同一類的事物共有一個本質，沒有它，事物就不再是原來的樣子；使事物成為該類成員的，是這個本質，而不是任何偶然的特徵。亞里斯多德闡述了這個主張，經院哲學家加以精煉，洛克則反對它，認為即使真實本質存在，也超出我們的認識，所以我們用來分類事物的本質，不過是名義上的。此外，波普對於止步於「事物真正是什麼」的解釋有所戒心，後來也把它抨擊為探究的障礙。然而，如果本質論被完全放棄，科學如何談論黃金、水這類自然種類，就變得不清楚；克里普克與普特南主張水必然是 H2O，試圖把這個困難轉成復興本質論的理由。不過批評者指出，尤其在性別與種族方面，本質論的想法無論起點多麼無害，都容易把偶然的差異凍結成固定的本性。

●補充說明

essentia 的來歷，傳統上依據塞內卡《道德書簡》第58封，他說西塞羅為對譯希臘文 ousia 而造此字，並承認這個拉丁字當時顯得生硬。這是通行說法，所以句中用 Seneca says，不直接說「西塞羅造了這個字」。ousia 在中文常譯為「實體」或「本體」，與 essentia 的「本質」並非完全對應，學界譯法不一。

-ism 這個字尾來自希臘文 -ismos，表示「主義、學說」，essentialism 是後來才加上的字尾，專指本質論的立場，早期並無此詞。

洛克區分 real essence（真實本質）與 nominal essence（名義本質），見《人類理解論》第三卷。這一點是洛克的立場，不等於他否認本質存在，所以句中說 even if real essences exist。

波普批評的是 methodological essentialism（方法論的本質論），即以「某物本質上是什麼」為起點的追問，見《歷史決定論的貧困》與《開放社會及其敵人》。

克里普克與普特南的「新本質論」（以《命名與必然性》和〈意義與指稱〉為代表）如何理解，學界仍有爭議，所以句中用 sought to，不把它寫成已被證成的結論。

社會科學對本質論的批評，如對「性別本質」、「種族本質」的批評，是一場持續中的辯論，並非所有領域都全盤否定本質論，句中以 critics…object 表明是批評者的立場。

黑格爾《邏輯學》中的「本質論」（Lehre vom Wesen）是另一個主題，指存有論之後、概念論之前的一個階段，與本篇的 essentialism 不同。若你要的是黑格爾那一題，請告訴我。

這一句的文法重點與前三篇不同：連鎖式關係子句 which Seneca says…、itself 強調、it is…that… 強調句型、介係詞前置（without which、against which、by which）、省略 if 的被動倒裝 were it abandoned、where…are concerned 插入語。

●長難句組合寫作練習

不看例句，用譯文與上列26個短句組合回原來的長句：