形上學 Metaphysics

 形上學 Metaphysics

●例句（約150 words，字源放在句首）

Metaphysics, a term that owes its origin not to Aristotle himself, who called the subject "first philosophy", but to the later editors who, as tradition has it, placed his treatise after the Physics and so labelled it ta meta ta physika, Greek for "the things after the physics", from meta, meaning "after" or "beyond", and physika, derived from physis, meaning "nature", is the study of what exists and of what it is for a thing to exist, a study whose questions, if answered, would tell us whether the world consists of matter alone, whether anything persists through change, and whether the future is open; yet so abstract are these questions that positivists, notwithstanding their respect for science, dismissed them as meaningless, whereas defenders replied that no one can do science without presupposing answers to them, so that the choice is not whether to hold a metaphysics but whether to hold one critically.

●排列為比較容易閱讀的方式

Metaphysics,

a term that owes its origin

not to Aristotle himself,

who called the subject "first philosophy",

but to the later editors

who,

as tradition has it,

placed his treatise after the Physics

and so labelled it ta meta ta physika,

Greek for "the things after the physics",

from meta,

meaning "after" or "beyond",

and physika,

derived from physis,

meaning "nature",

is the study

of what exists

and of what it is for a thing to exist,

a study whose questions,

if answered,

would tell us

whether the world consists of matter alone,

whether anything persists through change,

and whether the future is open;

yet so abstract are these questions

that positivists,

notwithstanding their respect for science,

dismissed them as meaningless,

whereas defenders replied

that no one can do science

without presupposing answers to them,

so that the choice is not

whether to hold a metaphysics

but whether to hold one critically.

●分解為原初的短小句

Metaphysics is the study of what exists and of what it is for a thing to exist.（主結構，17字。主詞後插入約六十個字的字源說明，必須讀到 is the study 才看到動詞。這是本句最大的難點。）

Aristotle himself called the subject "first philosophy".

The term does not owe its origin to Aristotle.

It owes its origin to later editors of his writings.

Tradition has it that these editors placed his treatise after the Physics.

They labelled it ta meta ta physika.

This is Greek for "the things after the physics".

Meta means "after" or "beyond".

Physika derives from physis.

Physis means "nature".

The study raises questions.

If answered, the questions would tell us whether the world consists of matter alone.

They would tell us whether anything persists through change.

They would tell us whether the future is open.

The questions are so abstract.

Positivists respected science.

They dismissed the questions as meaningless nonetheless.

Defenders replied that no one can do science without presupposing answers to them.

The choice is not whether to hold a metaphysics.

The choice is whether to hold one critically.

●文法解析

主句：Metaphysics…is the study of…。主詞之後是同位語 a term that…，再帶一長串字源說明，is 到很後面才出現。

not to Aristotle himself…but to the later editors：not A but B 的結構，兩個 to 並列。himself 是強調用的反身代名詞。who called the subject "first philosophy" 是非限定關係子句，只補充說明 Aristotle。

who, as tradition has it, placed…：as tradition has it 是插入語，意為「據傳統說法」，as 在此引導補充說明的子句，插在關係代名詞 who 與動詞 placed 之間，要跳過才看得到動詞。

and so labelled it：so 是副詞，意為「因此、於是」，與 placed 並列，共用主詞 who。

Greek for "the things after the physics"：名詞片語作同位語，補充說明前面的希臘文，意為「希臘文裡指……」，沒有動詞。

from meta, meaning…, and physika, derived from physis, meaning…：from 後面並列兩個希臘字，各帶一個分詞片語。meaning 是現在分詞，derived 是過去分詞，兩者都是省略 which 的補充說明。and physika 必須接回 from 才讀得通。

what it is for a thing to exist：it 是形式主詞，for a thing to exist 是真主詞（for + 受詞 + to 不定詞）。整串是 what 名詞子句，當 of 的受詞，與前面的 of what exists 並列。

a study whose questions, if answered, would tell us whether…：whose 關係子句，a study 是同位語。if answered 是省略「it/they are」的副詞子句，等於 if they were answered。whether 引導三個並列名詞子句，當 tell 的直接受詞。

so abstract are these questions that…：so + 形容詞置於句首時，後面主詞與動詞要倒裝（are these questions），正常語序是 these questions are so abstract that…。so…that 表結果。

positivists, notwithstanding their respect for science, dismissed…：notwithstanding 是介係詞，意為「儘管」，後接名詞片語，插在主詞與動詞之間。

whereas defenders replied that…：whereas 表對比，連接前後兩派立場。that 子句當 replied 的受詞，其中 no one can do science without presupposing…，without 後接動名詞。

so that the choice is not whether to hold…but whether to hold…：so that 引導結果子句。not A but B 裡，A 與 B 都是 whether + to 不定詞的名詞片語，當 is 的補語。

●參考譯文

「形上學」一詞並非出自亞里斯多德本人，他稱這門學問為「第一哲學」；它來自後世編者，依傳統說法，這些編者把他的這部論著排在《物理學》之後，標為 ta meta ta physika，希臘文意為「物理學之後的那些」。其中 meta 指「之後」或「超越」，physika 源自 physis，指「自然」。形上學研究存在者是什麼，以及一物「存在」意味著什麼。它的問題若能解答，就能告訴我們世界是否僅由物質構成、事物在變化中是否有所持存、未來是否開放。然而這些問題如此抽象，實證論者儘管尊重科學，仍斥之為無意義；辯護者則回應，沒有人做科學時能不預設這些問題的答案，因此問題不在於要不要持有一種形上學，而在於是否批判地持有。

●補充說明

「after the physics」的編者說法，傳統上歸給公元前一世紀的安德羅尼庫斯（Andronicus of Rhodes），但這是傳統說法，學界仍有爭議，所以句中用 as tradition has it。「超越物理學」的解讀是後來才流行的，字源上 meta 本只指排列順序「在……之後」。

亞里斯多德自己稱這門學問為「第一哲學」，探討「作為存有的存有」，所以句中說 not to Aristotle himself。

positivists 指邏輯實證論者（如維也納學派的卡爾納普），主張無法經驗驗證的命題沒有認知意義，因而排斥形上學。「做科學必然預設形上學」是辯護者的論點，並非定論，所以句中用 defenders replied，不把它寫成事實。

這一句的文法重點與前一篇不同，重點在 not A but B、as 插入語、so…that 倒裝、省略的 if answered 與 whereas 對比。

●長難句組合寫作練習

不看例句，用譯文與上列20個短句組合回原來的長句：