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second epilogue-第11章

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the modern history of Europe; though to the chroniclers of the

Crusades that event appeared as merely due to the will of certain

people。 In regard to the migration of the peoples it does not enter

anyone's head today to suppose that the renovation of the European

world depended on Attila's caprice。 The farther back in history the

object of our observation lies; the more doubtful does the free will

of those concerned in the event become and the more manifest the law

of inevitability。

  The third consideration is the degree to which we apprehend that

endless chain of causation inevitably demanded by reason; in which

each phenomenon comprehended; and therefore man's every action; must

have its definite place as a result of what has gone before and as a

cause of what will follow。

  The better we are acquainted with the physiological;

psychological; and historical laws deduced by observation and by which

man is controlled; and the more correctly we perceive the

physiological; psychological; and historical causes of the action; and

the simpler the action we are observing and the less complex the

character and mind of the man in question; the more subject to

inevitability and the less free do our actions and those of others

appear。

  When we do not at all understand the cause of an action; whether a

crime; a good action; or even one that is simply nonmoral; we

ascribe a greater amount of freedom to it。 In the case of a crime we

most urgently demand the punishment for such an act; in the case of

a virtuous act we rate its merit most highly。 In an indifferent case

we recognize in it more individuality; originality; and

independence。 But if even one of the innumerable causes of the act

is known to us we recognize a certain element of necessity and are

less insistent on punishment for the crime; or the acknowledgment of

the merit of the virtuous act; or the freedom of the apparently

original action。 That a criminal was reared among male factors

mitigates his fault in our eyes。 The self…sacrifice of a father or

mother; or self…sacrifice with the possibility of a reward; is more

comprehensible than gratuitous self…sacrifice; and therefore seems

less deserving of sympathy and less the result of free will。 The

founder of a sect or party; or an inventor; impresses us less when

we know how or by what the way was prepared for his activity。 If we

have a large range of examples; if our observation is constantly

directed to seeking the correlation of cause and effect in people's

actions; their actions appear to us more under compulsion and less

free the more correctly we connect the effects with the causes。 If

we examined simple actions and had a vast number of such actions under

observation; our conception of their inevitability would be still

greater。 The dishonest conduct of the son of a dishonest father; the

misconduct of a woman who had fallen into bad company; a drunkard's

relapse into drunkenness; and so on are actions that seem to us less

free the better we understand their cause。 If the man whose actions we

are considering is on a very low stage of mental development; like a

child; a madman; or a simpleton… then; knowing the causes of the act

and the simplicity of the character and intelligence in question; we

see so large an element of necessity and so little free will that as

soon as we know the cause prompting the action we can foretell the

result。

  On these three considerations alone is based the conception of

irresponsibility for crimes and the extenuating circumstances admitted

by all legislative codes。 The responsibility appears greater or less

according to our greater or lesser knowledge of the circumstances in

which the man was placed whose action is being judged; and according

to the greater or lesser interval of time between the commission of

the action and its investigation; and according to the greater or

lesser understanding of the causes that led to the action。

EP2|CH10

  CHAPTER X



  Thus our conception of free will and inevitability gradually

diminishes or increases according to the greater or lesser

connection with the external world; the greater or lesser remoteness

of time; and the greater or lesser dependence on the causes in

relation to which we contemplate a man's life。

  So that if we examine the case of a man whose connection with the

external world is well known; where the time between the action and

its examination is great; and where the causes of the action are

most accessible; we get the conception of a maximum of inevitability

and a minimum of free will。 If we examine a man little dependent on

external conditions; whose action was performed very recently; and the

causes of whose action are beyond our ken; we get the conception of

a minimum of inevitability and a maximum of freedom。

  In neither case… however we may change our point of view; however

plain we may make to ourselves the connection between the man and

the external world; however inaccessible it may be to us; however long

or short the period of time; however intelligible or

incomprehensible the causes of the action may be… can we ever conceive

either complete freedom or complete necessity。

  (1) To whatever degree we may imagine a man to be exempt from the

influence of the external world; we never get a conception of

freedom in space。 Every human action is inevitably conditioned by what

surrounds him and by his own body。 I lift my arm and let it fall。 My

action seems to me free; but asking myself whether I could raise my

arm in every direction; I see that I raised it in the direction in

which there was least obstruction to that action either from things

around me or from the construction of my own body。 I chose one out

of all the possible directions because in it there were fewest

obstacles。 For my action to be free it was necessary that it should

encounter no obstacles。 To conceive of a man being free we must

imagine him outside space; which is evidently impossible。

  (2) However much we approximate the time of judgment to the time

of the deed; we never get a conception of freedom in time。 For if I

examine an action committed a second ago I must still recognize it

as not being free; for it is irrevocably linked to the moment at which

it was committed。 Can I lift my arm? I lift it; but ask myself:

could I have abstained from lifting my arm at the moment that has

already passed? To convince myself of this I do not lift it the next

moment。 But I am not now abstaining from doing so at the first

moment when I asked the question。 Time has gone by which I could not

detain; the arm I then lifted is no longer the same as the arm I now

refrain from lifting; nor is the air in which I lifted it the same

that now surrounds me。 The moment in which the first movement was made

is irrevocable; and at that moment I could make only one movement; and

whatever movement I made would be the only one。 That I did not lift my

arm a moment later does not prove that I could have abstained from

lifting it then。 And since I could make only one movement at that

single moment of time; it could not have been any other。 To imagine it

as free; it is necessary to imagine it in the present; on the boundary

between the past and the future… that is; outside time; which is

impossible。

  (3) However much the difficulty of understanding the causes may be

increased; we never reach a conception of complete freedom; that is;

an absence of cause。 However inaccessible to us may be the cause of

the expression of will in any action; our own or another's; the

first demand of reason is the assumption of and search for a cause;

for without a cause no phenomenon is conceivable。 I raise my arm to

perform an action independently of any cause; but my wish to perform

an action without a cause is the cause of my action。

  But even if… imagining a man quite exempt from all influences;

examining only his momentary action in the present; unevoked by any

cause… we were to admit so infinitely small a remainder of

inevitability as equaled zero; we should even then no
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