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　　Dangerous Minds

    5 Philosophers Who Shocked the World

　　危险的头脑：震惊世界的5个哲学家

　　Who says great minds think alike? Great minds think nothing alike. To make it big as a philosopher, you have to say something so new and different that it shocks people into paying attention. Here are five controversial philosophers who risked being arrested, deported, and even executed because of their radical ideas.

　　简介

　　谁说英雄所见略同？英雄所见根本不同。如果想要成为一个像哲学家这样重量级的人物，你就必须做到语不惊人死不休。

　　Philosopher #1: Socrates, the Questioner

　　A poor stonemason, Socrates (469–399 bce) spent his free time wandering around Athens asking questions like How do you know whether something is true or false? and Why do you live the kind of life you do? Socrates’ questions inspired others—including a burly young wrestler named Plato—to follow him around and ask him questions. And so philosophy was born. But not everyone thought all of this questioning was a good thing. Fearing that Socrates encouraged immorality and disloyalty, the Greek bigwigs put him on trial. In his defense, Socrates offered a remark that has stood as the motto of philosophy ever since: “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates’ trial resulted in a death sentence, making him history’s first martyr to free thought.

　　第一位哲学家：询问者苏格拉底

　　苏格拉底（469-399 BC）本是一个穷石匠，在闲暇时间，他会信步于雅典的街道，向人们提问一些问题，比如“你怎么知道事情的对错？” 或者“你为什么过现在这样的生活？” 苏格拉底的问题启发了周围的人，包括一个名叫柏拉图的长得很结实的年轻摔跤手，他们追随着他，并且反过来向他提问题。哲学就这样诞生了。但是并不是所有的人都认为他这种问东问西的做法是件好事。由于害怕苏格拉底会诱导伤风败俗和不忠不信，希腊贵族将他送上了法庭。苏格拉底在为自己辩护时所说的一句话从此成了哲学的警句：“未经审视的生活是毫无价值的”。审讯的结果是苏格拉底被判死刑，这也使他成了历史上第一个为自由思想而殉道的人。

　　Philosopher #2: Niccolò Machiavelli, the Schemer

　　When your name becomes a synonym for evil scheming, you know you’ve hit the philosophical big time. Such is the fate of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)， a Florentine diplomat whose big yet simple idea really messed with everyone’s minds. In his book The Prince, Machiavelli examines what rulers actually do to maintain power. He finds that they lie, manipulate, steal, and kill their way to the top, and if you want to be a good ruler, you have to be prepared to do these things too. Machiavelli isn’t necessarily defending or recommending this behavior; he’s just reporting the facts. In true Machiavellian fashion, the author was canny enough to wait until he was dead to publish his book, which has outraged readers (and inspired schemers) ever since.

　　第二位哲学家：阴谋家尼科洛·马基雅弗利

　　如果你的名字成了阴谋的代名词，那就说明在哲学领域你已成了大人物了。尼科洛·马基雅弗利（1469-1527）的命运就是如此。这位佛罗伦萨外交官的貌似简单的大理论着实把世人的头脑折磨了一番。在他的《君主论》一书中，马基雅弗利审视了统治者是如何保住自己的权力的。他发现他们通过谎言、玩弄权术、偷窃和铲除异己而到达权力的顶峰；他同时得出结论，如果一个人想要成为一个好的统治者，那他也得做好准备这样做。马基雅弗利并不一定是在推崇这些做法，或者为之辩解；他只是实话实说。如果说马基雅弗利也玩了一把阴谋的话，那就是他狡猾地选择在自己死后再发表这本书，这本书发表后一直使它的读者感到愤慨（但同时也让阴谋家们找到了灵感）。