2023年经济学人 科学与宗教不一定对立(2)

 

    Mr Spencer insightfully revisits the dust-ups involving Galileo, Darwin and John Scopes (prosecuted in Tennessee in 1925 for teaching evolution).

    斯宾塞富有洞见地回顾了涉及伽利略、达尔文和约翰·斯科普斯(1925年因教授进化论而在田纳西州被起诉)的争吵。

    He traces the interaction of the two disciplines in often fascinating detail.

    他常常以引人入胜的详细方式追溯这两个学科之间的互动。

    Many pioneering scientists lived in times of religious and political strife¹ and found in "natural philosophy", as pre-modern science was known, a "ministry² of reconciliation³".

    许多开拓性科学家生活在充满宗教和政治冲突的时代，并在"自然哲学"中找到了"调和之道"，自然哲学即所谓的前现代科学。

    Thomas Sprat, dean of Westminster and biographer of the Royal Society, opined in 1667 that, in their experiments, men "may agree, or dissent⁴, without faction⁵, or fierceness".

    1667年，威斯敏斯特的主任牧师、英国皇家学会的传记作家托马斯·斯普拉特认为，在实验中，人们"可以同意，也可以反对，而且没有派系，也不会变得激烈"。

    That was not always true, as Isaac Newton's spats⁶ with his peers showed.

    情况并非总是如此，正如艾萨克·牛顿与其同代人的争吵所示。

    Still, says Mr Spencer, by supplying an arena⁷ for calmer debate that was beyond clerical control, "Science saved religion from itself."斯宾塞先生说，尽管如此，在神职人员控制的范围之外，为更冷静的辩论提供一个舞台，这让"科学将宗教从其自身的压迫中拯救出来"。

    The roll call of scientists who were people of faith runs from Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell to Gregor Mendel and Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian priest who, on the basis of mathematical calculations, first proposed that the universe was expanding and therefore had a beginning.

    有宗教信仰的科学家的名单包括迈克尔·法拉第、詹姆斯·克莱克·麦克斯韦、格雷戈尔·孟德尔、乔治·勒梅特，勒梅特是比利时神父，他在数学计算的基础上首次提出宇宙正在膨胀，因此宇宙有起源。

    In 1933 Lemaitre made what, for Mr Spencer, is a key observation: "Neither St Paul nor Moses had the slightest idea of relativity."1933年，勒梅特提出了斯宾塞认为很关键的一个观点："圣保罗和摩西都没有一丁点相对论的概念。"The writers of the Bible could see into "the question of salvation⁸. On other questions they were as wise or as ignorant as their generation."《圣经》的作者可以洞察"救赎问题。在其他问题上，他们和其同时代的人一样聪明或无知"。

    In other words, science and religion are not different attempts to do the same thing.

    换言之，科学和宗教并不是做同一件事情的不同尝试。

    Lemaitre warned the pope against drawing any theological conclusions from his work on the cosmos¹⁰.

    勒梅特警告教皇，不要从他对宇宙的研究中得出任何神学结论。

    Mutual¹¹ hostility¹² has risen in recent decades.

    近几十年来，双方的敌意有所上升。

    Sociobiology now seeks to explain all human life and behaviour, including morality and the mind, in terms of evolution.

    社会生物学现在试图从进化论的角度解释所有的人类生活和行为，包括道德和思维。

    As well as clinging to a morality derived¹³ from scripture¹⁴, some religious zealots still reject Darwin's theory altogether.

    除了坚持源自宗教经典的道德之外，一些宗教狂热分子仍然全盘否认达尔文的理论。

    Mr Spencer thinks it is "disciplinary overreach" for either side to dismiss the other entirely¹⁵.

    斯宾塞认为，任何一方对另一方完全不屑一顾，都是"学科越界"。

    "Neuroscience stands no more chance of finding morality or the soul in an MRI scan than ethicists or theologians will locate evidence for frontal lobe¹⁶ activity in the ‘Nicomachean Ethics¹⁷' or the Bible.""神经科学在核磁共振扫描中找不到道德或灵魂，正如伦理学家或神学家在《尼各马可伦理学》或《圣经》中无法找到额叶活动的证据一样。"In "Rocks of Ages" (published in 1999), Stephen Jay Gould, an evolutionary¹⁸ biologist, argued that the tension between science and religion "exists only in people's minds…not in the logic⁹ or proper utility of these entirely different [subjects]".

    在《时代的岩石》(1999年出版)一书中，进化生物学家斯蒂芬·杰伊·古尔德认为，科学和宗教之间的紧张关系"只存在于人们的头脑中......而非存在于逻辑或对这两个截然不同的学科的合理运用之中"。

    He coined the phrase "non-overlapping²⁰ magisteria" to describe their relationship.

    他创造了"非重叠权威"一词来描述这种关系。

    One covers the empirical realm, the other the realm of values.

    一个负责经验领域，另一个负责价值领域。

    Mr Spencer does not think the division is quite so clean-cut.

    斯宾塞并不认为这种划分是如此清晰的。

    "Science and religion are partially²¹ overlapping magisteria," he thinks. "They overlap¹⁹ within us.""科学和宗教是部分重叠的权威。"他认为。"二者在我们内心中是重叠的。"In other words, humans are complex, and should be able to tolerate complexity²² without declaring war.

    换言之，人类是复杂的，应该能够在不宣战的情况下容忍复杂性。

1 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

4 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

5 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

6 spats   

n.口角( spat的名词复数 )；小争吵；鞋罩；鞋套v.spit的过去式和过去分词( spat的第三人称单数 )；口角；小争吵；鞋罩

参考例句：

• Gasoline is a solvent liquid that removes grease spats. 汽油是一种能脱去油迹的有溶解能力的液体。 来自辞典例句
• Then spats took a catnap, and the bird looked out for dogs. 然后斯派茨小睡了一会儿。小鸟为它站岗放哨，防止狗跑过来。 来自互联网

7 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

8 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

9 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

10 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

11 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

12 hostility   

n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争

参考例句：

• There is open hostility between the two leaders.两位领导人表现出公开的敌意。
• His hostility to your plan is well known.他对你的计划所持的敌意是众所周知的。

13 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

15 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

16 lobe   

n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶

参考例句：

• Tiny electrical sensors are placed on your scalp and on each ear lobe.小电器传感器放置在您的头皮和对每个耳垂。
• The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for controlling movement.大脑前叶的功能是控制行动。

17 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

18 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

19 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

20 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

21 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

22 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。