【首译】《威廉·詹姆斯的世界观》节选（上）

小编注:

《一位美国哲学家的死后日志——威廉·詹姆斯的世界观》是珍·罗伯茨通灵美国心理学之父威廉·詹姆斯的一部神作。有人说它是除赛斯书之外，珍最好的通灵作品。本书目前还没有中文译本，这里节选的部分内容是由赛斯爱好者欧阳女士首译，并在她自己的微信公众号（整合书）上连载发布，感兴趣的读者可以移步围观。

For my last years were the last of the nation's innocence, before exuberance turned frantic, when it seemed that any problem could be solved if only the proper gusto were applied; the right techniques in the approved American style.

我生命的最后几年，也是美国这个国家最后的盲目乐观与无知的岁月。那时候，繁荣还未转为疯狂，看起来问题总是会被解决，只要恰当地将热情以美国认可的风格应用到正确的技术上。

The front face of Protestantism was pragmatic. God helped those who helped themselves. All negativism was to be routed out．

新教的正面性体现在实用主义上，如那句话天助自助者。

The great virile energy of the people swelled in energetic bursts of objective doing, and a brassy optimism swept before it so that it seemed that each secret of nature and of the human heart would soon lie bare.

人类将无穷的精力投入到高能爆发的物质创造中，一种厚脸皮的乐观主义横扫世界，仿佛自然与人类内心的秘密很快就会完全展现。

Exploring the frontiers of the mind was more than a metaphor: the optimistic, aggressive, democratic march was to extend not only across the continent but to the very soul of the country. Unfortunately, the techniques that fostered industry and emerging technologies were not those that best encouraged the research into man's mind. For one thing, the mind was to be harnessed，directed, focused in order to help man in his battle against nature, and against what he saw as the unreasonable, savage impulses of his own nature.

探索人类心灵的边远荒地，这个说法不只是暗喻：乐观、积极和民主的进军不仅要跨越整个大陆，而且要深入到这个国家的灵魂。不幸的是，促进工业与新兴技术的工艺，却不那么适用于对人类精神的研究。因此人类心灵和精神像是被套上鞍具的动物，硬掰向某个方向，一切只为了人类征服自然而服务，当人类看到难以理解的事物，人类也只会忽视牺牲那些人类自身天生的冲动。

The country followed Freud and found the inner portions of the soul distasteful; containing relics of unbridled lusts and passions, primitive tribal impulses that would, if not ripped out by the roots, destroy the objective structure of the world. And those forces seemed passive, stubborn, "feminine"--and unconquerable. At best they could be evacuated，thrown out into the cheerful workaday air, poked fun at; so that the reek of nature could dissipate in the new smoke that rose from the thousands of factories born from technology's gusty triumph.

美国跟随着弗洛伊德，发现精神的内在结构有点让人不愉快，包含着不受控制的欲望和激情，原始冲动，这些东西如果不从根上去掉，将会破坏我们的客观世界结构。这些不受控制的力量，看上去如此消极和顽固，也像是与女性化挂钩，也是难以克服的。它们最多能被远离，人们让自己沉浸在愉快的平凡生活气氛中，嘲笑这些表现，在迸发的人类工业成就所代表的成千上万工厂升起的新浓烟中，人类所排斥的自然的臭味仿佛也因此消退了。

Yet, what a rambunctious nationalistic romp, and it was matched with almost missionary fervor by the psychologists, out to rout from man's soul all of those inconsistencies and passions that were buried there; and to leash these as well for the splendid pursuits of progress，industry, and the physical manipulation of nature for man's use.

多么粗暴的国家性玩闹啊！而一头热的心理学家们将人类心灵中不一致的部分驱逐，将不受控的激情埋葬，他们与国家的整体做法是多么一致啊！纯粹为人类利益服务，人们推崇流程/工业以及对自然的操控，只有符合这些诉求的心理概念才像狗一样，在心理学领域大受欢迎。

At the same time, the highest ideals of democracy were often pursued with brawling indifference to the needs of others; with a disregard for sentiment except when it met national or patriotic needs. Those needs were largely understood in terms of Protestantism, interpreted according to American interests: Godliness meant social works. but in a no-dallying manner, and God helped those who helped themselves.

与此同时，人们漠视他人需求，争吵不已，民主的最高理想也因此不停改变，情感总是不被考虑，只有民族或爱国需求才是例外。这些需求在新教中得到了充分体现和认可，也符合了美国当时的利益，比如信仰意味着要为社会贡献和工作，同时又随意地宣扬天助自助者这种观念。

The theoretical psychologist wanted nothing to do with this segment of society. Often the very existence of such people seemed to present a sharp slap to the face of democracy and psychology alike. For these were the league of democracy's unsatisfied，interested in the results that democracy promised but could not produce wholesale. And for all that, in that time, it was the wholesale production of happiness that gave democracy its lure.

这些(底层贫穷)群体的存在对于民主社会和心理学家们，更像是一记耳光打脸。这些群体是民主社会所忽略和无法满足的，因为他们只对民主社会所承诺但却无法广泛实现的结果感兴趣，尽管如此，在那个时代，民主的吸引力，正是在于其对快乐的整体承诺。

The goal is not one that any government can provide. Safety can legitimately be expected from good government, and the free opportunity for the development of individual abilities，the creative use of resources, and the existence of worthy employment. But happiness itself is more elusive and comes from sources that cannot be legislated.

这个快乐目标不是任何政府能够提供的，或许安全可以通过好的环境而合理期待，但是个人能力发展的自由机会如何提供？资源如何创造性使用？实现价值的雇佣关系如何存在？快乐总是如此难得，也并不能通过立法等规定来获得。

If God was in his heaven and all was right in the world, and if democracy was the favored form of government, divinely protecting men's rights and freedoms; if free employment and competition were the answers to poverty and the class systems of European heritage, then what about child labor and the notorious conditions in factories and sweathouses? 

如果神在天堂，世界一切都很好，如果民主是政府的最好形式，能保护人们的权利与自由，如果自由市场与竞争能解决贫穷和欧洲遗留的阶级问题，那么为什么还会有童工？为什么还会有臭名昭著的血汗工厂？

编译：欧阳     美编：