But what are philosophers really for? The answer is, handily, already contained in the word philosophy itself.

但哲學家的存在目的是什麼？答案已經巧妙地包含在「哲學」這個字的英文裡了。

In Ancient Greek, "philo" means love and "sophia" means wisdom: Philosophers are people devoted to wisdom.

在古希臘文中，philo 的意思是「愛」，sophia 的意思是「智慧」：哲學家是獻身於智慧的人。

Being wise means attempting to live and die well.

有智慧意味著試圖好好生活、好好死去。

In their pursuit of wisdom, philosophers have developed a very specific skill set.

為了追求智慧，哲學家發展出一套特定的技巧。

They have, over the centuries, become experts in many of the things that make people not very wise. Five stand out.

幾個世紀以來，他們在許多使人類顯得較為駑鈍的領域中，成為了專家。有五位脫穎而出。

There are lots of big questions around: What's the meaning of life? What's a job for? How should society be arranged?

世界上存在許多大問題：生命的意義是什麼？工作是為了什麼？社會應該如何被配置？

Most of us entertain them every now and then, but we despair of trying to answer them.

我們大部份的人偶爾會思索這些問題，但對於嘗試回答它們已不抱任何希望。

They have the status almost of jokes⏤we call them pretentious.

這些問題的地位幾乎跟笑話一樣，我們稱之為「做作」。

But they matter deeply, because only with sound answers to them can we direct our energies meaningfully.

但這些問題極為重要，因為只有得到合理答案，我們投入的精力才有意義。

Philosophers are people unafraid of asking big questions. They have, over the centuries, asked the very largest.

哲學家是不害怕提出大問題的人。幾世紀以來，他們已經問了些最大的問題。

They realized that these questions can always be broken down into more manageable chunks.

他們發現這些問題總可以被細分為較容易解決的小區塊。

And that the only really pretentious thing is to think one's above raising big, naïve-sounding inquiries.

而最矯揉做作的行為，莫過於不屑提出聽起來很天真的大問題。

Public opinion, or what gets called "common sense", is sensible and reasonable in countless areas.

輿論或是所謂的「常識」 在許多範疇中都是明智且合理的。

It’s what you hear about from friends and neighbors, the stuff you take in without even thinking about it.

它是你從朋友跟鄰居口中聽說的、是我們不加思索就全然接受的東西。

But common sense is also often full of daftness and error.

但常識也常常充滿了愚昧和錯誤。

Philosophy gets us to submit all aspects of common sense to reason. It wants us to think for ourselves.

哲學促使我們用理智去看待常識的每個面向、希望我們為自己思考。

Is it really true what people say about love, money, children, travel, work?

大家對於愛情、金錢、小孩、旅行、工作的敘述是真的嗎？

Philosophers are interested in asking whether an idea is logical rather than simply assuming it must be right because it is popular and long-established.

哲學家偏好探討一個想法是否符合邏輯，而非單純因為這個想法很普遍或歷史悠久，就假設它一定是對的。

We're not very good at knowing what goes on in our own minds.

我們並不擅長了解自己心裡在想什麼。

Someone we meet is very annoying, but we can't pin down what the issue is.

我們碰到的某個人很煩人，但我們卻無法確定問題出在哪裡。

We lose our temper, but we can't readily tell what we're so cross about.

我們發脾氣，但卻不能輕而易舉地知道自己在氣什麼。

We lack insights into our own satisfactions and dislikes. That's why we need to examine our own minds.

我們對於自己的好惡缺乏洞察力，所以我們才需要檢視自己的想法。

Philosophy is committed to self-knowledge, and its central precept, articulated by the earliest, greatest philosopher, Socrates, is just two words long: Know yourself.

「哲學」致力於自我認識，其由最早期、最偉大的哲學家蘇格拉底清楚闡釋的中心格言只有短短幾個字：了解自己。

We're not very good at making ourselves happy. We overrate the power of some things to improve our lives and underrate others.

我們不太擅長讓自己開心。為了改善生活，我們會高估某些東西的力量、低估其它的。

We make the wrong choices because, guided by advertising and false glamor,

我們因為廣告和不實噱頭的誤導做出錯誤決定。

we keep on imagining that a particular kind of holiday, or car, or computer will make a bigger difference than it can.

我們一直想像某種特定的假期、車子或電腦會替生活帶來比實際更多的改變。

At the same time, we underestimate the contribution of other things like going for a walk,

同時，我們也低估了像是散步等其他事情的貢獻。

which may have little prestige but can contribute deeply to the character of existence.

這雖然不是什麼了不起的事，但卻對存在的特質有很深遠的貢獻。

Philosophers seek to be wise by getting more precise about the activities and attitudes that really can help our lives to go better.

哲學家透過精確地指出有助於生活更美好的活動跟態度來追求智慧。

Philosophers are good at keeping a sense of what really matters and what doesn't.

哲學家很擅長分辨真正重要和無關緊要的事。

On hearing the news that he'd lost all his possessions in a shipwreck, the Stoic philosopher Zeno simply said:

斯多噶學派哲學家季諾聽到他因船難失去了所有財產時，他只說：

"Fortune commands me to be a less encumbered philosopher."

「命運要我成為負累較少的哲學家。」

It's responses like these that have made the very term "philosophical" a byword for calm, long-term thinking and strength-of-mind; in short, for perspective.

就是像這樣的回應使得「哲學的」這個詞成為形容冷靜、深謀遠慮、心智堅毅的代表詞，簡單來說就是「洞察、觀點」的代名詞。

The wisdom of philosophy is, in modern times, mostly delivered in the form of books.

在現代社會中，哲學的智慧多以書本形式來傳達。

But in the past, philosophers sat in market squares and discussed their ideas with shopkeepers or went into government offices and palaces to give advice.

但在過去，哲學家會坐在市集廣場與店家討論想法，或是到政府辦公室跟宮殿中給予建議。

It wasn't abnormal to have a philosopher on your payroll.

哲學家被列在薪資表中並非不尋常的事。

Philosophy was thought of as a normal, basic activity rather than as an unusual, esoteric, optional extra.

哲學被認為是一個稀鬆平常的活動，而非一件不尋常、難以理解、可有可無的附屬品。

Nowadays, it's not so much that we overtly deny this thought, but we just don't have the right institutions set up to promulgate wisdom coherently in the world.

今時今日，並不是說我們會公然否定這個想法，但我們只是還沒建立完整制度，以清楚地在世界上散布這些智慧。

In the future, though, when the value of philosophy is a little clearer, we can expect to meet more philosophers in daily life.

然而在未來，當哲學的價值較為明確，我們可以期待在日常生活中遇見更多哲學家。

They won't be locked up, living mainly in university departments.

他們不會再被困住、只是在大學系所裡生活。

Because the points at which our unwisdom bites and messes up our lives, are multiple and urgently need attention, right now.

因為我們讓自身愚昧傷害並打亂生活的情況繁多，現在就急需關注。