第八回テキスト

---はじめ---

Too much, however, has been made of this question both in
ancient and in modern times. There is a stage of criticism in
which all works, whether of nature or of art, are referred to
design. Now in ancient writings, and indeed in literature
generally, there remains often a large element which was not
comprehended in the original design. For the plan grows under
the author's hand; new thoughts occur to him in the act of
writing; he has not worked out the argument to the end before
he begins. The reader who seeks to find some one idea under
which the whole may be conceived, must necessarily seize on
the vaguest and most general. Thus Stallbaum, who is
dissatisfied with the ordinary explanations of the argument
of the Republic, imagines himself to have found the true
argument "in the representation of human life in a State
perfected by justice and governed according to the idea of
good." There may be some use in such general descriptions,
but they can hardly be said to express the design of the
writer. The truth is, that we may as well speak of many
designs as of one; nor need anything be excluded from the
plan of a great work to which the mind is naturally led by
the association of ideas, and which does not interfere with
the general purpose. What kind or degree of unity is to be
sought after in a building, in the plastic arts, in poetry,
in prose, is a problem which has to be determined relatively
to the subject-matter. To Plato himself, the inquiry "what
was the intention of the writer," or "what was the principal
argument of the Republic" would have been hardly
intelligible, and therefore had better be at once dismissed.

---終わり---

> 第八回テキスト
>
> ---はじめ---
>
> Too much, however, has been made of this question both in
> ancient and in modern times.

　しかし、古代でも現代でも、あまりの多くのことがこの問題から生じてきた。

> There is a stage of criticism in
> which all works, whether of nature or of art, are referred to
> design.

　自然に関するものであれ、芸術に関するものであれ、あらゆる著作がその構
想が何だったのか問われる批評の段階がある。

> Now in ancient writings, and indeed in literature
> generally, there remains often a large element which was not
> comprehended in the original design.

　現在、古代に書かれたもの、また、実際は文学においてだが、しばしば、
オリジナルの構想では理解されていなかった大きな要素が残されている。

> For the plan grows under
> the author's hand; new thoughts occur to him in the act of
> writing; he has not worked out the argument to the end before
> he begins.

　というのは、その計画は、著者の手の中で暖められ、新しい考えというのは、
著作という活動の中で生じるものであり、書き始めるまえにその議論を最後ま
でし尽くしていないからだ。

> The reader who seeks to find some one idea under
> which the whole may be conceived, must necessarily seize on
> the vaguest and most general.

　全体が孕んでいるような何らかの思想を見出そうとする読者は、必然的に最
も曖昧で、最も全般的なものを捉えなければならなくなる。

> Thus Stallbaum, who is
> dissatisfied with the ordinary explanations of the argument
> of the Republic, imagines himself to have found the true
> argument "in the representation of human life in a State
> perfected by justice and governed according to the idea of
> good."

　例えば、シュタルバウムは、「国家」の議論の普通の説明には満足せず、
「正義によって完成させられ、善のイデアによって支配された国家の中の人間
生活の描写の中に」、自ら真の議論を見出したと想像した。

> There may be some use in such general descriptions,
> but they can hardly be said to express the design of the
> writer.

　そうした全般的な描写の中にいくらか役立つものがあるかも知れないが、
著者の全体構想を表現しているとはとても言えないだろう。

> The truth is, that we may as well speak of many
> designs as of one; nor need anything be excluded from the
> plan of a great work to which the mind is naturally led by
> the association of ideas, and which does not interfere with
> the general purpose.

　真実は、私たちは、ある構想について語ってよいように、多くの構想につい
ても語ってもよいと言うことであり、思想の連想から自然に精神が導かれる偉
大な著作の計画から排除されるものは何もなく、それは、全般的な目的で妨げ
られるものでもないということである。

> What kind or degree of unity is to be
> sought after in a building, in the plastic arts, in poetry,
> in prose, is a problem which has to be determined relatively
> to the subject-matter.

　建築において、塑造芸術において、詩において、散文において、どんな種類
の、あるいはどの程度の統一が求められるべきかというのは、主題の問題とし
て相対的に決定されなければならない問題ではある。

> To Plato himself, the inquiry "what
> was the intention of the writer," or "what was the principal
> argument of the Republic" would have been hardly
> intelligible, and therefore had better be at once dismissed.

　プラトン自身にとって、「著述家の意図は何だったのか」とか「「国家」
の主となる議論は何だったのか」という問いは、ほとんど理解できなかっただ
ろうし、それ故に、そんな考えはすぐに捨てさるほうがよいだろう。

> ---終わり---