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Descartes
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... he wanted to clear all the rubble1 off the site
Alberto stood up, took off the red cloak, and laid it over a chair. Then he settled himself once again in the corner of the sofa.
"Rene Descartes was born in 1596 and lived in a number of different European countries at various periods of his life. Even as a young man he had a strong desire to achieve insight into the nature of man and the universe. But after studying philosophy he became increasingly convinced of his own ignorance."
"Like Socrates?"
"More or less like him, yes. Like Socrates, he was convinced that certain knowledge is only attainable2 through reason. We can never trust what the old books tell us. We cannot even trust what our senses tell us."
"Plato thought that too. He believed that only reason can give us certain knowledge."
"Exactly. There is a direct line of descent from Socrates and Plato via St. Augustine to Descartes. They were all typical rationalists, convinced that reason was the only path to knowledge. After comprehensive studies, Descartes came to the conclusion that the body of knowledge handed down from the Middle Ages was not necessarily reliable. You can compare him to Socrates, who did not trust the general views he encountered in the central square of Athens. So what does one do, Sophie? Can you tell me that?"
"You begin to work out your own philosophy."
"Right! Descartes decided3 to travel around Europe, the way Socrates spent his life talking to people in Athens. He relates that from then on he meant to confine himself to seeking the wisdom that was to be found, either within himself or in the 'great book of the world.' So he joined the army and went to war, which enabled him to spend periods of time in different parts of Central Europe. Later he lived for some years in Paris, but in 1629 he went to Holland, where he remained for nearly twenty years working on his mathematical and philosophic4 writings.
"In 1649 he was invited to Sweden by Queen Christina. But his sojourn5 in what he called 'the land of bears, ice, and rocks' brought on an attack of
点击收听单词发音
1 rubble | |
n.(一堆)碎石,瓦砾 | |
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2 attainable | |
a.可达到的,可获得的 | |
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3 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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4 philosophic | |
adj.哲学的,贤明的 | |
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5 sojourn | |
v./n.旅居,寄居;逗留 | |
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6 pneumonia | |
n.肺炎 | |
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7 renaissance | |
n.复活,复兴,文艺复兴 | |
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8 philosophical | |
adj.哲学家的,哲学上的,达观的 | |
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9 antiquity | |
n.古老;高龄;古物,古迹 | |
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10 Christian | |
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒 | |
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11 forerunner | |
n.前身,先驱(者),预兆,祖先 | |
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12 preoccupied | |
adj.全神贯注的,入神的;被抢先占有的;心事重重的v.占据(某人)思想,使对…全神贯注,使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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13 pervaded | |
v.遍及,弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14 radical | |
n.激进份子,原子团,根号;adj.根本的,激进的,彻底的 | |
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15 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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16 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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17 discourse | |
n.论文,演说;谈话;话语;vi.讲述,著述 | |
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18 enumeration | |
n.计数,列举;细目;详表;点查 | |
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19 mathematician | |
n.数学家 | |
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20 analytical | |
adj.分析的;用分析法的 | |
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21 algebra | |
n.代数学 | |
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22 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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23 affinity | |
n.亲和力,密切关系 | |
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24 collapses | |
折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 ); 倒塌; 崩溃; (尤指工作劳累后)坐下 | |
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25 neatly | |
adv.整洁地,干净地,灵巧地,熟练地 | |
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26 entity | |
n.实体,独立存在体,实际存在物 | |
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27 innate | |
adj.天生的,固有的,天赋的 | |
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28 quantitative | |
adj.数量的,定量的 | |
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29 qualitative | |
adj.性质上的,质的,定性的 | |
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30 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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31 purely | |
adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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32 subdivided | |
再分,细分( subdivide的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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34 dual | |
adj.双的;二重的,二元的 | |
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35 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
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36 automaton | |
n.自动机器,机器人 | |
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37 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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38 automatons | |
n.自动机,机器人( automaton的名词复数 ) | |
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39 faculty | |
n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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40 gland | |
n.腺体,(机)密封压盖,填料盖 | |
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41 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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42 astronomical | |
adj.天文学的,(数字)极大的 | |
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43 relatively | |
adv.比较...地,相对地 | |
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44 veins | |
n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
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45 arteries | |
n.动脉( artery的名词复数 );干线,要道 | |
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46 infinitely | |
adv.无限地,无穷地 | |
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47 perfectly | |
adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地 | |
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48 polytechnic | |
adj.各种工艺的,综合技术的;n.工艺(专科)学校;理工(专科)学校 | |
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49 exclamation | |
n.感叹号,惊呼,惊叹词 | |
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50 sneaked | |
v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 );偷偷溜走;(儿童向成人)打小报告;告状 | |
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51 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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52 bagatelle | |
n.琐事;小曲儿 | |
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53 loathsome | |
adj.讨厌的,令人厌恶的 | |
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54 longing | |
n.(for)渴望 | |
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55 erase | |
v.擦掉;消除某事物的痕迹 | |
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56 erased | |
v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 );抹去;清除 | |
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57 incensed | |
盛怒的 | |
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