投资 · 西方古典
托马斯·马尔萨斯:人口论·摘录 174
托马斯·马尔萨斯《人口论》· An Essay on the Principle of Population · 投资
Locke, if I recollect, says that the endeavour to avoid pain rather than the pursuit of pleasure is the great stimulus to action in life: and that in looking to any particular pleasure, we shall not be roused into action in order to obtain it, till the contemplation of it has continued so long as to amount to a sensation of pain or uneasiness under the absence of it. To avoid evil and to pursue good seem to be the great duty and business of man, and this world appears to be peculiarly calculated to afford opportunity of the most unremitted exertion of this kind, and it is by this exertion, by these stimulants, that mind is formed. If Locke's idea be just, and there is great reason to think that it is, evil seems to be necessary to create exertion, and exertion seems evidently necessary to create mind.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
定位:Excerpt 174 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
洛克认为,人行动的最大动力是逃避痛苦,而非追求快乐;只有当我们想到某种快乐想到坐立不安时,才会真正行动起来。马尔萨斯赞同这个看法,并进一步说:避恶求善是人的天职,而这个世界恰好提供了不断努力的机会。正是这种努力和刺激,塑造了人的心智。如果洛克说得对,那么恶似乎是激发努力的必要条件,而努力又是形成心智的必要条件。换句话说,没有困难和不适,人就不会被逼着动脑筋、长本事。
上下文
马尔萨斯《人口论》第一版(1798年)中讨论人口与自然法则的章节,他引用洛克的观点来论证困难对心智发展的作用。
今日一问
你最近一次因为“不舒服”而被迫成长,是什么事?
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