草率地讀完第九章跟第十章了。
第九章是Marcus in his Meditations，第十章是Conclusions。我認為這兩章沒什麼新的概念、思想上推展。第九章比較多在在描述Marcus在什麼情境下寫下這些紀錄，整個Meditations的編排，其他歷史學家的詮釋跟Hadot如何反駁等等。第十章則是概要的總結Marcus在Meditations中體現的Stoic哲學、Epictetus跟Marcus的思想。整體不脫accordance with Nature。有些歷史背景我不太懂，所以大多就是看過而已。
有趣的是，這章裡面引用了17世紀中國的哲學家王夫子(王船山)的思想，我還真不認識。但從英譯中找不到引文的原文是什麼。Vulgar knowledge (that which limited itself to what one has seen or heard) is constituted in the egotism of the self and is far from the "great objectivity" [ta kong, a term which has both a moral and an intellectual meaning] (p.310)
雖然第十章才3-5頁而已，但是每一段都寫得好美，忍不住一直抄寫下來。美好的文字讓人光是讀就覺得淨化心靈了。（但沒有實際行動，哇哈哈哈）
There are some works, however -- among them both the Gospel and the Meditations -- which are like ever-new springs to which humanity comes to drink. If we can transcend their perishable aspects, we can sense in them an imperishable spirit which calls us to a choice of life, to the transformation of ourselves, and to a complete revision of our attitude with regard to human beings and to the world. (p.309)
Yet, insofar as we attempt to find meanings to our lives, the Meditations invite us to discover the transformation which could be brought to our lives, if we were to realize -- in the fullest sense of the term -- those specific values which constitute the spirit of Stoicism. (p.310).
It could be said, moreover, that there is a universal Stoicism in humanity. By this I mean that the attitude we call "Stoic" is one of the fundamental, permanent possibilities of human existence, when people search for widsom. (p.310)
Nevertheless, we feel a highly particular emotion when we enter, as it were, into the spiritual intimacy of a soul's secrets, and are thus directly associated with the efforts of a man who, fascinated by the only thing necessary -- the absolute value of moral good -- is trying to do what we are all trying to do: to live in complete consciuosness and lucidity; to give each of our instants its fullest intensity; and to give meaning to our entire life. Marcus is talking to himself, but we get the impression that he is talking to each one of us. (p.313)
讀完的初步感想是，Inner Citadel最精采的部分，應該是中間分別介紹discipline of assent、desires跟impulse的部分，講得很詳盡又很有說服力，Desire那章區分出了universal providence (once and for all)，跟針對個人的providence。
下周再來整理心得~
