小说与文学2020theparisreview.org
自立的神话：读爱默生随笔
The Myth of Self-Reliance: An encounter with Emerson’s essays
导读
这篇 Paris Review 随笔从爱默生在《自立》中提出的主张出发，写作者在感恩节晚餐上忽然意识到：自己的生活其实建立在无数他人的劳动之上，于是开始怀疑“自我依赖”这个美国式信条。值得写作者一读，因为它示范了如何用一个具体的生活场景切入抽象命题，同时也暴露出思想随笔最容易犯的毛病：论点含混、读者读完后说不出主旨。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
用一个具体、可复现的日常场景（一顿晚餐、一颗螺栓）作为抽象命题的入口，比直接抛出观点更有带入感。
- 02
善用概念区分推进论证，例如把“依赖某个具体的人”和“依赖泛泛的他人”分开，观点立刻变得可辩。
- 03
个人困惑可以当引子，但不能当结论；随笔最终要落到一个读者能复述、能反驳的立场上。
- 04
警惕自我沉溺式的思辨，如果文字只在原地打转、不给读者向外的出口，就变成了萨特式的“恶心”。
HN 评论精选
先区分“依赖具体对象”与“依赖泛泛的他人”，自立这个概念才能站得住。
“笼统地依赖他人”和“依赖某个特定的人或某种特定的做事方式”是两回事。总体来说，我依赖很多人，但多数情况下这些人是我自己选的，而且我依赖的这群人会随时间变化，我看重这种选择和更换的自由。这个区分很重要：如果你依赖某一个特定的人或机构，他们就有资格分走你成败的一份功劳或责任；如果你只是依赖“人们”而不指向任何具体对象，成败就归于你自己——这才是“自立”对我的意义。我不认为自立高于一切或无条件的好，但也不觉得它是神话。你不必是被丢在丛林里的婴儿，才配叫自立。
jeffdavis查看英文原文
There's a difference between relying on others in general and relying on some specific entity or some particular way of doing things. In general, I rely on lots of people. But for the most part, I choose who I rely on, and in some cases the set of people I rely on changes over time. I value that choice and the freedom to change. The distinction is important. If you rely on a single person or entity, they have some kind of claim to your success or failure. If you rely on people in general but nobody specifically, then your success or failure is attributable to you, and that's what "self-reliance" means to me. I'm not suggesting that self-reliance is all-important or an unqualified good. But I don't think that it's a myth, either. You don't have to be abandoned in the jungle as a baby to be called self-reliant.
沉溺于“我的存在依赖他人”的自责只会绕回萨特式的恶心，应当把这种情绪转向对他人的关切。
作者像是处在某种存在主义危机里。我想起萨特《恶心》里的一个场景：主人公坐在公交车上，盯着座椅上一颗螺栓之类的小物件，突然被“有人把这颗螺栓装在这里”这个念头击垮——那正是他精神濒临崩溃的一刻，也恰是本文作者（或在感恩节晚餐上想到自己特权时）那种不适的写照。按我的经验，这类思考除了通向萨特笔下的“恶心”别无去处。现代世界围绕我而建构，这不是我的错，正如地球恰好适合现存生命也不是我的错；这两件事上我承担的责任和罪责一模一样。更值得走的是那条老掉牙的路：对他人的苦难心怀同情。
reggieband查看英文原文
Sounds like the author is having an existential crisis moment. I recall reading Sartre's Nausea and there was a scene where the protagonist is riding a bus. He focuses on a bolt in the seat or some other trivial object and is overwhelmed by the idea that someone put that bolt there. IIRC, this is at a point in the story where the protagonist is having a bit of a mental break. That is, it is emblematic of the exact kind of malaise the author of this piece is experiencing (or was experiencing when they contemplated their privilege at Thanksgiving dinner). In my experience, this kind of thinking leads to nowhere other than the nausea mental state described by Sartre's novel. It isn't my fault the modern world is structured around me any more than it is my fault that the Earth is perfectly suited for the kind of life that exists on it. I bear exactly the same responsibility and blame for both of those circumstances. A better line of thought is the boring old chestnut of encouraging compassion for the suffering of others.
读完后说不出主旨，说明文章论点过于晦涩——这是随笔写作要警惕的失败。
我承认自己有偏见，因为我大概站在作者立场的反面；但即便读完了，我也不太确定他到底想说什么。在我看来，自立是向内生长、积蓄自身的力量，然后慷慨地把这份力量交给他人以建立关系。不过我觉得作者是写给他那类作者读者看的，也许正因如此这篇文章对我来说才显得晦涩。
castlecrasher2查看英文原文
I'll admit I'm biased in that I'm the opposite of what I think the author's stance is but even after reading it I'm not entirely sure what their point is. In my mind self-reliance, is growing and having strength unto one's self but giving freely of that strength to others to build relationships. I feel like the author is speaking to an author audience, though, so maybe that's why the article is obtuse to me.
自立与依赖并非对立，而是互为条件。
我觉得两边都对。一个人可以既自立又依赖他人，而这差不多就是现实：你没法依赖一个不自立的人，而离开他人的帮助，你也无法自立。
api查看英文原文
This is a case where I think both sides are true. One can be both self-reliant and reliant on others, and it turns out that's pretty much reality. One cannot rely on someone who is not self-reliant, nor can one be self-reliant without others' help.
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