《道德原则研究·第三章·论正义》第13节
What Is A Man'S Property? Anything which it is lawful for him, and for him alone, to use. But What rule Have We, By which We Can distinguish These objects? Here we must have recourse to statutes, customs, precedents, analogies, and a hundred other circumstances; some of which are constant and inflexible, some variable and arbitrary. But the ultimate point, in which they all professedly terminate, is the interest and happiness of human society. Where this enters not into consideration, nothing can appear more whimsical, unnatural, and even superstitious, than all or most of the laws of justice and of property. Those who ridicule vulgar superstitions, and expose the folly of particular regards to meats, days, places, postures, apparel, have an easy task; while they consider all the qualities and relations of the objects, and discover no adequate cause for that affection or antipathy, veneration or horror, which have so mighty an influence over a considerable part of mankind. A Syrian would have starved rather than taste pigeon; an Egyptian would not have approached bacon: But if these species of food be examined by the senses of sight, smell, or taste, or scrutinized by the sciences of chemistry, medicine, or physics, no difference is ever found between them and any other species, nor can that precise circumstance be pitched on, which may afford a just foundation for the religious passion. A fowl on Thursday is lawful food; on Friday abominable: Eggs in this house and in this diocese, are permitted during Lent; a hundred paces farther, to eat them is a damnable sin. This earth or building, yesterday was profane; to-day, by the muttering of certain words, it has become holy and sacred. Such reflections as these, in the mouth of a philosopher, one may safely say, are too obvious to have any influence; because they must always, to every man, occur at first sight; and where they prevail not, of themselves, they are surely obstructed by education, prejudice, and passion, not by ignorance or mistake.
注释摘要
休谟在这几段文字里做了一个相当大胆的对照。他先把那句常被当作财产权定义的套话摆出来——一个人的财产就是他可以合法地、并且只有他可以合法地使用的东西——然后立刻追问：那我们究竟凭什么规则来区分什么东西是谁的？他列出成文法、习俗、先例、类比，以及数不清的其他情形，有些固定不变，有些可以变通，有些简直随意。他说，所有这些规则，只要追问到最后，都声称终止于同一个地…