《沉思录·卷九·不义与虚妄》第39条
Either all things proceed from one intelligent source and come together as in one body, and the part ought not to find fault with what is done for the benefit of the whole; or there are only atoms, and nothing else than mixture and dispersion. Why, then, art thou disturbed? Say to the ruling faculty, Art thou dead, art thou corrupted, art thou playing the hypocrite, art thou become a beast, dost thou herd and feed with the rest?
注释摘要
这段话把斯多葛派常备的两种宇宙论假设摊在面前，然后做了一个出人意料的转向。奥勒留说：要么，万物都出自一个理智的源头，并且像在一个身体里那样彼此联结，那么作为部分，就不该抱怨那为了整体利益而发生的事；要么，世界只有原子，万事无非混合与消散，别无他物。这是一种典型的析取论证——把可能性穷举到两个对立选项，然后指出无论哪一个为真，扰动都毫无根据。如果宇宙是一个由…