《道德情操论·卷一·论行为的合宜性·一之一·论同情》第5节
What are the pangs of a mother, when she hears the moanings of her infant that during the agony of disease cannot express what it feels? In her idea of what it suffers, she joins, to its real helplessness, her own consciousness of that helplessness, and her own terrors for the unknown consequences of its disorder; and out of all these, forms, for her own sorrow, the most complete image of misery and distress. The infant, however, feels only the uneasiness of the present instant, which can never be great. With regard to the future, it is perfectly secure, and in its thoughtlessness and want of foresight, possesses an antidote against fear and anxiety, the great tormentors of the human breast, from which, reason and philosophy will, in vain, attempt to defend it when it grows up to a man.
注释摘要
斯密在这一段文字里继续澄清同情运作的真正机制。他刚刚说明，同情并不产生于直接看到他人的激情，而是产生于我们看到引发那种激情的处境。为了把这个论点推向极致，他选择了母亲与病中婴儿的例子。婴儿无法用语言表达自己的感受，只能发出呻吟。母亲听到呻吟时所经历的剧烈痛苦，显然不是从婴儿传递给她的某种现成情感，因为婴儿自己并没有同等程度的痛苦意识。母亲在想象中建构出来的…