《道德情操论·卷一·论行为的合宜性·一之四·承前·合宜的两种场合》第1节
WE may judge of the propriety or impropriety of the sentiments of another person by their correspondence or disagreement with our own, upon two different occasions; either, first, when the objects which excite them are considered without any peculiar relation, either to ourselves or to the person whose sentiments we judge of; or, secondly, when they are considered as peculiarly affecting one or other of us. 1. With regard to those objects which are considered without any peculiar relation either to ourselves or to the person whose sentiments we judge of; wherever his sentiments entirely correspond with our own, we ascribe to him the qualities of taste and good judgment. The beauty of a plain, the greatness of a mountain, the ornaments of a building, the expression of a picture, the composition of a discourse, the conduct of a third person, the proportions of different quantities and numbers, the various appearances which the great machine of the universe is perpetually exhibiting, with the secret wheels and springs which produce them; all the general subjects of science and taste, are what we and our companions regard as having no peculiar relation to either of us. We both look at them from the same point of view, and we have no occasion for sympathy, or for that imaginary change of situations from which it arises, in order to produce, with regard to these, the most perfect harmony of sentiments and affections. If, notwithstanding, we are often differently affected, it arises either from the different degrees of attention, which our different habits of life allow us to give easily to the several parts of those complex objects, or from the different degrees of natural acuteness in the faculty of the mind to which they are addressed.
注释摘要
斯密在这一节做了一个重要的区分：我们判断他人情感是否合宜，要看激发情感的对象与我们双方的关系。他分出两类场合。一类是对象与我们和他人都没有特殊牵涉；另一类是对象特别地关涉到其中一方。这一段集中处理的是第一类。 他列举的例子很能说明问题：平原的美、山岳的雄伟、建筑的装饰、绘画的表现力、一篇文章的结构、一个第三人的品行、数量比例、乃至宇宙这架宏大机器不断展现的…