What is the reason for silence?

Li Guotao

Reading Biography of Berlin (written by ignatieff and translated by Luo Yanli), I remember the most interesting thing. 1934, Berlin, about 25 years old, working at Cambridge University. The friends he made were also excellent, young, arrogant and talented. One night, four people got together and suddenly talked about the German philosopher Wittgenstein. Vichy was like a god in philosophy at that time. Everyone saw it and talked about it. These four people thought of a famous saying of Vickers: "One should keep silent about what he can't talk about". Everyone remembers this, but the problem is that Vickers said it several times in his famous book On Logical Philosophy. Four people, two people think they said it once; They thought they had said it twice. Can't argue. What should we do? Bet. And immediately "take a taxi" to find a book. Losers treat. Later, I found out that Vickers said it twice. Once in the preface and once in the last sentence of the book. This is really something that only young people in their prime are interested in doing. I remember this because I have read that book. However, I only remember that sentence. That sentence is also interesting, you are silent about endless things. What happens if you can't talk and don't keep silent? You must keep silent. In fact, my idea is too superficial and irrelevant. Vichy's philosophy is notoriously difficult and concise; Each section has a number, and sometimes a section is just a sentence and a number. Russell, a great mathematician and logician, even had difficulty in reading his books, let alone waiting. His sentence is also the theme of his book, which is quite complicated and rich. My explanation is just a joke.

But I think of things that scholars and philosophers don't talk about. Confucius once said, "If you want nothing, you are speechless." . The disciples panicked and said, what else can we preach if your old man doesn't talk? Confucius said that God never said anything. Isn't everything always active? However, some people say that this is not necessarily what Confucius said. His father likes to talk. I think whether Confucius speaks or not and not speaking with nature are two different things. His old man's house is alive, not heaven, not nature. When Confucius didn't say anything, "Zi didn't say anything strange, powerful, chaotic or divine." That's not because he doesn't understand, but because he doesn't think it's worth saying, and he shouldn't say it. He said, "The influence is not good." This is due to ethical considerations, not philosophical considerations. Philosophers in China have always regarded "language" and "silence" as an important knowledge, which is actually the magic weapon of life. Language is language, and silence is silence. Or this also means "taking a stand" and "not taking a stand". In the era of "Great Leap Forward", the whole world called for wheat to yield 10,000 Jin per mu. You said you could yield 12,000 Jin per mu. Or you can't produce that much at all. This is a matter of life and death for you. If you don't criticize Confucianism when the whole world is criticizing it, you must have courage and take some risks. When everyone laughed at a joke told by an authority that was not funny, you didn't laugh when you were present, and even said, "Nothing funny." Or when everyone says "profound" to an authority, you say "shallow"; Or say nothing, "silence". That's not easy either. Past, present and future, all the same. This is an unchangeable world. This reminds me of a sentence in Shi Shuo Xin Yu Appreciation (another sentence! ), this sentence is a compliment to a person: "If you can't talk, you can't talk." It seems nonsense, but it actually makes sense. Here "can" means "good at" and "good at". The man mentioned can't speak, but, ah, he is good at "silence" when he shouldn't speak. Wittgenstein said that "for things that cannot be discussed", he was "for things that should not be discussed" and actually "things that offend people" and kept silent. Philosophy versus ethics again! This is also science. Yeah, slick! This is also a question asked by the university, which is really funny.