SOPHIE'S WORLD
(Sofies verden), by Jostein Gaarder (JG), translated from Norwegian into American by Paulette Møller (PM)Guestbook | Guestmap | Discussion forum | Inspired by...
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
| CH = chapter, P = page, L = line, C = comment, N = Norwegian, T = (alternative) translation, usually closer to the original text, TTR = Two-Tier Reality (metaphysical system bridging East and West) |
||||||||
CHAPTER 19: SPINOZA (PP205-212) |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| P205 L1: Sophie spoke, trying (T: said something, just) to get Alberto's mind off what had happened T: on to other thoughts L3: Descartes must have been an odd kind of (T: a remarkable) person L6: significance T: influence L9: That was my intention T: the plan, yes L13: excommunicated for heresy T: excommunicated and expelled for false teachings L14: blasphemed T: cursed L15: this man C: Then sentence omitted: T: There was even an attempt to kill him L15(cont): It happened because (T: The reason was that) he criticised the established (T: official) religion L18: interpretation T: view L21: bear in mind the period (the Bible) was written in C: and that many mistakes can be made in translation L23: inconsistencies in the texts T: disagreements between the various texts | ||||||||
| P206 L1: love of humanity T: one's neighbour L3: I don't suppose these ideas were easy T: dare say such ideas were not easy L5: tough T: bad L5: deserted T: betrayed L11: polishing (T: grinding) lenses L16: One of the pillars T: A kernel L17: perspective T: viewpoint L19: imagine T: manage to see L20: You'll have to try and imagine yourself (T: Then you'll have to try, in a sense, to squint at yourself) and your life here and now L24: minuscule T: tiny L26: feel T: experience L29: I don't mean only the infinity of space (T: infinite space). I mean the eternity of time (T: infinite time) as well C: cf. TTR, with its 'infinite space and time' L33: There is no difference between you and that boy C: Many books have been printed, so there is 'no difference' between one book and another? L36: imagine T: squint at L37: (Sophie) Who will you be in thirty thousand years? C: Sophimunds, the black-haired Nordic goddess worshipped by primitive Webman L39: Not entirely T: exactly L39: Spinoza ... everything (T: all that exists) is nature L40(cont): He identified nature with God T: equated nature and God L42: To (T: For) S., God did not create the world in order to stand outside it T: God was not one who created the world and thus stands outside his creation | ||||||||
| P207 L1: expresses it T: himself a little L2: In this, he is quoting St. Paul's speech T: Here, he is referring to ... address L8: ethics means the study of moral conduct for living (T: of how we should live to attain) a good life L11: ethics has more or less become (T: has almost been) reduced L14: thinking of yourself is supposed to be (T: one's own happiness is regarded as) egoism L18: The geometrical method refers to the terminology he used for his formulations T: to the language itself or the forms of explanation/presentation L21: constructed from T: built up as L23: He wanted his ethics to show that human life is subject to the universal laws of nature T: to show how human life is determined by the laws of nature C: Yes and no L24(cont): We must therefore (C: therefore?!) free ourselves from our feelings and our passions. Only then (T: in that way) will we find contentment and be happy T: find peace and happiness C: Is happiness not a feeling? L28: Let's take him bit by bit T: take one thing at a time L36: or extension C: Then sharp remark from Sophie omitted L40: Thus (T: So) Spinoza does not have the (T: a) dualistic view of reality that Descartes had T: reality like D. | ||||||||
| P208 L3: deep-seated T: great L3: also T: too L7: doctrines T: beliefs L8: So (T: For) then nature is God, and that's that T: full stop L10: everything T: all L11: all things spiritual T: the spiritual realm L13: You said it! T: As you say L17: extension T: extended matter L20: Fair enough T: OK L20: complicated T: twisted L22: reward T: consolation L22: dig out T: find L27: Wordsworth N: Wergeland L28: manner (T: in) which ... nature assumes T: expresses itself L33: You could have fooled me! T: You don't say! L35: stringent T: strict L39: pain in your stomach T: stomach-ache L40: Like T: As L41: Fair (T: True) enough. | ||||||||
| P209 L2: So (T: For) you are a single person that T: one person, who L3: is T: can be L4: things that happen T: events L5: So it follows that all T: And all L6: everything (T: all) is One C: cf. TTR L9: Why do you have to mix (T: bring) God into it T: mix God up with it L11: involvement T: commitment L16: which lenses you choose to look through C: One can look through two different lenses at the same time L17: Are you saying I cannot decide for myself? T: saying I do not make my own decisions? L18: Yes and no T: Well L18(cont): You may have the right to move your thumb any way you choose T: You may have a sort of freedom to move your thumb as you wish L21: in the structure of existence, my dear T: in the whole, my child L27: God speaks T: expresses himself L31: A real T: Such a L32: therefore T: thus LL33-34: controls T: rules L36: the material world T: nature L37: material, or natural, world T: life of nature L39: You're probably T: Perhaps you are L39: claimed T: stressed | ||||||||
| P210 L12: a lion obeys (T: lives according to) its nature L13: You mean (T: Or according to) the laws of nature C: There are no laws of nature except those we conceive, which are cultural constructs L16: a newborn baby ... doesn't get milk it sucks its thumb. Does that baby have a free will? - I guess not T: No C: Yes - it has to decide which thumb to suck LL20-23: At the age of two, she ... three, she ... four, she ... C: Some do, some don't. Alberto is free, like everyone else, to expound spurious arguments L25: When she is fifteen, she sits (T: stands) in front of a mirror C: choosing her lipstick colour: not only Free Will but also Free Jill L29: Sophie ... also lives according to the laws of nature C: In particular, the Law of Lipstick Application, which states that the attraction of a lipstick to a young girl is in inverse proportion to the repulsion of her parents on seeing the result L40: abilities T: potential | ||||||||
| P211 L1: outer circumstances T: external compulsion L2: abilities T: potential L3: we are just as much determined by C: We are not determined but bounded. We have free will within certain more or less strict bounds L4: potential T: talents L4: outer opportunities T: external conditions L9: "nonaccidental" process T: unfortuitous development L10: outer T: external L11: We do not control everything (C: not everything but ...) that happens in (T: to) our body L13: Neither do we "choose" our thinking C: ?! L14: soul T: mind L14(cont): it is more or less imprisoned (C: 'more or less' gives the game away) in a mechanical body C: "Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage" LL17-25: C: Spinoza cannot logically combine determinism and ethics. 'Ought' and 'should' imply choice, and 'choice' implies a degree, however limited and restricted, of free will L22: comprehend T: grasp L24: true T: the greatest L29: I must get going T: hurry home L32: a piece of fruit T: some fruit L42: crafty T: cunning | ||||||||
| P212 L4: I'm certainly not going to eat that T: At any rate, I'm not going to eat it L5: Someone who writes birthday greetings ... on the inside of an unpeeled banana must be mentally disturbed C: Definitely 'bananas' L9: shall we T: we can L15: life T: existence. | ||||||||