SCIENCE AND ART
Thomas Henry Huxley
May 5, l883
I beg leave to thank you for the extremely kind and appreciative manner in which you have received the toast of Science. It is the more gratefu1 to me to hear that toast proposed in an assembly of this kind, because I have noticed of late pears a great and growing tendency among those who were once jestingly said to have bee11 born in a pre-scientific age to look upon science as an invading and aggressive force, which if it had its own way would oust from the universe all other pursuit. I think there are many persons who look upon this new birth of our times as a sort of monster rising out of the sea of modern thought with the purpose of devouring the Andromeda of art. And now and then a Perseus, equipped with the shoes of swiftness of the ready writer, with the cap of invisibility of the editorial article, and it may be with the Medusahead of vituperation, shows himself ready to try conclusions with the scientific dragon. Sir, I hope that Perseus will think better of it; first, for his own sake, because the creature is hard of head, strong of jaw, and for some time past has shown a great capacity for going over and through whatever comes in his way: and secondly, for the sake of justice, for I assure you, of my own personal knowledge that if left alone, the creature is a very debonair and gentle monster. As for the Andromeda of art, he has the tenderest respect for that lady, and desires nothing more than to see her happily settled and annually producing a flock of such charming children as those we see about us.
But putting parab1es aside, I am unable to understand how any one with a knowledge of mankind can imagine that the growth of science can threaten the development of art in any of its forms. If I understand the matter at all, science and art are the obverse and reverse of Nature's medal; the one expressing the eternal order of things, in terms of feeling, the other in terms of thought. When men no longer love nor hate; when suffering causes no pity, and the tale of great deeds ceases to thrill, when the lily of the field shall seem no longer more beautifully arrayed than Solomon in all his glory, and the awe has vanished from the snow-capped peak and deep ravine, then indeed science may have the world to itself, but it will not be because the monster has devoured art, but because one side of human nature is dead, and because men have lost the half of their ancient and present attributes.
科學(xué)和藝術(shù)
托馬斯·亨利·赫胥黎
1883年5月5日
請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我感謝諸位極其友好、極有眼光地聽取了為科學(xué)而作的祝酒辭。在今天這樣的會(huì)上聽到這個(gè)祝酒辭,更使我感激不已。因?yàn)榻陙砦易⒁獾?,在那些被戲稱為生于前科學(xué)時(shí)代的人當(dāng)中,出現(xiàn)了一種日益強(qiáng)大的、把科學(xué)視為一股侵略勢(shì)力的傾向。他們以為,如果科學(xué)要想隨心所欲的話,就會(huì)把其他行業(yè)逐出宇宙。我想,現(xiàn)在有許多人都認(rèn)為當(dāng)代的這個(gè)新生事物是一頭從現(xiàn)代思潮的海洋中冒出來的怪獸,它想要吞噬藝術(shù)的安德洛墨達(dá)。于是,一位帕修斯就會(huì)不時(shí)出現(xiàn)。他腳登寫作快手的“追風(fēng)靴”,頭戴重要評(píng)論的“隱形盔”,也許還長(zhǎng)著裝滿謾罵之詞的“美杜薩腦袋”,擺出了欲與科學(xué)之龍決勝負(fù)的架勢(shì)。諸位,我希望這位帕修斯三思。首先要為自己著想。因?yàn)楣肢F的頭很堅(jiān)硬,顎也很強(qiáng)壯,而且一段時(shí)間以來,它在沖破任何羈絆方面已大顯身手。其次要為公正著想。因?yàn)槲蚁蛑T位擔(dān)保,依本人之愚見,這頭怪獸如果不去惹它的話,本來是非常溫文爾雅的。至于藝術(shù)的安德洛墨達(dá),它對(duì)那位女士非常敬慕,而且別無他求,只盼她幸福地安家落戶,年年生育一大群招人喜愛的兒女,就像我們?cè)谧约褐車吹降暮⒆觽兡菢印?/p>
但是,撇開上述比喻不談,我實(shí)在弄不懂,一個(gè)具有人類知識(shí)的人,怎么能以為科學(xué)的進(jìn)步竟會(huì)威脅到任何藝術(shù)形式的發(fā)展。如果我對(duì)此還不是門外漢的話,我以為,科學(xué)和藝術(shù)乃是自然這枚圣牌的正反面。一個(gè)是用感情來表達(dá)事物的永恒秩序,另一個(gè)則是用思想。當(dāng)人們不再有愛恨之心;當(dāng)苦難不再引起同情,偉大的英雄業(yè)績(jī)的故事不再動(dòng)人地傳唱;當(dāng)田野里的百合花不能再與身披盛裝榮耀已極的所羅門媲美,雪峰和深淵不再使人驚嘆,到那時(shí),科學(xué)確實(shí)有可能占據(jù)世界,但這不是因?yàn)楣治锿淌闪怂囆g(shù),而是因?yàn)槿祟愄煨缘囊粋€(gè)方面已經(jīng)死亡,因?yàn)槿祟悂G掉了古往今來所擁有的那一半天性。