Chapter 39 Chapter Thirty-Six

"Come on, come on, I'll show you the real people," Brissenden said to him one January evening. The two had just finished dinner in San Francisco and were heading back to Oakland, so they came to the Ferry Building.At this time Buschsenden had a whim and wanted to tell him to take a look at the "people of worthless people".He turned, and his thin figure in a shining coat floated across the shore, and Martin tried to follow.Bwissenden bought two large bottles of old wine at a wholesale beverage station, bottled in Dasheng, and took the tram on Church Street with a bottle in one hand.Martin followed with quart bottles of whiskey.

It would be a terrible thing for Ruth to see, he thought, and wondered what the "real people of nothing" were about. "Maybe there's no one there," Brissenden said as they got out of the car and headed straight for the heart of the working-class slum south of Market Street, "and then you'll miss the person you've been looking for for so long." "What exactly is it?" "Man, wise man, not the chattering bore I found you hanging around in that businessman's nest. You've done some reading and found yourself completely alone. I'm going to show you tonight. People who also read the book, then you will never be alone again.

"I'm not interested in what they're talking about," he said when he came to the end of a block. "I won't be impressed by book philosophy, but you'll find these people are smart people, not bourgeois pigs. But you have to be careful." , they'll babble you on and on about anything under the sun. "I hope Norton's there," he said, a little out of breath, but refused Martin's offer to take his two pot-bellied bottles. "Norton was an idealist—Harvard, with a prodigious memory. Idealism led him to philosophical anarchism, and he was kicked out of his family. His dad was the president of a railroad with hundreds of Thousands of dollars, but my son is starving in San Francisco, editing an anarchist newspaper for twenty-five dollars a month."

Martin didn't know San Francisco well, and he didn't know anything south of Market Street.Therefore he did not know where he had been led. "Go ahead," he said, "introduce me first. What do they live on? How did they get here?" "I hope Hamilton is here," said Shirsenden, who stood for a while and then rested his hands. "His last name was Strohn-Hamilton (with a hyphen in the middle), and he was of Southern descent. A bum--the laziest man I've ever met, though he was a clerk in a Socialist co-op (or but he's a hard-won jampese who came here as a vagabond. I've seen him sit on a bench all day, a little Nothing went into his mouth, and when I asked him to dinner in the evening--it was only a two-block walk to the restaurant--he replied, 'It's too much trouble, man, just buy me a pack of cigarettes!' He turned out to be just like you, A Spencer, turned by Chris into a materialist monist. I'd like to talk to him about monism if I could; Norton is a monist too—but he only affirms the spirit, not the other Doubt everything. And he can provide everything that Chris and Hamilton are missing."

"Who is Chris," Martin asked. "We just went up to his house, was a college professor - got expelled - the old story. That mouth was like a knife, mixed with food in all the old forms. I know he was in the street when he was unlucky He set up a stall, did everything nonchalantly, even stole the shrouds of the dead—he stole everything. Unlike the bourgeoisie, he did not create false appearances when he stole. He talked about Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Kant, everything. talk. But all he really cares about in the world is his monism, and nothing else, including the Virgin Mary. Haeckel is a little idol he worships, and you insult him for having a One way to do it is to slap Haeckel across the face.

-------- ① Haekel (Ernst Heinrich Haekel 1834-1919), German biologist and philosopher. "Our den is here," said Brissenden, setting his pot-belly bottle on the steps for a moment, ready to go upstairs.It was a common corner room with one floor and one ground floor, with a salon and a grocery store downstairs. "That's where these guys live—they've got the whole thing upstairs. It's just Chris in two rooms. Come on." There was no light in the upstairs hall, but Brissenden moved through the gloom like a familiar ghost.He stopped and said to Martin: "Here's a man named Stilaus, a Theosophist, and he's a good chatterbox. He's in a restaurant now. Likes to smoke fancy cigars. I've seen him dine in a Diner, And then five cents for cigars. If he comes, I've got some cigars in my pocket for him.

-------- ① Theosophy: A philosophical and religious theory that believes that one can directly communicate with the gods through meditation, partly derived from Buddhism or Brahmanism. "There's also a guy named Barry, an Australian 'statistician, and a very interesting encyclopedia. You ask him how much food was produced in Paraguay in 1903, and what was the British export to China in 1890. How much was the bed sheet, what weight was the Jimmy Britt vs. Killer Nelson fight, who was the 1868 U.S. welterweight champion, all with quick and accurate answers, straight out of a vending machine ...and Andy, a five-hander, has his own opinion about everything, and is a great chess player. And there's a guy named Harry, a baker, a fierce socialist and a staunch trade unionist. By the way, you Remember the big cook strike? He organized the union to do it—he arranged everything in advance, and it was here: Chris's house. He just went on strike for fun, but he was too lazy to stay. In the union. He can climb up if he wants to. If that guy is not so lazy, his energy can be said to be endless."

Brissenden walked through the darkness until a gleam of light indicated the threshold.He knocked on the door, it was answered, and the door opened.Martin found himself shaking hands with Chris.Chris was a handsome man, with dark skin, a black mustache, dazzlingly white teeth, and dark, large, piercing eyes.Marie was a fair-haired, fair-skinned young woman, housewife-looking, who was washing dishes in a back room.The hut was a kitchen, which doubled as a dining room; the front room was a living room, which doubled as a bedroom.The week's laundry had been washed and hung low to hang in the room like a million flags. When Martin first came in, he didn't see two people talking in a corner.The pair greeted Brissenden and his pot-bellied bottle with cheers.After being introduced Martin knew they were Andy and Barry.Martin joined one or two of them and listened carefully to Barry's description of the boxing match he'd seen the night before, while Boo Bassenden triumphantly made sweet whiskey out of wine and whiskey soda and served it.He gave an order to "invite that group of people", and the two went to each room to call for people.

"We're lucky that most of us are there," Brissenden whispered to Martin. "Nurton and Hamilton are here. Come and meet them. I heard Stephens isn't here. I'll try if I can." Let them talk monism. Wait until they 'warm up' with a couple of glasses of wine." The conversation starts off a bit rambling, but Martin can still appreciate their keen mind-work.All were thoughtful people, though often bumping into each other; everyone was smart and funny, but never shallow.Soon he found that no matter what issues they talked about, they could apply knowledge comprehensively, and had a deep and systematic understanding of society and the universe.They were all rebels of a certain type, whose ideas were not preconceived by anyone, whose mouths contained no clichés, and which discussed an astonishing number of issues such as Martin had never seen at the Morse's.The questions of interest to them seemed endless were it not for time constraints.They passed from Mrs. Humphrey Wald's new book to Bernard Shaw's latest play; from the future of the theater to the memory of Manshfield.They admire or disdain the editorials of the morning papers; they swerve from labor conditions in New Zealand to Henry James and Brand Matthews to German Far East conspiracies and the economic aspects of the Yellow Peril; Elections and Bebel's latest speech; and then down to his politics, the latest schemes and scandals of the ULP regime;Martin was shocked by the amount of inside information they had.They knew what the papers never published—the strings and hands that made the puppets dance.Martin was also amazed by one more thing: Mary also joined the conversation, displaying a wisdom he had never seen in the few women he had come into contact with.She discussed Swinburne and Rossetti with him, and then introduced him into the little alleys of French literature that were foreign to Martin.When she defended Maeterlinck, Martin used his thoughtful theory in "The Shame of the Sun" as an opportunity to pay her back.

-------- ① Mrs. Humphry Ward (Mrs. Humphry Ward, 1851-1920), a British female novelist, is famous for her book "Robert Elsmere". ②Catherine Mansfield (Catherine Mansfield, 1888-1923), a British female novelist and essayist. ③Henry James (Henry James, 1843-1916), American novelist and literary critic, later became a British citizen. ④Brandcr Matthews (Brandcr Matthews, 1852-1929), American essayist, drama critic, novelist and the first professor of drama literature in the United States. ⑤ Pebel (AUgust Bebel, 1840-1913), German and international labor movement activist, founder and leader of the German Social Democratic Party and the Second International.

Others joined the discussion, and the air was thick with the smell of cigarettes, when Brissenden waved the red flag of the debate. "Chris, you've got a new object for that axe," he said, "a young man as pure as a white rose, with a lover's passion for Spencer. Let him convert to Haeckel—you If you have the ability!" Chris seemed to wake up, glowing like some sort of magnetic metal.Now Norton looked at Martin sympathetically, and smiled sweetly like a girl, as if to tell him that he could have strong protection. Chris fired directly at Martin.But Knoll intervened step by step, and the debate shifted between the two of them.Martin could hardly believe his eyes: it was impossible, especially in the labor ghetto south of Market Street.These men read deftly and talked with fire and passion.They were driven by the power of wisdom as Martin had been when he saw others driven by alcohol and anger.What he hears are no longer written by mysterious spirits like Kant or Spencer, and are no longer boring philosophical texts in books, but living philosophy with bright red blood.That philosophy was embodied in both of them, until it showed itself with passion.Others occasionally interjected a few words.All the people followed the discussion closely, the cigarettes in their hands were gradually extinguished, and their faces showed sharp and focused expressions. Idealism never attracted Martin, but it gave him inspiration after Norton's explanation.The laudable logic of spiritualism illuminated his intellect, but Kress and Hamilton seemed deaf to it.They laughed at Norton as a metaphysics.Norton also scoffed, calling them metaphysics ghosts in return.They attack each other with the words phenomenon and noumenon.Kress and Hamilton attacked Knowlton for trying to explain consciousness in terms of consciousness; Knowlton attacked them for playing with words, thinking from words to theory rather than from practice to theory.Norton's words stunned them both—the fundamental tenet of their mode of reasoning had always been to start with the facts and add terms to them. Knowlton got into Kant's complex world, and at this time Kress reminded him that all the small philosophical schools in Germany went to Oxford to settle after death.Norton soon reminded them of Hamilton's law of miserliness.They then declare that this law applies to every course of their reasoning.Martin listened with his knees folded, feeling elated.But Knowlton was not a Spencer, and he was trying to understand the essence of Martin's philosophy, speaking to Martin as well as to his opponent. -------- ① Law of Parsimony: Law of Parsimony, a law in logic, holds that there is no need to assume that there are other "causes" other than the "cause" necessary to explain the "effect". "You know Berkeley's question has not been answered by anyone," he said, looking directly at Martin. "Herbert Spencer's answer comes closest, but it's still not close. Even Spencer's The staunchest of believers have difficulty going any further. I read a treatise by Shribe the other day, and the best Thribe could say was: Herbert Spencer almost answered Berkeley's question." -------- ① Berkeley (Geoge Berkeley, 1685-1753), Irish bishop, idealist philosopher.His famous quote is: To be is to be perceived.Advocate that the spirit is the only real reason and strength. ②Saleeby (Caleb Williams Saleeby, 1878-1940), a British eugenicist and sociologist. "Do you know what Hume said?" Hamilton asked.Knowlton nodded, but Hamilton made it clear for everyone to understand. "He said Berkeley's arguments were irrefutable but not convincing." "That was Hume's mind," was the answer, "and Hume's mind was exactly the same as yours—with one difference: he was clever enough to admit that Berkeley's question was unanswerable." Although Norton is never confused, he is sensitive and impulsive, while Chris and Hamilton are like a pair of cold-blooded savages, looking for his weakness to poke him and push him.As the night deepened, Norton was repeatedly attacked, and they said he was a schoolboy, and they stung him. Noelke was afraid that he would jump up, and hurriedly grabbed the chair; his gray eyes were shining, like a girl. The face became stern and resolute.He delivered a brilliant attack on their position. "Well, you Haeckelites, even if I think like a regular doctor, how do you reason? You unscientific dogmatists, you have no place to stand, old man Shoving your positive science where it has no right to go. Long before the monist school of materialism came along, your grounds were dug up long ago, long ago there was no basis. It was Locke who dug it up, John Locke Two hundred years ago. Even earlier, in his treatise "On the Understanding of Man" he had proved that there are no innate minds. And the best part is: your statement is exactly the same, and you have confirmed it tonight What’s more, there is no innate mind.” -------- ① John Locke (John beke, 1632-1704), British philosopher.It is believed that knowledge of universal necessity can be obtained according to intellectual intuition, but its scope is limited; most knowledge is only probabilistic. "What do you mean by that? It just means that you cannot know the ultimate reality. You are born with nothing in your mind. Appearance, or phenomenon, is all that your mind can obtain from the five senses. Therefore the essence , what you were born without, there's no way to get into—" "I deny—" Chris cut in. "Wait till I finish," cried Norton, "that little you know of the action and interplay of force and matter, because they somehow touch your senses. You see , for the sake of argument, I'd be happy to admit that matter exists. Since I'm going to attack the shield with the spear of the son, I have to admit it first, because you two are inherently incapable of understanding the abstraction of philosophy. "Then, according to your empirical science, what do you know about matter? You can only know it through its phenomena, its appearance, and you only know its changes, or the changes in your body caused by its changes. Changes in consciousness to know it. Positive science can only deal with phenomena, but you are very strategic and try to be ontologists and study noumenon. However, it is also clear from the definition of positive science that science only cares about phenomena Yes. It has been said that knowledge gained from phenomena cannot go beyond phenomena. "Even if you had knocked down Kant, you would not have been able to answer Berkeley's question. But perhaps you had assumed that Berkeley was wrong when you affirmed that science had proved the non-existence of God, or nearly proved the existence of matter. You know I admit The reality of matter is just so that you can see what I mean. Be positive scientists if you like, but ontology has no place in positive science, so don't talk about positive science. Spencer's skepticism is Right. But if Spencer--" However, it was time to catch the last ferry back to Auckland.Brissenden and Martin slipped out, leaving Norton still talking, while Chris and Hamilton were like two traps, pounced on him as soon as he caught his eye. "You gave me a glimpse into the world of the gods," Martin said on the ferry. "Meeting people like that makes life worthwhile. My mind is all set. I never appreciated idealism before, though I Still can't take it. I know I'll always be a realist. I guess that's just in my nature. But I'd love to answer Chris and Hamilton, as well as Norton. I don't think Spencer has Knocked down. I'm thrilled, like a kid seeing a circus for the first time. Guess I need to read more. I'm going to get Sarriby to read. I still think Spencer is flawless. Next time I'm going to fight myself." But Brissenden was asleep.He was breathing painfully, his chin pressed against his sunken chest, buried in the scarf, and his body wrapped in the long coat shook with the vibration of the thrusters.