446、我与灵人谈论当今流行在世人当中的普遍观点，即：他们不相信灵的存在，因为他们既未亲眼看见它，也无法通过属世的科学，或记忆知识理解它。因此，他们不但否认灵有维度，还否认它是一种物质，因为他们争论什么是物质。他们因否认灵有维度，还争论什么是物质，故也否认灵存在于任何地方，因而否认灵存在于人体里面。然而，就连最简单的人都能知道，他的灵魂或灵就住在他的身体里面。当我谈到这些事时，更简单的灵人对当今世人如此愚蠢而感到惊讶。当听到人们所争论的词语，如“部分之外的部分”等等时，他们称之为荒谬、可笑和闹剧，这些东西根本不应该出现在人们的脑海中，因为它们关闭通往真正的聪明或理解的道路。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]446. I spoke with some spirits about the attitude of people alive on earth today who reject belief in the spirit because they cannot see it with their eyes or grasp it scientifically. They deny not only that a spirit has dimension but also that it has substance, because they argue about what substance even is. And since they deny its dimensionality and argue about its substantiality, they also deny that it exists in a place or, consequently, in a human body. The most simple-thinking people, however, can understand that their soul or spirit has its own body.
When I said these things to the spirits, who happened to be among the more simple-thinking, they expressed their amazement that people today could be so stupid. When they heard the terminology that was being argued over (parts outside of parts,{*1} and so on), they called it jarring, absurd, and pretentious. They said that such things should never take up mental space because they block the path to true understanding.
Footnotes:
{*1} The Latin phrase here translated "parts outside of parts" is partes extra partes, loosely translatable as "parts external to other parts" or "parts distinct from other parts." The French philosopher Descartes (see note 2 in 196) believed that the necessary properties of corporeal as opposed to spiritual objects were 1. being extended in space, 2. having parts that were distinct from other parts (partes extra partes), 3. being divisible, and 4. existing in a particular place. Cartesians (as the disputants in question seem to be; see note 1 in 444) would claim that the soul does not adhere to the principle of partes extra partes, and thus it cannot have dimension or exist in a place. The failure to conform to this principle would also mean that the soul could not have such parts as the human head, torso, limbs, etc. In other words, by this thinking the soul must lack all the components of the human form. By contrast, the more naive spirits mentioned at the end of the section, who are not blinded by philosophical cant, can readily understand that the soul possesses a spiritual human form made out of a spiritual substance. For a discussion of the issue of extension in early Enlightenment philosophy, with a note on the history of the term partes extra partes, see Pasnau 2007. [SS]
Potts(1905-1910) 446
446. I have discoursed with spirits concerning the common opinion that prevails among men at the present day, that the existence of the spirit is not to be credited because they do not see it with their eyes, nor comprehend it by their memory-knowledges [scientias], and so they not only deny that the spirit has extension, but also that it is a substance, disputing as to what substance is. And as they deny that it has extension, and also dispute about substance, they also deny that the spirit is in any place, and consequently that it is in the human body; and yet the most simple might know that his soul or spirit is within his body. When I said these things, the spirits, who were some of the more simple ones, marveled that the men of the present day are so foolish. And when they heard the words that are disputed about, such as "parts without parts" and other such terms, they called them absurd, ridiculous, and farcical, which should not occupy the mind at all, because they close the way to intelligence.
Elliott(1983-1999) 446
446. I have spoken to spirits about the opinion held by people living at the present time, namely that they do not believe in the existence of the spirit because they neither see it with their eyes nor comprehend it through natural science. Consequently they not only deny that the spirit is dimensional, but also that it is a substance, for they disagree over what substance is. And because they deny that the spirit is dimensional and disagree about what substance is, they also deny that the spirit exists within anything spatial, and so deny its existence within the human body. Yet even a very simple person is able to know that his soul or spirit resides within his body. When I commented on this, spirits of a more simple type were amazed that men nowadays could be so stupid; and when they heard about the technical terms which men argue about such as parts outside parts, and the like, they called such things absurd, ludicrous, and farcical, which ought never to be in people's minds at all since they block the road to real understanding.
Latin(1748-1756) 446
446. Locutus cum spiritibus de opinione hominum qui hodie vivunt, quod non credant spiritum quia oculis non vident nec per scientias capiunt, et sic quod non solum negent spiritum esse extensum sed etiam esse substantiam quia litigant quid substantia; et quia negant esse extensum, et litigant substantia, etiam negant spiritum esse in loco, ita consequenter in corpore humano; cum tamen simplicissimus scire possit quod ejus anima seu spiritus sit in suo corpore; quae cum dicerem, mirati sunt spiritus qui inter simpliciores erant, quod homines hodie tam stulti sunt; et cum audiebant voces, de quibus lis, ut partes extra partes, et similia, vocabant talia absona, ludicra et theatralia quae nusquam mentes occuparent quia praecludunt viam ad intelligendum.