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ISSUE36:
The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries.
正文:
Whether the greatness of individuals can only be decided by their posterity? The speaker claims so. Actually, in most case, offsprings are more likely to impart a objective evaluation to their forebearings than the contemporaries. However, we can not deny that contemporaries also may give a decent assessment toward the great individuals in their time.
To evaluate the achievement of an individual, an clear recognition as well as an objective and just standard must come first. Great individuals often advance their times in terms of their thoughts , theories or behaviors, which therefore renders they are not easily understandable to their contemporaries who are limited by their own knowledge, cognitive and critical level, as well as the limitation of the whole time. Meanwhile contemporaries’ recognition and assessment is bound to be linked with their individual interests, therefore usually carring unjust and non-objective idiosyncracy. On the contrary, offsprings have no interest-entanglement with their forefathers and has surpassed out of the limitation of that time when the giants lived. What is more ,the historical process past after their precedencers informs them with a more comprehensive and historical perspective to evaluate a historic figure. Thus, it is the posterity who dig out and confirm many great artists,thinkers, reformers ,scientist, and so forth, who are neglected or even prosecuted by their contemporaries. Van Gogh's great artistic achievement is not recognized until many years after his death by his latter artist pursuers; Nietzsche,who are revered as a outstanding thinker by his posterity, was not approbated for his great thought but rather was persecuted by that time.
In addition, for some individuals’ evaluation, only have their conducts born the test of time, can a objective and comprehensive evaluation be reached, therefore rendering the correct valuation toward such persons the patent of their posterity. For example, in contemporary Soviet citizens' eyes, their leader--Stalin was so great and contributed so much to their country. However, only afterward people witness the serious consequence derived from Stalin's extreme measures. His force centralization of agriculture and industrial policy directly cause latter malformation of Soviet economic structure and bury many holden banes. Thus, only people witness such destruction can draw a correct assessment toward Stalin who was exclusively exalted as a great contributor by his contemporaries.
However, it is no deny when a time has sufficient cognitive level and clear criteria to assess an individual's feat, a objective evaluation from contemporaries is also available. Washington, the "father of America", wins the same evaluation and reverence deserved from his peers as offspring's .And today no one will deny the exceptional feats of Bill Gates, in fact modern world has given him a substantial just evaluation!
In sum, it is true that the greatness of individuals is more justifiably decided by their posterity for its intrinsic advantages, but it doesn't exclude that their contemporaries also can do so. The crux, ultimately, lies in the cognition and assessment level of the time . |
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