This year, the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of a telescope, has been declared the International Year of Astronomy, so this seems a good time to ponder Kant’s first source of “awe and reverence.” Indeed, the goal of the commemoration – to help the world’s citizens “rediscover their place in the universe” – now has the incidental benefit of distracting us from nasty things nearer to home, like swine flu and the global financial crisis.
今年，是伽利略首次使用望远镜的400周年，同时被宣布为“国际天文年”。看来正是让我们温故康德老先生“惊奇和敬畏”这句话的恰当时候。在这个富有纪念意义的时刻——让世界公民重新定位自己在宇宙中的位置——让我们可以避开困扰我们当前生活中的事情，例如猪流感和金融危机，将我们的眼光投向星空。