上次我们从形而上学转而讲述价值理论 Last time we made the turn from metaphysics to value theory.
我们开始讨论为什么死亡是件坏事 We started asking about what it is about death that makes it bad.
我们谈到死亡的第一个坏处是 The first aspect of the badness of death that we talked about was
当某人死去 the fact that when somebody dies,
活着的人会感到痛苦 that's hard on the rest of us.
我们活着 必须承受 We're left behind having to cope with
失去所爱之人的痛苦 the loss of this person that we love.
然而 如果我们想明确 Nonetheless, it seems likely that if we want to get clear
死亡的主要坏处 about the central badness of death,
那么 活人的损失并不是关键 it can't be a matter of the loss for those who remain behind,
关键是那些死去的人 but rather the loss,
死亡给他们带来的伤害 the badness of death, for the person who dies.
总之 That, at any rate,
这才是我今后要关注的问题 is what I want to focus on from here on out.
我的死亡 What exactly is it about my death,
或者我会死去的事实 or the fact that I'm going to die,
为什么对我来说是坏事 that makes that bad for me?
现在 我希望明确限定 Now, I want to get clear about precisely
我们这里讨论的问题 what it is we want to focus in on here.
很明显 死亡可能带来的一种伤害是 Now, one thing that could be bad, obviously,
死亡过程会造成痛苦 is the process of dying could be a painful one.
比方说 可能 It might be, for example,
我被一只孟加拉虎撕成碎片 that I get ripped to pieces by Bengali tigers.
如果是这样 那死亡过程会很可怕 And if so, then the actual process of dying would be horrible.
很痛苦 It would be painful.
如此 将死亡过程看作 And clearly it makes sense to talk about the process of dying as
可能对我造成伤害 符合情理 something that could potentially be bad for me.
但是同样 我也可能在睡眠中死去 Although similarly, I might die in my sleep,
这种死亡过程对我没有伤害 in which case the process of dying would not be bad for me.
无论如何 我认为我们大多数人 At any rate, I take it that most of us,
虽然可能有过这种顾虑 although we might have some passing concern about the possibility
认为我们的死亡过程会是痛苦的 that our process of dying might be a painful one,
但这也不是 that's not, again,
当我们面对死亡时 the central thing we're concerned about when
所担心的根本问题 we face the fact that we're going to die.
而且 It's also true, of course,
我们会发现 在这里 that many of us find--; here,
现在 虽然我们还没死 right now, while we're not actually dying--
但想到我会死去这件事仍让我感到不快 the prospect of dying to be unpleasant.
所以 死亡对我的另一个坏处就是 So, one of the things that's bad about my death for me is
现在 当我想到我可能会死去时 that right now I've got some unhappy thoughts as
我感到不快 I anticipate the fact that I'm going to die.
但是 But again,
这依然不是死亡的主要坏处 that can't be the central thing that's bad about death,
因为想到死亡 because the prospect of my death--
会产生难过或悲伤的情绪 it makes sense for that to be a painful one or an unpleasant one,
这只能更进一步说明死亡本身是件坏事 only given the further claim that death itself is bad for me.
我会害怕 焦虑 担心 遗憾 Having fear or anxiety or concern or regret
或苦闷 如此这般 当我想到 or anguish or whatever it is that maybe I have now
自己难逃一死时 about the fact that I'm going to die,
都基于这样一个逻辑前提 piggybacks on the logically prior thought
就是死亡本身对我是件坏事 that death itself is bad for me.
如果不是基于这样一个前提 If it didn't piggyback in that way,
那所有这些对死亡的恐惧 it wouldn't make any sense to have fear
焦虑 畏惧 苦闷 或无论什么 or anxiety or dread or anguish or whatever it is
就没有道理了 that I may have now.
比方说 我告诉你 I mean, suppose I said to you,
"明天你会碰到件事 "Tomorrow something's going to happen to you
这件事非常好 and that thing is going to be simply fantastic,
好得难以置信 不可思议" absolutely incredible, absolutely wonderful."
然后你说 And you said,
"好吧 我相信你 但我要告诉你 "Well, I believe you and I have to tell you,
我一想到这件事就觉得担忧害怕" I'm just filled with dread and foreboding in thinking about it."
这完全不合情理 That wouldn't make any sense at all.
你感到担忧害怕 It makes sense to be filled with dread or foreboding or what have you only
只有当你想到的事情 if the thing you're looking forward to,
本身是坏事时才合情理 anticipating, is itself bad.
例如 Maybe, for example,
你害怕去看牙 it makes sense to dread going to the dentist,
那是因为你相信看牙是件痛苦的事 if you believe that being at the dentist is a painful, unpleasant experience.
如果看牙本身并不可怕 But if being at the dentist isn't itself unpleasant,
那你想到看牙就害怕就不合情理了 it doesn't make sense to dread it in anticipation.
所以 如果我们想找到死亡的主要坏处 So again, if we're thinking about the central badness of death,
我们似乎应该关注死亡本身 it seems to me that we've got to focus on my being dead.
是什么使我的死亡如此可怕 What is it about my being dead that's bad for me?
现在 如果我们提出这个问题 Now, if we pose that question,
答案似乎 it seems as though the
简单明了 answer should be simple and straightforward.
当我死去 我不复存在 When I'm dead, I won't exist.
在本课程的前一部份 Now previously, in the first part of the class,
我们讨论过这个问题 we spent some time saying that,
某些观点认为 look, on certain views,
在某段时间里 你可能已经死了 there'll be a period of time in which you might be dead,
但你的肉体却活着 but your body might still be alive.
或者你已经死了 Or you might be dead,
虽然你的肉体还存在 but even though your body still exists,
但它不是活着的 而是作为尸体存在 it's not alive, but you exist as a corpse.
咱先将这些束之高阁 Put all that aside.
不考虑这些模糊不清的 Go to the period beyond any of that murky stuff
短期的状态 in the short-term and just,
仅简单地 for simplicity,
从物理主义角度来看 我一旦死亡 let's suppose with the physicalists that once I die,
我将不复存在 I cease to exist.
好的 All right.
那我们不就找到了死亡的坏处了吗 So, don't we have the answer to what's bad about death right there?
当我死去 我将不复存在 When I'm dead, I won't exist.
这不是对死亡坏处的 Isn't that the straightforward
最直白的解释吗 explanation about why death is bad?
我想说的实际上是 Now, what I want to say, in effect, is this.
我真的相信"不复存在"这一说法解释了 I do think the fact that I won't exist does provide the key
死亡为何是坏事以及它的坏处究竟是什么 to getting clear about how and why death is bad.
但我并不认为这个答案很直白 But I don't think it's quite straightforward.
我认为 正如我们将要看到的 I think, as we'll see,
我们需要花些功夫才能证明 it actually takes some work to spell out exactly
为什么死亡 不存在 how death, how nonexistence,
对我来讲是件坏事 could be bad for me.
即使证明了这一点 And even having done that,
也仍然存在一些疑难 there'll be some puzzles that remain
这些将稍后讲解 that we'll be turning to in a little while.
所以 基本思路看起来很直白 So, the basic idea seems to be straightforward enough.
当我死去 我将不复存在 When I'm dead, I won't exist.
不存在是件坏事 难道不是吗 Isn't it clear that nonexistence is bad for me?
但是你很快会碰到质疑 Well, immediately you get an objection.
不存在有什么不好呢 You say, how could nonexistence be bad for me?
毕竟 After all,
不存在就意味着你不存在 the whole point of nonexistence is you don't exist.
当你不存在时 How could anything be bad for you
怎么可能有事情对你不好呢 when you don't exist?
难道没有一种逻辑前提指出 Isn't there a kind of logical requirement
当一件事对你是坏事 that for something to be bad for you,
你需要活着才能受到它的伤害 you've got to be around to receive that bad thing?
例如 头疼对你是件坏事 A headache, for example,can be bad for you.
但是头疼时你肯定存在 But of course, you exist during the headache.
头疼不可能对不存在的人造成伤害 Headaches couldn't be bad for people who don't exist.
他们不可能经历或感受到头疼 They can't experience or have or receive headaches.
当你不存在时 How could anything be bad for you
有什么事可能伤害到你呢 when you don't exist?
特别是 And in particular,
当你不存在时 then, how could nonexistence be bad for you
所谓的不存在又怎么可能伤害到你呢 when you don't exist?
所以 正如我所说 So it's not, as I say,
答案看起来很直接明了 altogether straightforward to see how the answer
"死亡对我是件坏事 "Death is bad for me,
因为当我死去 我将不复存在" because when I'm dead I don't exist," how that answers the problem,
但完全不直接明了的问题是 as opposed to simply focusing our attention on the problem
为什么不存在对我就是坏事呢 how can nonexistence be bad for me?
对这个质疑的回答 The answer to this objection,
我想可以通过区别 I think, is to be found in drawing a distinction
两种不同性质的 between two different ways
坏事来解释 in which something can be bad for me.
一种坏事是 On the one hand, something can be bad for me,
我们可以说是绝对的 we might say, in an absolute,
固有的 内在的坏事 robust, intrinsic sense.
再举头疼的例子 Take a headache, again,
或其它地方的疼痛 or some other kind of pain--
碰到脚趾 或者被刺伤 或无论什么 stubbing your toe or getting stabbed or whatever it is,
被折磨 being tortured.
疼痛本身对我有害 Pain is intrinsically bad.
它本身就是坏的 It's bad in its own right.
我们因其本身的原因想避免被其伤害 It's something we want to avoid for its own sake.
通常情况下 And those--; Normally,
伤害你的事情是由于它们本身是坏事 things that are bad for you are bad intrinsically.
它们的害处源于其本身 They're bad by virtue of their very nature.
源于它们存在的方式 There's something about the way they are
是那种你因其本身原因而想避免的东西 that you don't want those that are bad in their own right.
但还有另一种坏事 But there's another way of something being bad for you
很容易被忽略 that it's easy to overlook.
它们是通过比较才能察觉的坏事 Something can be bad comparatively.
一件事是坏事可能是因为 Something could be bad because of
这件事使你丧失了其它东西 what you're not getting while you get this bad thing.
这就是经济学家们所说的 It could be what the economists call bad
"机会成本"上的损失 by virtue of "The opportunity costs."
它不是那种固有的坏事 It's not that it's intrinsically bad;
它之所以不好是因为当你做这件事时 it's bad because while you're doing this,
你无法获得更好的东西 you're not getting something better.
这怎么可能呢 How could that be?
我们来举一个简单的例子 Let's have a simple example.
假如我在家看电视 Suppose that I stay home and watch something on TV--
比方说《一掷千金》这个节目 Deal or No Deal.
我看着电视 度过了快乐时光 I watch this on TV and I have a good enough time.
这怎么可能对我是坏事呢 How could that be bad for me?
以第一种定义为标准 Well, in terms of the first notion of bad,
固有的坏事 something being intrinsically bad,
这当然不是坏事 it's not bad.
以这种方式打发半个小时挺安逸的啊 It's a pleasant enough way to spend a half an hour,
不管节目时间多长 or however long the show is on.
但另一方面 On the other hand,
假如我 suppose what I could be
不是看半小时电视 doing instead of watching a half an hour of television
而是参加了一个很棒的派对 is being at a really great party.
那我们可以说 Then we might say,
我窝在家里看电视 the fact that I'm stuck home watching television
相比之下 对我是坏事 is bad for me in this comparative sense.
并不是说看电视本身 It's not that it's, in itself,
是一种不愉快的消磨时间的方式 an unpleasant way to spend some time;
只是我还可能有更好的方式来消磨时间 it's just that there's a better way to spend time that I could be doing,
至少原则上是这样 in principle at least.
如果我去了 If only I'd gone.
如果我被邀请了 If only I'd been invited.
如果我还记得这件事 只要如此 If only I remembered, what have you.
而且我前面说过去派对更好 And because I'm foregoing that better good,
那么相对来说 there's something bad, comparatively speaking,
窝在家里看电视就是件坏事 about the fact that I'm stuck at home watching TV.
失去了更好的东西 There's a lack of the better good.
缺失本身不是坏事 A lack is not intrinsically bad,
但比较起来就是坏事 but it's still a kind of bad in this second sense.
失去美好事物本身对我造成了伤害 To be lacking a good is, itself, bad for me.
类似地 假设我拿两个信封对你说 Similarly, suppose I hold out two envelopes and I say,
"选一个" 于是你打开了第一个 "Pick one." And you open up the first one,
你选择了第一个 you pick the first one,
你打开它 你说 and you open it up and you say,
"看 十块钱 真不错" "Hey look, ten bucks! Isn't that good for me?"
当然十块钱本身是很好的 Well, of course, ten bucks is intrinsically good.
或者说 本身不是好的 Anyway, well, it's not intrinsically good,
仅从可以买到东西的角度来说是好的 it's only good as a means to buy something.
但仍然是好的 But it's sort of good.
因为它本身的原因 它值得拥有 It's worth having for its own right,
因为它可以给你带来东西 because of what it can get you.
但你不知道 But if unbeknownst to you,
另一个信封里有一千块钱 the other envelope had $1,000 in it,
那我们可以说 then we can say,
"真不幸 你选了第一个信封" "Look, it's bad for you that you picked the first envelope."
从哪个角度来说你是不幸的呢 Bad in what sense?
因为如果你选择了第二个信封 Because you would have been better off,
你可能会更好 had you picked the second envelope.
你可能拥有更多的好处 You would have been having more good,
更多的好东西 or a greater amount of good.
不存在本身没什么不好 Well, nonexistence can't be bad for me in our first sense.
不存在本身并无坏处 It can't be that nonexistence is intrinsically bad,
我们并不因其本身而回避 worth avoiding for its own sake.
除非不存在本身是 That would only make sense if nonexistence was somehow,
比如说 痛苦的 for example, painful.
但当你不存在时 But when you don't exist,
你也不会感到痛苦 you have no painful experiences.
不存在本身和它内在特性 There's nothing about nonexistence in and of itself
不是我们想避免它的原因 that makes us want to avoid it.
不存在只是相比之下才对我是坏事 Nonexistence is only bad for me in this comparative sense,
因为它造成了损失 because of the lack.
当我不存在时 我失去了某些东西 When I don't exist, I'm lacking stuff.
我失去了什么呢 What am I lacking?
当然 Well, of course,
我失去了生命 更确切地说 what I'm lacking is life and more particularly still,
是生命带来的美好事物 the good things that life can give me.
所以 So,
不存在是件坏事 nonexistence is bad
因为它损失了机会成本 by virtue of the opportunity costs that are involved.
著名的W.C.菲尔兹在墓志铭上说 Famously, W.C. Fields on his tombstone says,
W.C.菲尔兹 20世纪初美国著名喜剧演员 "Personally, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
"就我个人来说 我更愿意待在费城" What's bad about being dead is you don't get to
死亡的坏处在于 你将无法 experience and enjoy any longer the various good things
经历和享受生活提供给我们的 that life would offer us.
各种美好事物了 So nonexistence does point to the key aspect about death.
所以不存在确实指出了死亡问题的关键 Why is death bad?
为什么死亡是坏事 Because when I'm dead I don't exist.
因为当我死去我将不复存在 But if we ask,
但如果我们问 why is and how can it be
为什么 并且在什么情况下 the case that nonexistence is bad?
不存在是坏事 The answer is,
答案是 because of the lack of the good things in life.
当我不存在时 Because when I don't exist,
我失去了生命中美好的事物 I am not getting the things
我将无法得到它们 that I could have otherwise gotten, if only I were still alive.
那些只要我活着就可以得到的东西 Death is bad
死亡之所以是坏事 because it deprives me of
是因为它剥夺了我活着时 the good things in life.
可以得到的美好事物 This account is nowadays
这种解释如今 known as the deprivation account of the evil or badness of death,
被称为死亡坏处的剥夺说 for obvious reasons, right?
原因很明显 不是吗 The key thought is,
其中的关键思想是 the central bad about death,
死亡的主要坏处 about nonexistence,
不存在的坏处 is that it deprives you of the goods of life you
在于它剥夺了你活着时 might otherwise be getting.
可以获得的生活乐趣 That's the deprivation account.
这就是剥夺说 And it seems to me
并且我认为 that the deprivation account basically has it right.
剥夺说基本上是正确的 Eventually,
后面 I'll go on to argue that there are
我还会继续论证 other aspects of death that may also contribute to its badness,
死亡的其它因素同样导致了它的破坏性 aspects above and beyond the one that gets focused on
但它们不同于剥夺说 by the deprivation account.
所揭示的这些因素 But still,
但是不管怎么说 it seems to me the deprivation account points us correctly
我认为剥夺说正确地指出了 to the central thing about death that's bad.
死亡的主要坏处 What's most importantly bad about the fact
死亡最主要的坏处是 that I'll be dead is the fact that when I'm dead,
当我死去 I won't be getting the good things in life.
我将无法获得生活中那些美好的东西 I'll be deprived of them.
我将失去它们 That's the badness of death according to the deprivation account.
这是剥夺说所指出的死亡坏处 Now, if we accept the deprivation account,
现在 如果我们接受剥夺说 if we try to accept the deprivation account,
如果我们准备接受剥夺说的话 we face some further philosophical puzzles.
那我们将面临进一步的哲学挑战 Puzzles that many people have thought are
很多人认为这些挑战 sufficiently overwhelming that we,
足以迫使我们最终不得不放弃它 despite the initial plausibility of the deprivation account,
尽管剥夺说 have to give it up.
乍看起来合情合理 First objection is this.
第一个质疑是 Look, if something is true,
如果某件事是真实的 a quite general point,
一个很普遍的观点 it seems, about metaphysics--
在形而上学的观点中 if something is true,
如果某件事是真实的 there's got to be a time when it's true.
那总有某个时候它是真实的 If I make some claim about a fact,
假如我声称一件事是真实的 there's got to be a time when that fact is true.
那总有一些时候它是真实的 Here's a fact.
比方说这件事 Shelly's lecturing to you now about the badness of death.
雪莱正在向你们讲解死亡的坏处 When is that fact true?
何时这件事是真实的 When was that fact true?
何时这件事曾发生过呢 Well, right now.
答案是现在 Here's another fact.
再看另一件事 Shelly once lectured to you
雪莱曾向你们 about the nature of personal identity.
讲解过人格同一性的本质 When was that fact true?
何时这件事是真的呢 Well, we can point to a period of perhaps
我们可以指出一个时间段 a week or two last month
可能是上个月的某一两周 when I was lecturing to you about personal identity.
我曾向你们讲解过人格同一性 Things that are facts can be dated.
真实事件有其发生的时间 All right. That seems right.
好了 似乎如此 But if it is right,
但如果这个结论正确 then immediately we've got a puzzle.
那我们马上会碰到问题 How could death be bad for me?
死亡如何对我造成伤害 If death was bad for me,
如果死亡对我造成伤害 that would be a fact.
如果这是一个事实 If my death is bad for me,
如果死亡对我造成伤害 that would be a fact
如果这是个事实 and we'd ask, well, when is that fact true?
我们会问 这个事实何时发生 We might say, well, it's not true now.
我们会说 现在没发生 Death isn't bad for me now.
因为死亡现在没有伤害我 I'm not dead now.
我还没有死呢 Maybe death is bad for me when I'm dead?
也许当我死了 死亡才对我造成伤害 But that seems very hard to believe.
但这也说不通 I mean, when I'm dead, I don't exist, right?
我是说 当我死去 我就不复存在了 How could anything be bad for me then?
那时又有什么事可能伤害到我呢 Surely you've got to exist.
你当然得存在了 So, there's a puzzle about dating
所以 确定死亡造成伤害的时间 the badness of death.
成了一个难题 Now, it may be that this puzzle about time
这个关于死亡造成伤害 and the date of the badness of death
的时间难题 is what Epicurus had in mind.
伊壁鸠鲁可能思考过 There's a passage that I'm going to read
伊壁鸠鲁 古希腊著名唯物主义和无神论者 被称为花园哲学家 to you in a moment from Epicurus.
我会给你们读一段 This passage has puzzled people,
伊壁鸠鲁的文字 it has puzzled philosophers ever since.
这段文字令人费解 Epicurus seems to be putting his finger
一直让哲学家们感到疑惑 on something puzzling about death,
伊壁鸠鲁似乎明确指出了 though it's difficult to pin down exactly
有关死亡的一些疑问 what it is that's bugging him.
不过难以确定 So we're going to try an interpretation or two.
让他纠结的究竟是什么 But first, here's the passage from Epicurus.
所以我们将尝试一两种解释 "So death, the most terrifying of ills,
但首先 来看看伊壁鸠鲁的这段话 is nothing to us, since so long as we exist,
"所以死亡 这最令人恐惧的邪恶 death is not with us; but when death comes,
对我们来说不算什么 因为我们存在时 then we do not exist.
死亡还未降临 当死亡降临时 It does not then concern either the living or the dead,
我们已不复存在 since for the former it is not,
死亡不涉及生者 也不涉及死者 and the latter are no more."
因为对于前者它还未来 You see, it's not altogether clear
而对于后者一切已不再" what Epicurus is bothered by there,
你看 到这里还不完全清楚 but one possible interpretation is this puzzle about
伊壁鸠鲁想指出的是什么 the timing of the badness of death.
但有种可能的解释是他指出了 Death can't be bad for me now,
死亡造成伤害的时间难题 because I'm alive.
现在 死亡没有伤害我 Death can't be bad for me when I'm dead.
因为我还活着 I am no more; then how can things be bad for me then?
当我死了 死亡也不会伤害我 But if death has no time
我都不存在了 怎会有事情伤害得到我 at which it's bad for me,
但如果没有任何时间 and if anything that's true,
死亡对我造成伤害 any fact has to have a time when it's true,
而且如果一件事是真的 then the purported fact that death is bad for me
这件事必须发生在某个时候 can't really be a fact.
那么死亡会伤害我 All right. How could we respond to this objection?
就不是真的 Well, one way of course is to accept the objection and say,
现在 我们如何来回应这一质疑 "You're right.
当然一个方法就是接受这一质疑 Death isn't really bad for me."
"你是对的 And some philosophers have indeed accepted that very conclusion,
死亡对我来说不会造成伤害" maybe Epicurus.
一些哲学家也确实接受这一观点 Most of us want to say,
伊壁鸠鲁或许也接受 "No, no. Death is bad for me."
但大多数人会说 So we need a better answer to the,
"不不 死亡伤害了我" "Oh yeah? When is it bad for you?" objection.
为此我们需要一个更好的解释来回答 Two possible responses.
"是吗 那它什么时候伤害了你" One possible response would
有两种可能的回答 be to grab the bull by the horns and say,
一种是 "Death is bad for me.
直面问题 承认 Facts do have to be dated.
"死亡伤害了我 Let me tell you when it's bad for me."
事情都有其存在的时间 The other possible response is to grab,
让我告诉你它什么时候伤害了我" as it were, the other horn and say,
第二种回答则是 "You know,
从另一个角度说 death is bad for me
"你知道 and I agree that I can't date it,
死亡伤害了我 but you're wrong to assume that
并且我承认我无法确定时间 all facts have to be datable.
但你假设所有的事情都有其发生的时间 There are some things that are true that we can't put a date on."
这种假设是错的 Let's start with the second.
有些事的确存在但我们无法确定时间" Could there be some things
我们先来讨论第二种回答 that are true that we can't put a date on?
是否存在这种 Well, here's one I think, maybe.
真实的但我们无法确定时间的事情呢 Suppose that on Monday I shoot John.
我想这可能是一个例子 I wound him with the bullet that comes out of my gun.
假设我周一向约翰开枪 But it's not a wound directly into his heart.
从我枪里射出的子弹伤了他 He simply starts bleeding.
但并没有射中心脏 And he bleeds slowly.
他只是开始流血 So he doesn't die on Monday.
缓慢地流血 He's wounded and he's dying,
所以他周一没有死 but he doesn't die on Monday.
他受了伤 奄奄一息 On Tuesday,
但他周一的时候并没死 let's suppose that I have a heart attack and I die.
在周二 John's still around--bleeding,
假设我心脏病发作死去 but still around.
约翰还活着 还在流血 On Wednesday,
但还活着 the loss of blood finally overtakes him and John dies. All right?
周三时 So, I shoot him on Monday, I die on Tuesday,
约翰流血过多终于死去 John dies on Wednesday.
所以周一我向他开枪 周二我死去 Now, I killed John.
周三约翰死去 I take it we're all in agreement about that.
现在 我杀了约翰 If I hadn't shot him,
我假定我们都同意这一点 he wouldn't be dead.
如果我没向他开枪 I killed him.
他就不会死 When did I kill him?
是我杀了他 Did I kill him on Monday,
我什么时候杀了他 the day I shot him?
我周一杀了他吗 That doesn't seem right.
我向他开枪的那天 He's not dead on Monday.
似乎不对 How could I kill him on Monday?
他在周一没死 Oh, he died on Wednesday.
我怎么会在周一杀了他 Did I kill him on Wednesday?
对了 他是周三死的 Well, how could that be?
那我周三杀了他吗 I don't even exist on Wednesday.
这更不可能 I died myself on Tuesday.
我在周三的时候甚至不存在 How can I kill him after I'm dead?
我在周二已经死了 So I didn't kill him on Monday,
我怎么可能在死后杀了他 didn't kill him--rather on Wednesday.
所以我没有在周一杀他 I didn't kill him on Monday,
也没有在周三杀他 didn't kill him on Wednesday when he dies.
我没有在周一杀他 When did I kill him?
也没有在周三他死的那天杀他 Well, maybe the answer is there's no particular time at all
那我何时杀了他呢 when I killed him.
答案也许是 根本没有确定的时间 But for all that,
发生了"我杀死他"这件事 it's true that I killed him.
但即使这样 What makes it true that I killed him?
我杀了他是个事实 What makes it true that I killed him is
是什么使得我杀了他成为事实的呢 that on Monday I shot him and on Wednesday,
使我杀了他成为事实的是 he died from the wound.
我周一向他开枪 周三时 That's what makes it true.
他因伤死去 But when did I kill him?
所以这一事实成立 Maybe we can't date that.
但我何时杀了他呢 Suppose we can't.
也许我们无法确定时间 If we can't,
假设我们不能 then there are facts that you can't date,
如果我们不能确定 like the fact that I killed John.
那么就有不能确定时间的事实 If there are facts that you can't date,
如同我杀了约翰这件事 maybe here's another one.
如果有无法确定时间的事实存在 My death is bad for me.
或许同样 When is that true?
死亡对我造成伤害也是这样的事实 Can't date it, but for all that,
这一事实何时存在 maybe it's true.
时间无法确定 但尽管如此 So maybe we shouldn't accept the assumption of the argument
这都可能是事实 that all facts can be dated.
所以也许我们不应该接受所有事实 Of course, the thought that
都有确定的发生时间这一假设 all facts can be dated is a very powerful one,
当然 所有事实 and no doubt,
都有其发生时间这一想法根深蒂固 many of you are going to go home
而且毫无疑问 and start trying to come up with an adequate answer to the question,
你们许多人回家后都会 when exactly did Shelly kill John?
试着想出这个问题的满意答案 And come up with an answer, maybe, that you can even accept.
雪莱到底是什么时候杀了约翰 At any rate,
想出一个你或许能够接受的答案 maybe we should accept the thought
不管怎样 that all facts can be dated.
也许我们应该认同 In which case,
所有事实都有其发生的时间 if we're going to want to insist that my death is bad for me,
这样 we'd better be able to come up with a date.
如果我们坚持认为死亡对我造成伤害 Well, maybe we can.
我们最好能指出时间点 When would it be plausible to claim my death is bad for me?
也许我们能做到这点 Well, not now.
死亡何时对我造成了伤害 My death can't be bad for me now.
当然 不是现在 I'm not dead.
死亡现在不可能伤害我 But it's not 100% clear
我还没死 that the other alternative isn't acceptable.
但我们不能百分百地肯定 Why not say,
不能接受另一种说法 "My death is bad for me when I'm dead"?
为什么不说 After all,
"当我死去时死亡对我造成了伤害" when is a headache bad for me?
总之 When the headache is occurring.
头痛何时对我来说是坏事 Now, according to the deprivation account,
当头痛发作时 the badness of death consists in the fact that when you're dead,
那么依据剥夺说 you are deprived of the goods of life.
死亡的坏处就在 当你死去的时候 So when is death bad for you?
你失去了生活中美好的事物 During the time perhaps
那么死亡何时对你造成了伤害呢 you're being deprived of the goods of life.
也许是 Well, when are you deprived of the goods of life?
你失去了生活中美好事物的时刻 When you're dead.
你何时失去了生活中美好的事物呢 When does the deprivation actually occur?
当你死去之时 When you're dead.
这种失去到底发生在何时呢 So perhaps we should just say,
在你死去之时 "Well, you were right, Epicurus,"
所以我们也许应该说 if this was Epicurus' argument.
"你说得对 伊壁鸠鲁" "You were right, Epicurus.
如果这就是伊壁鸠鲁要指出的问题 All facts have to be dated,
"你是对的 伊壁鸠鲁 but we can date the badness of death.
所有事实都有其发生的时间 My death is bad for me during the time I'm dead.
但我们可以确定死亡造成伤害的时间 Because during that time,
当我死去时死亡对我造成了伤害 I'm deprived of,
因为那时 I'm not getting,
我被剥夺了 the good things in life
我失去了 that I would be getting if only I were still alive."
生活中美好的事物 Well, that's a possible response to the objection.
而只要我活着 我就能拥有它们" But of course,
这是对这一质疑的一种可能回答 it just immediately raises a further objection.
但是当然 How could it be that death is bad for me then?
它只是立刻引出了一个更深层次的质疑 How could it be that death is bad for me when I don't exist?
死亡如何在那时对我造成伤害呢 Surely, I have to exist in order for something to be bad for me.
在我不存在时死亡如何伤害我 Or, for that matter, for something to be good for me.
显然 我需要存在 才可能受到伤害 Don't you need to exist in order for something
或者 就此而言 才可能得到好处 to be good or bad for you?
你难道不需要活着来感受 Well, this points our way
事物对你是好是坏吗 to a different possible interpretation of Epicurus' argument.
这指出了我们对 The argument would be A something could be bad,
伊壁鸠鲁观点的另一种不同解释 or for that matter, good for you only if you exist;
这个观点是 A 事物只有在你存在时 B when you're dead you don't exist;
才对你有好坏之分 so C death can't be bad for you.
B 当你死去时你不存在 Put that up on the board.
所以C 死亡对你不是坏事 A Something can be bad for you
我来写在黑板上 only if you exist.
A 事物只有在你存在时 B When you're dead you don't exist.
才可能对你是坏事 So, conclusion C,
B 当你死去时你不存在 death can't be bad for you.
所以结论C就是 Maybe that's the argument that Epicurus had in mind.
死亡不可能对你是坏事 Let's hear Epicurus'--
也许这就是伊壁鸠鲁脑中的观点 the quote from Epicurus again.
让我们来听听伊壁鸠鲁是怎么说的 "So death, the most terrifying of ills,
我再引用这段伊壁鸠鲁的话 is nothing to us,
"所以死亡 这最令人恐惧的邪恶 since so long as we exist,
对我们来说不算什么 death is not with us; but when death comes,
因为我们存在时 then we do not exist.
死亡还没降临 当死亡降临时 It does not then concern either the living or the dead,
我们已不复存在 since for the former it is not,
死亡不涉及生者 也不涉及死者 and the latter are no more."
因为对于前者它还未来 Again, the passage from Epicurus isn't altogether clear,
而对于后者一切已不再" but maybe he's got in mind something like this argument.
伊壁鸠鲁的这段话总的来看有点费解 Maybe Epicurus thinks look,
但也许他脑中已有了这样的观点 A something can be bad for you
也许伊壁鸠鲁想说 only if you exist;
A 事物只有在你存在时 B when you're dead you don't exist;
才可能对你是坏事 so C death can't be bad for you.
B 当你死去时你不存在 Well, what should we say?
所以C 死亡不可能对你是坏事 It's pretty clear that B is true.
对此我们如何回应 When you're dead you don't exist.
B显然没错 And so the conclusion C,
当你死去时你不存在 death can't be bad for you,
所以结论就是C looks like it's going to follow, once we accept A.
死亡对你不是坏事 Call A the existence requirement.
这看起来如果我们承认A就承认了结论 Something can be bad or,
我们称A为存在前提 for that matter, good for you, only if you exist.
事物只有在你存在时 That's the existence requirement for bads and goods.
才对你有好坏之分 If we accept the existence requirement,
这就是影响事物好坏的存在前提 it looks as though we have to accept the conclusion,
如果我们接受存在前提 death can't be bad for you.
看来我们就得接受 What should we say?
死亡对你不是坏事这一结论 Maybe what we should say is,
我们该怎么说呢 reject the existence requirement.
也许我们会说 In the ordinary case, pains, being blind,
应该摒弃存在前提 being crippled, what have you,
通常情况下 疼痛 失明 losing your job--in the ordinary case,
跛脚 诸如此类 things are bad for you when you exist.
失业 通常情况下 In the ordinary case,
当你存在时它们对你是坏事 in order to receive bads,
通常情况下 you've got to exist.
为了受到伤害 But perhaps that's only the ordinary case; it's not all cases.
你需要存在 Perhaps we should say,
但也许这只是通常情况 并非所有情况 look, for certain kinds of bads you don't need to even exist
我们可能会说 in order for those things to be bad for you.
有些事即使你不存在 What kind of bads could be like that?
也会对你造成伤害 Well, of course, deprivation bads would be exactly like that.
这会是什么样的事呢 To lack something, you don't need to exist.
被剥夺的伤害正是如此 Indeed, the very fact that you don't exist might
你不是必须存在才能失去某些东西 provide the very explanation
实际上 你不存在 as to why you've got the deprivation,
恰恰解释了 why you've got the lack.
你为什么被剥夺了 Not all lacks might be like that, right?
你为什么没得到 Remember the television case.
并非所有的损失都这样 对吧 You existed while
回忆一下看电视的例子 you were being deprived of the great party.
当你存在时 You existed while
你失去了参加盛大派对的机会 you were getting the mere $10 instead of the $1,000.
当你存在时 So, sometimes deprivations coincide with existence.
你仅拿到十美元而不是一千美元 But the crucial point about deprivations is
所以 损失一般发生在你存在的时候 you don't even need to so much as exist
但它的关键之处在于 in order to be deprived of something.
你不必非要存在 Nonexistence guarantees that you're deprived of something.
才会被剥夺某物 So perhaps we should just reject the existence requirement.
不存在本身已经决定了你被剥夺 Perhaps we should say,
所以也许我们应该摒弃存在前提 when we're talking about lacks,
也许我们应该说 when we're talking about deprivations,
当我们谈论损失时 A is wrong.
当我们谈论被剥夺某物 We should reject the existence requirement.
A是错的 Something can be bad for you even if you don't exist.
我们应该摒弃存在前提 The existence requirement is false.
事物在你不存在时一样可以对你造成伤害 Well, that would be a possible way to respond
存在前提是假命题 to this second possible interpretation of Epicurus' argument.
这也许可以回应 It would be a way to retain the thought
对伊壁鸠鲁文字的第二种解释 that I take it we want to have,
它使我们保留了 that most of us share, at least,
我认为 that death is bad.
至少是大多数人认同的 We'd be able to retain
死亡是坏事的观点 that thought by rejecting the existence requirement.
我们可以通过 Well, easy to say that,
摒弃存在前提来保持这一观点 but there are some implications of rejecting the existence requirement
说起来容易 that may be rather hard to swallow.
但摒弃存在前提引发的一些结果 Think about exactly what it's saying.
让人难以接受 It's saying something,
想想这种说法的引申含义 for example death, nonexistence,
它指出会有一些事情 can be bad for somebody even though they don't exist.
例如死亡 不存在 That's why my death can be bad for me
会对那些甚至不存在的人造成伤害 even though I won't exist.
这就是为什么即使我不存在 But if death can be bad
死亡也会对我造成伤害 for somebody even though they don't exist,
但如果死亡能对 then death could be bad for somebody,
不存在的人造成伤害 that is to say,
那么死亡也会对 nonexistence could be bad for somebody,
就是说 who never exists.
不存在也会对那些 Take somebody who is a possible person,
从未存在过的人造成伤害 but never actually gets born.
想象有个人可能存在 It's sort of hard to think about somebody like that.
但从未出生 So let's try to get at least a little bit more concrete.
这有点难以想象 I need two volunteers.
所以让我们来说的更具体一点 I need a male volunteer from the audience.
我需要两位志愿者 Good. Okay, you'll be the male volunteer.
我需要找个男生 And I need a female volunteer from the audience.
好的 你就是男志愿者 Come on, it won't hurt.
我还需要找个女生 I need a female volunteer.
积极点嘛 没关系的 Okay.
我需要个女志愿者 What I'd like you to do
好的 after class is go have sex and have a baby.
我想让你们 Okay. Now, let me just suppose
下课后做爱生个孩子 that this isn't actually going to happen.
好了 现在让我们假设 Sorry. Or sorry,
这并不会真的发生 I don't know.
抱歉 抱歉 Let's consider,
我不知道 though, the possibility never to be actualized,
让我们想想 the possibility that they would have sex and have a baby.
尽管他们做爱生个孩子的可能性 His sperm joined with her egg,
永远不会实现 form a fertilized egg.
他的精子进入到她的卵子 The fertilized egg develops into a fetus.
形成一个受精卵 The fetus is eventually born.
受精卵发育成一个胎儿 It's the fetus that we got by
胎儿最终出生 mixing egg 37 with sperm 4,000,309.
这个胎儿是 There's a person that could have been born.
37个卵子和4,000,309个精子的一种组合 But let's suppose,
这个人曾有可能出生 never does get born.
但我们假设 That particular person who could have been born,
他从未出生 let's call Larry.
这个可能出生的人 Okay. Larry is a possible person.
我们叫他拉里 It could happen, but won't happen.
拉里是一个可能存在的人 It could exist, but won't exist.
这也许会发生 但最终没有发生 Now, how many of us feel sorry for Larry?
他可能会存在 但没有存在 Probably nobody.
现在 有多少人会为拉里感到难过 After all, Larry never even exists.
可能没人 How can we feel sorry for Larry?
毕竟拉里从未存在过 Now, that made perfect sense
我们怎会为拉里难过呢 when we accepted the existence requirement,
这就很好地说明 something can be bad for you only if you exist.
当我们接受存在前提时 Since Larry never exists,
只有你存在 事情才能伤害你 nothing can be bad for Larry.
鉴于拉里从未存在 But once we give up on the existence requirement,
所以他不会受到伤害 once we say something can be bad for you
可一旦我们放弃了存在前提 even if you never exist,
一旦我们说即使你从没存在过 then we no longer have any grounds
你也会受到伤害 for withholding our sympathy from Larry.
那么我们就没有理由 We can say, "Oh my gosh!
不同情拉里 Think of all the goods in life that Larry would have had,
我们会说 "哦 天呐 if only he'd been born.
想想拉里本可拥有多美好的生活 But he never is born,
只要他能出生的话 so he's deprived of all those goods."
但他从未出生 And if death is bad for me,
所以他被剥夺了所有美好的事物" by virtue of being deprived of the goods of life,
如果死亡对我是坏事 then nonexistence is bad for Larry,
因为它剥夺了我生活中美好的事物 by virtue of his being deprived of all the goods of life.
那么对拉里而言没有出生也是坏事 I've got it bad.
因为他无法得到生命中美好的事物 I'm going to die.
我碰到的事情很糟 Larry's got it worse.
因为我会死掉 We should really feel much sorrier for Larry.
但拉里碰到的事更糟 But I bet none of you feels sorry for Larry,
我们更应为他难过 this never-to-be-born-at-all person.
但我打赌你们没人会为拉里难过 Now, it's important in thinking about this,
这个根本没出生的人 that we not slip back into some version of the soul view,
探讨这个问题需要注意的是 especially some version of the soul view
我们不求助于灵魂理论 where the souls are prior existents.
尤其是一些灵魂理论中 You might imagine--there's a scene in Homer, I think,
认为灵魂先行存在 where some sort of sacrifice is being made
你也许会想象 好像荷马也这么写过 and all the dead souls go hover around,
荷马 古希腊盲诗人 longing to be alive again,
祭祀过后 to savor the food and taste and smells of life, right?
死者的灵魂仍在翱翔 If you've got this picture of the nonexistent,
期待再次托生 merely potentially possible
再次体会生命的气息 对吧 but never-to-be born individuals as
如果你这样想象那些不存在的人 somehow really already existing in a kind of ghost-like state,
只有潜在可能性的 wishing they were born,
却从没出生的人 maybe you should feel sorry for them.
以类似鬼魂的状态存在着 But that's not what the story is
希望能够托生 at all on the physicalist picture that I'm assuming.
你也许会为他们感到难过 Nonexistent people don't have a kind of spooky,
但在我所构建的 wish-I-were-alive ghost-like existence.
物理主义者的世界中 这根本不可能 They just don't exist, full stop.
那些不存在的人 不是幽灵一般 So once we keep that in mind about Larry,
渴望托生 以鬼魂的状态存在着 it's very hard to feel sorry for him.
他们并不存在 就是这样 Of course, look,
所以我们一想到拉里其实并不存在 since I've been going on about how
就不会为他难过了 he's deprived of all the good things in life,
当然 maybe some of you are feeling sorry for Larry.
既然我讲到 So it's worth getting clear about just what it would mean
他被剥夺了生命中所有美好的事物 to take seriously the thought
也许有些人会为拉里感到难过 that it's bad for merely potential people never to be born.
所以有必要进一步认清 How many merely potential people are there?
认真思考 I want you to get a sense of just how many there are.
从未出生对潜在人类造成的伤害 Not just Larry,
潜在人类的数目有多少 the unborn person that would exist if we mixed whatever it was,
我希望你们对数量级有个概念 you know, egg 37 and sperm 4,000,029,
不仅仅是拉里 whatever the number was.
我们随意组合精子卵子 Not just Larry,
37个卵子和4,000,029个精子 who's a potential person who never gets born,
大概就这么多 that would have to be an object of our sympathy,
不仅仅是拉里 there's a lot of merely potential,
这个潜在的却没有出生的人类 never-to-be-born people.
会成为我们同情的对象 How many?
我们还要同情太多太多可能出生 A lot.
却没有出生的人 How many?
有多少 Well, I once tried to calculate.
非常多 Well, as you'll see,
具体多少 the calculation is utterly off the back of the envelope,
我曾经计算过这个数量 sort of rough and completely inadequate in ways that I'll point out.
大家知道 But at least it'll give you a sense of
这种估算不是一页纸就能做完的 just how many potential people there are.
得到的结果只是粗略的 Let's start modestly and ask:
但起码可以让你们有个概念 How many possible people could we,
知道会有多少潜在的人类 the current generation, produce?
先做一个保守估计 Now as I say, I made this calculation some years ago.
我们这一代人 It doesn't really matter how inaccurate it's going to be.
可以制造多少人类 As we'll see,
我说过 几年前我做过这项计算 it's very rough,
结果是否精确并不重要 but it makes the point.
我们会看到 How many people are there?
这项估算很粗略 How many possible people, rather, could there be?
但却能指出大致情况 Well, suppose there were 5 billion people.
会有多少人类 Roughly half of them are men,
或者说 可能产生多少潜在的人类 half of them are women.
假设现在有五十亿人口 What we want to know then is,
大概一半是男人 how many possible people could the 2.5 billion men
一半是女人 make altogether with the 2.5 billion women?
那我们想要知道的是 The crucial point in thinking about this is
这二十五亿男人和二十五亿女人 to realize that every time you combine a different egg
可能创造出多少潜在人类呢 with a different sperm,
计算时至关重要的一点在于 you end up with a different person, right?
每一颗不同的卵子 If you combine an egg with a different sperm,
和每一颗不同的精子结合 you get a different genetic code
就会形成一个不同的人 that develops into a different person.
如果你把同一颗卵子和不同的精子结合 You combine that sperm with a different egg,
你就得到了不同的遗传密码 you get a different person.
形成了不同的人 You know, if my parents had had sex five minutes earlier
你用这颗精子与另一颗卵子结合 or five minutes later,
会形成另一个人 presumably some other sperm would have joined with the egg.
如果我父母提前五分钟做爱 That would have been not me being born,
或是推迟五分钟 but some sibling being born instead of me.
那么就是另一颗精子与卵子结合了 Change the egg,
那么出生的就不是我 change the sperm,
而是我的某个兄弟姐妹 you get a different person.
改变卵子 So what we really want to know is,
改变精子 how many sperm-egg combinations are
就形成不同的人 there with roughly 5 billion people in the world?
那我们要考虑的就是 Well, let's see.
在大概有五十亿人口的世界上 There's 2.5 billion women,
究竟有多少种精子和卵子的组合 2.5 billion women.
让我们算算 How many eggs can a woman have?
有二十五亿女人 Well, fertile periods, round numbers,
二十五亿女人 it's not really going to matter, precision, roughly 30 years,
一个女人能排出多少卵子 roughly 12 eggs a year.
女性排卵期大概是 So that's how many eggs.
不需要太精确 大约30年 Actually, I discovered some time after having done this calculation that
每年排出大约12颗卵子 the number of possible eggs is far greater.
总共就是这么多 A woman actually ovulates and gives off this many eggs roughly
实际上 做了这个计算后我就发现 during her fertile period.
潜在卵子的数量要多得多 But there's many,
一个女人在排卵期内 many other cells, I gather,
大约排出这么多卵子 that could have developed into eggs.
但是我发现 So that's a much, much larger number of potential eggs.
还有很多其它细胞 But this will do.
可以发育成卵子 30 years, 12 eggs a year.
所以潜在的卵子数量要大得多 How many men?
但这样算就够了 Roughly 2.5 billion men.
30年 每年12颗卵子 Each man has a much longer
有多少男人呢 period in which he's able to produce sperm.
大约二十五亿男人 Let's just be round numbers here, 50 years.
每个男人能 How many times a day can the man have sex?
产生精子的时间要长得多 Well, certainly more than once,
取个整数 大约50年 but let's be modest here and just say once a day.
一个男人一天可以做几次爱 So that's 365 times a day--a year.
肯定不止一次 365 days a year.
但是我们保守估计 就算每天一次 365 days, I guess that should be.
那么就是每年365次 I wrote it too big.
一年365天 I don't have space left for the last number.
365天 我想该这么写 Each time the man ejaculates,
我字写得太大了 he gives off a lot of sperm.
没给最后一个数留下空间 How much sperm?
男人每次射精的时候 A lot.
都射出大量精子 As it happens,
有多少呢 I looked this up once.
非常多 Round numbers, 40 million sperm each time the man ejaculates.
在射精的时候 So this last number has got to be times 40 million sperm.
我有次专门查过 Okay, so we took all the men that exist now
每次射出的精子大约是四千万 and all the women that exist now and ask:
所以最后一个数字应该是乘以四千万精子 How many merely possible people?
好的 我们根据现有的男性的数目 You know, most of these
和现有的女性数目来询问 people are never going to be born, of course.
会有多少潜在的人类 But we're talking about possible people.
当然 他们中的 How many possible people are there?
大部分人是不会出生的 There's 2.5 billion times 30 times 12 times
但我们探讨的是潜在的人类 2.5 billion times 50 times 365 times 40 million.
究竟有多少潜在的人类 That equals--I'm going to round here.
25亿乘以30乘以12 That equals approximately 1.5 million billion billion billion people.
乘以25亿乘以50乘以365乘以4千万 That's 1.5 x 1033.
结果等于 大概算一下 That's how many possible people we could have,
结果接近于十五亿亿亿亿人 roughly speaking,
也就是1.5乘以10的33次方 in the next generation,
这就是潜在人类的数量 of which obviously a miniscule fraction are going to be born.
大致说来 There's--if you're going to feel sorry for Larry,
下一代的潜在数量 you've got to feel sorry for every merely possible person.
而其中显然只有很少部分会真正出生 Every person who could have been born that never gets born.
也就是说 如果你为拉里难过 And there's 1.5 million billion billion billion such people,
你就要为每一个潜在的人类难过 such possible people.
每一个可能出生却没有出生的人 And of course, the truth of the matter is,
一共有十五亿亿亿亿这么多 we barely scratched the surface here.
潜在的人类 Because now think of all those people and think about
当然 实际上 all the possible children they could have.
我们计算的只是冰山一角 We got this number starting with a mere 5 billion people.
因为想想这些人 Imagine the number we would get if we then
想想他们可能创造的人类 calculated how many possible grandchildren we could have.
我们仅从五十亿人算起得到这个数字 I don't mean that we could actually have all of those people at the same time,
想想我们会得到多大的数字 but for each one there is a possible person
如果我们计算孙辈的数量 that could have existed.
我不是说这些人会同时存在 You quickly end up with more possible people than
我是说每个人背后都有 there are particles in the known universe.
可能存在的人 And that was just two generations, right?
你很快会发现 潜在人类的数量 Three generations,
比我们所知的宇宙中的微粒还要多 you're going to have more.
这才仅仅是两代人 不是吗 Four generations,
如果是三代人 you're going to have more.
就会更多 If we think about the number of possible people,
四代人 people who could have existed but will never exist,
会更多更多 the number just boggles the mind.
如果我们想象潜在人类的数量 And then, if we say we've gotten rid of the existence requirement
这些可能存在却永远不会存在的人 and so things can be bad for you even if you never actually exist,
这个数字简直大得不可思议 then we have to say of
所以 如果我们认为必须放弃存在前提 each and every single one of those billions upon billions upon billions
那么即使你从未存在 也会受到伤害 upon billions upon billions of possible people
那我们就不得不说 that it's a tragedy that they never get born,
对这数以亿亿亿亿亿计的 because they're deprived of the goods of life.
潜在人类中的每一个人来说 If we do away with the existence requirement,
没有出生是一件灾难 then the tragedy of the unborn possible people is
因为他们无法得到生命中美好的事物 a moral tragedy that mere--that just staggers the mind.
如果我们真的放弃存在前提 The worst possible moral horrors of human history
那么潜在人类无法出生的悲剧 don't begin to even be in the same ballpark as the moral horror of the loss,
就是震惊世人的伦理灾难 the deprivation for all of these unborn possible people.
人类历史上最惨绝人寰的灾难 Now, I don't know about you, when I think about it,
他们甚至没有出生就被这个灾难 all I can say is
剥夺了美好的生命 it doesn't strike me as being a moral catastrophe.
我不知道你怎么想 但就我而言 I don't feel anguish and sorrow and dismay at the loss,
我能说的仅仅是 at the lack, at the deprivation for the untold billion, billion, billion, billions.
我没被这个灾难震惊 But if we give up the existence requirement
我没有痛不欲生 悲伤气馁 and explain the badness of my death via the deprivation account,
为了这无数亿亿亿亿亿人的损失 we do have to say this is a moral tragedy,
但如果我们不引入存在前提 the fact that the billions upon billions are never born.
用剥夺说来解释我的死亡所造成的伤害 Well, if we're not prepared to say that's a moral tragedy,
我们确实得承认这是一个伦理灾难 well, we could avoid that
这数以亿亿亿亿计的没有出生的人的灾难 by going back to the existence requirement.
不过 如果我们不承认这是个伦理灾难 But of course, if we do go back to the existence requirement,
当然我们也有办法避免 then we're back with Epicurus' argument.
接受存在前提 Something can be bad for you only if you exist.
但是 如果我们接受存在前提 When you're dead, you don't exist.
我们就会回到伊壁鸠鲁的论断 So, death can't be bad for you.
你只有存在 才会受到伤害 And now we've really got ourselves in a philosophical pickle,
当你死去 你不复存在 don't we?
所以死亡不会对你造成伤害 If I accept the existence requirement,
现在我们真的陷入了哲学困境 we've got an argument that says death isn't bad for me,
不是吗 which is really rather surprising.
如果我接受存在前提 I can keep the claim that death is bad for me
我们的结论会是 死亡对我不是坏事 by giving up the existence requirement.
这说法实在惊人 But if I give up the existence requirement,
但我可以通过放弃存在前提 I've got to say it's a
来坚持认为死亡对我是件坏事 tragedy that Larry and the untold billions, billions, billions, billions
但我一旦放弃存在前提 --it's a tragedy that they're deprived of life as well.
我就得承认 And that seems unacceptable.
对拉里和无数未出生的人而言 What should we do?
没有得到生命也是一桩悲剧 What should we say?
这听起来也难以接受 The suggestion is that the key here is to
那我们该怎么办 think about the claim that I'm using deprived in two different senses.
我们该如何作答 That when we worry about my death,
问题是 造成这个问题的关键在于 I'm losing something--namely,
提到剥夺时 我采用了两种不同的概念 life--that I've had.
当谈到我的死亡 But in the case of Larry and the untold billions,
我失去一些东西 也就是 they never had life.
生命 我曾有的生命 And so they're not deprived of it in that same sense.
但是对拉里和无数亿潜在的人类来说 I think it's a very promising suggestion.
他们从未有过生命 And indeed,
在这种状况下 他们没有失去生命 I'm not 100% sure
这是个很好的问题 I've got exactly where you want to go with this in mind,
而且实际上 but I think there's a way of taking that thought
我不能百分之百确定 and sort of carving a middle path.
我和你据此得到的结论是否一致 The problem effectively was this.
但我觉得这个想法 If we don't throw in any existence requirement,
可以为我们找到一条中间出路 we have to feel sorry for the unborn billion, billion, billions.
现在的问题是这样的 That doesn't seem acceptable.
如果我们不引入任何存在前提 If we throw in the existence requirement,
我们就要为无数无法出生的人类难过 something can be bad for you only if you exist,
这让人难以接受 we end up saying death isn't bad for me,
如果我们引入存在前提 because I'm not existing when I'm dead.
你只有存在才会受到伤害 But maybe there's a more modest way of understanding the existence requirement.
那么死亡对我而言就不是坏事 Or to put the point in slightly different terms,
因为我死后就不存在了 maybe we can distinguish between
但也许还有一种对存在前提的宽泛理解 two different versions of the existence requirement,
把这个术语稍做变化 a bolder and a more modest version.
也许我们可以区分 Let's see.
存在前提的两种不同版本 Here's the modest version.
严格版本和宽泛版本 Something can be bad for you
让我们看看 only if you exist at some time or the other.
先说宽泛版本 Bolder claim.
你只要在某一时期存在过 Something can be bad for you only if you exist
你就可以受到伤害 at the same time as that thing.
严格版本 All right. These are two different ways of understanding
你只有在伤害发生时存在 what the existence requirement requires.
你才会受到伤害 The modest version is called modest because it's asking less.
好的 这是两种理解 It says something can be bad for you only if you exist
存在前提的方式 at some time or the other.
宽泛版本之所以宽泛 因为它条件宽松 The bold existence requirement adds a stronger requirement.
只要你曾经存在过 It says something can be bad for you only if you exist at the very same time as
就有可能有事情对你是坏事 the thing that's supposed to be bad for you.
严格的存在前提要求多一些 There's got to be a kind of simultaneity.
你只有在伤害你的事情发生时存在 If something's bad for you,
你才会受到伤害 you had better exist at the very same time that that bad thing is happening.
这就多了同时存在的要求 That's bolder than the modest requirement.
如果一件事对你是坏事 The modest requirement doesn't require
那你应该和这件事同时存在 that you exist that the same time as the bad thing.
这比宽泛版本的要求严格 It only requires that you exist at some time or the other.
宽泛版本没有要求 One more minute,
你得和这件坏事同时存在 we'll finish up.
只要求你存在过就可以 Suppose we accept the bold claim.
再讲一分钟 For something to be bad for you,
我们就结束 you have to exist at the very same time as the bad thing.
假设我们接受严格版本 Then death can't be bad for you,
一件事对你是坏事 because you don't exist at the time of death.
你就必须和它同时存在 Suppose, however,
那么死亡对你就不是坏事 that we accept the modest requirement.
因为死亡时你已经不存在了 For something to be bad for you,
再假设 you have to exist at some time or the other.
我们接受宽泛版本 Well, since I do exist at some time or the other
一件事对你是坏事 -after all, I exist right now
你只要存在过一段时间 --death can be bad for me.
既然我确实存在过 Admittedly, I won't exist when I'm dead.
毕竟我现在就存在着 But that's okay.
那死亡对我就是坏事 The modest existence requirement doesn't require
众所周知 我死后就不存在了 that I exist at the very same time as the bad thing.
但没关系 The bold one did,
存在的宽泛前提并不要求 but the modest one doesn't.
我必须和造成伤害的事情同时存在 So the modest one allows us to say that
严格前提才是这么要求的 death is bad for me.
宽泛前提并没有要求 But notice,
所以宽泛前提允许我们认为 and this is the crucial point,
死亡对我是件坏事 it does not say
但注意 that nonexistence is bad for Larry,
关键在于 because Larry never exists at all.
它没有说 And so he doesn't even satisfy the modest existence requirement.
不存在对拉里来说是件坏事 In short, with no existence requirement,
因为拉里并没有存在过 we have to say the
所以他连存在的宽泛前提都不满足 unexistence of the billions and billions is bad.
简单来说 不引入存在前提 That seems unacceptable.
我们就得承认 With the bold existence requirement,
没能出生对无数潜在的人类是巨大伤害 we have to say death isn't even bad for me.
这看上去难以接受 That seems unacceptable.
根据存在的严格前提 But if, instead,
我们可以说 死亡对我完全不是坏事 we accept the modest existence requirement,
这似乎也不能接受 we're able to say,
但是如果 nonexistence is not bad for Larry,
我们接受宽泛版本的存在前提 but death is bad for me.
我们就可以说 And so that's the view
不存在对拉里而言不是坏事 that it seems to me we should be looking at.
但死亡对我而言就是坏事 Okay.
所以在我看来
这似乎就是我们最后的结论
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