上次我们讲到自杀的道德问题 Last time we turned to questions about the morality of suicide,
我提到了两个 and I started with two arguments that
我称为草率随性的观点 I called quick and dirty arguments.
我认为公平地讲 I suppose it would have been fairer to say
它们其实都是神学观点 that they were really theological arguments,
或者说是某种程度上采用了神学前提的 or they were moral arguments that used, in part,
道德观点 theological premises.
我觉得至少这种 I suggested that, at least if we look at them
草率随意的观点 in their quick and dirty versions,
不足以说明问题 they were inadequate,
如果我们想仔细研究 and if we're going to make a more careful argument
自杀的道德问题 about the morality of suicide,
我们需要一些更系统化的 we need to turn to a more systematic view
道德理论 about the contents of morality.
我们需要根据 We need to look at suicide
基本的道德准则来评判自杀 in terms of the basic moral principles.
这不是我们有机会仔细探讨的事情 Now, that's not something we've got the chance to do in detail,
但我们至少能讲清楚 but I think we can at least say enough
一些基本的道德准则 about a couple of basic approaches to the contents of morality,
或是基本的道德尺度 or the basic moral rules,
让我们有个概念 知道 to get the beginnings of an understanding of
更仔细地研究自杀的道德问题 what might emerge about the morality of suicide
会得到什么 if we were to do that more carefully.
先不谈自杀问题 So, holding off on suicide for the moment,
我们先问一下 let's ask ourselves,
是什么决定了一个行为 what is it that makes an action
是否符合道德 morally acceptable or morally forbidden?
毋庸置疑 This is, unsurprisingly,
不同道德理论对此存在争议 something that different moral theories disagree about.
但至少有一个要素或特征 是所有 But there's at least one factor or one feature that all,
或者说大部分道德理论所接受的 or almost all, moral theories agree about.
那就是行为造成的后果很关键 And that is that the consequences of your action matter.
我们或许可以 或许不可以 That is, we might or might not
只把行为的后果当作道德评判的标准 think that consequences are the only things that are morally relevant
来考察行为是否道德 when we think about the morality of your action,
但行为造成的后果 but surely it is one thing that's morally relevant--
肯定是其中一个标准 what are the consequences of your action going to be.
因此 下面我们从后果的角度 So, let's think about the morality of suicide
来思考自杀的道德问题 with an eye towards consequences,
因为我们讨论的是道德问题 bearing in mind that since we're talking about a moral point of view
所以我们要考虑 we need to take into account
行为的后果对所有人造成的影响 the consequences as they affect everybody.
那么 受自杀行为影响最大的人 Now, the person who, of course, is most affected by suicide is,
当然就是自杀者自己 of course, the person who is killing themselves.
似乎我们的第一印象很清楚 And at first glance it might seem pretty clear
自杀对其本人是不好的 that the consequences of suicide are bad for that person.
毕竟这个人之前活着而现在死了 After all, the person was alive and now they're dead,
我们通常将死亡造成的结果看做坏的 and we normally would take death to be a bad result.
假如我告诉你 If I were to tell you,
墙上有个开关 "Oh, here's a switch on the wall.
只要你按动开关 If you were to flip the switch,
一千个活着的人 a thousand people who would otherwise be alive
就会立即死亡 would end up dead,"
一般情况下你一定会同意 you would normally take that to be a pretty compelling argument
不能按开关 against flipping the switch.
为什么呢 因为结果是坏的 Why? Because the result would be bad.
为什么呢 因为一千个人会死去 Why? Because a thousand people would end up dead.
也许一个人死亡的坏处 Well, one person ending up dead
并不比一千个人死亡的坏处更大 isn't as bad as a thousand people ending up dead,
但即便如此 but for all that
我们不是仍然可以说结果是坏的吗 shouldn't we still say it's a bad consequence?
由此我们不是可以说 And as a result of that, shouldn't we say that
无论结果在道德评判中的 however far appeal to consequences goes
作用有多大 in terms of giving us our moral theory,
我们难道不应认为 从结果来看 don't we have to say in terms of consequences,
或者说考虑到结果 or with regard to consequences,
自杀是不道德的 suicide is immoral?
但先别急 But not so quick!
尽管死亡通常是坏事 Even though it's true that normally death is a bad thing,
但并非总是坏事 it's not always a bad thing.
我们在讨论死亡的主要坏处时 This is the sort of thing that we've learned by thinking about
学习过这个问题 what does the badness of death consist in.
平常情况下 Typical cases are ones in which
死亡剥夺了人们 the person's dying robs them of a chunk of life
本来会有的幸福生活 that would've been good for them overall,
因此死亡对他们来说是坏事 and because of that dying then is bad for them.
但在我们后来的例子里 But in the kinds of cases that we're thinking about,
有理由自杀的那些例子里 cases where suicide would be rationally acceptable,
我们现在讨论那些自杀是否符合道德 and we're now asking whether or not it's morally acceptable--
在那些例子里 至少在那些 in those sorts of cases, at least the kind of paradigm examples
我们关注的例子里 that we've been focused on,
那些人死了会更好 the person is better off dead.
他们生不如死 They're better off dead,
生活给予他们的 meaning that what life now holds out for them--
也许并非一直是坏的 although perhaps not negative through and through--
但总的来说是坏的 is negative on balance.
总和是负数 It's negative on balance;
他们最好不要再活下去 they're not better off continuing to live.
最好选择死亡 They're better off dying.
也就是说 And that means, of course,
死亡对他们来说不是坏事而是好事 that dying isn't bad for them, but rather good for them,
因此他们死亡造成的结果不是坏的 and so their death is not a bad consequence,
而是好的 but rather a good consequence.
假设你愿意相信有这种情况 Provided that you're prepared to accept the possibility of cases
某些人早死比晚死 in which somebody would be better off if their life ended sooner
会更好 rather than later,
我们便可得出结论 we're led to the conclusion that--
从道德上看 from the moral point of view
只关注于结果时 as far as focusing on consequences goes--
如果一个人自杀 实际上 the consequences might actually be good rather than bad
结果可能是好的而不是坏的 if the person were to kill themselves.
或许他们能够 They will free themselves, let's suppose,
从痛苦中得到解脱 of the suffering they would otherwise have to undergo.
那么 第一印象在说 Well, that's--first glance said,
从结果看自杀是错的 consequences says suicide's wrong.
第二个印象在说 从结果看 Second glance says, consequences says,
自杀在某些情况下是对的 as least in certain circumstances, suicide's right.
当然 第三印象便是 Of course, third glance suggests,
我们不能只关注自杀对 we can't just focus on consequences for the person
自杀者本人的影响 who is contemplating suicide.
因为从道德的角度出发 Because from the point of view of morality
应该考虑对所有人造成的影响 we have to look at the consequences for everybody.
哪些人会受到 Who else might get affected
这个人自杀的影响 by the death or suicide of the person?
我们最先想到的 Well, the most obvious people for us to think about
就是死者的家属和亲人 at that point then are the family and loved ones--
以及那些认识他 the people who most directly know about
并且关心他的人 and care about the person who is contemplating suicide.
然后 我的印象快不够用了 And again--I'm running out of glances,
第一印象 你会说 but at first glance you might say,
结果明显是坏的 well, there the consequences are clearly bad.
这个人自杀 一般来讲 When the person kills themselves that causes, typically,
会对其家属和朋友 a great deal of distress for the family
造成沉重打击 and friends of the person who has killed themselves.
即便这是真的 我们仍要问 Even if that's true, we now have to ask,
如何衡量这些结果 how do the consequences weigh out?
毕竟我们生存的世界没有一件事 After all, we live in a world in which no single act typically
只会导致好的结果 has only good consequences,
也没有一件事只会造成坏的结果 or no single act has bad consequences and only bad consequences.
我们的选择通常有利有弊 Often our choices are mixed packages
我们需要评估这样做或者那样做 where we have to ask whether the good that we can do is greater than
或者怎样做 才能利大于弊 the bad that we'd be doing with this act or that act or some third act.
但即便如此 Even if there are, then,
自杀对其家属 negative consequences in terms of distress to the family,
朋友或爱人的负面影响 friends, and loved ones, of the person who kills themselves,
仍可能超过 that might still be outweighed
对自杀者本人的好处 by the benefit to the person himself or herself,
如果自杀者 if it was really the case
死了真能更好的话 that he or she would be better off dying.
但值得注意的是 But it's also worth bearing in mind
当我们想到那些 that insofar as we're thinking about people
关心爱护他的人 who love and care about the person who is considering dying,
总的来说他们其实 then they may actually overall, on balance,
或许得到了解脱 be relieved that the
因他们的亲人不用再忍受痛苦了 suffering of their loved one has come to an end.
当然 我们都很震惊和沮丧 We will, of course, all be horribly distressed
看到大自然 that nature,
或者说命运 或者什么别的 or the Fates, or what have you,
导致人们面临的选择竟然是 has brought it about that this person's choices
或者杀死自己 are now reduced to killing themselves on the one hand,
或者继续活在病魔缠绕 or continuing the terminal stages of some illness
虚弱不堪的痛苦中 where they're incapacitated and in pain.
我们当然希望他有治愈的机会 We will, of course, wish there was a serious prospect of a cure,
重获健康的可能 some chance of recovery,
更希望他们从一开始就没生病 wish they'd never gotten ill in the first place.
而现在只有两个选择 But given the limited choices,
继续痛苦地活着 continued suffering and pain, on the one hand,
还是终结这种苦难的生活 or having an end to that suffering and pain,
如果这个人能理性地评估未来 if the person can rationally assess their prospects
并且合理地认为选择死亡会更好 and reasonably come to believe they're better off dead,
那么这一判断 then that's a judgment
会得到他们亲人的认可 their loved ones can come to share as well.
也许他们会懊恼 They may well regret the fact--
不止懊恼 他们会咒骂 more than regret, curse the fact--
因为他们只有这些选择 that these are the only choices they've got,
但由于只有这些选择 but still, given the limited choices they may agree,
他们可能会同意 结束痛苦会更好 they may come to agree, better to put an end to the suffering.
所以当这个人自杀时 And so when the person kills themselves,
他们会支持这个决定 they may second that choice.
他们会说 They may say,
至少他不再忍受痛苦的折磨 "At least they're not in pain and agony anymore."
所以 如果我们从结果的角度看 So, if we look at it from the point of view of consequences--
事实上 有的道德观念认为 in fact, suppose we had a moral view that said
结果并不是衡量行为 consequences aren't just one thing that was morally relevant
是否符合道德的唯一标准 in thinking about what makes an action right or wrong.
假设我们极端地认为 Suppose we took the bold claim that
结果是道德评判的唯一标准 consequences are the only thing that's morally relevant.
有一个道德观念便是如此 There are moral views that take this position.
我估计最著名的 I suppose the best-known
认为结果是道德评判的唯一标准 example of this kind of consequence-only approach to morality
就是功利主义 is utilitarianism.
功利主义是一种道德学说 Utilitarianism is the moral doctrine
认为对与错 that says right and wrong is
取决于能否使 a matter of producing
所有人尽可能幸福 as much happiness for everybody as possible,
平等地计算每个人的幸福 counting everybody's happiness equally.
假如你无法获得幸福 And when you can't produce happiness,
那就至少应该将痛苦最小化 then at least trying to minimize the misery and suffering,
平等地计算每个人的痛苦 counting everybody's misery and suffering equally.
假设我们接受功利主义的立场 So, suppose we accept this utilitarian position.
我们可以对自杀的道德问题 What conclusions would we come to
得到怎样的结论 then about the morality of suicide?
我认为结论会是中立的 I suppose the conclusion would be a kind of moderate one.
一方面我们可以推翻极端的说法 On the one hand, we'd be rejecting the extreme that says
认为自杀绝对不符合道德 suicide is never morally acceptable,
因为要这样说 because to say that,
你就必须承认自杀总是 you'd have to be claiming suicide always
产生坏的结果 has bad consequences overall.
尽管这是经验之谈 And that strikes me, although it's an empirical claim,
但我不认可这种经验之谈 it strikes me as a rather implausible empirical claim.
因为 很遗憾 It's, sadly enough,
很容易找出一个例子 not too difficult to describe cases in which
证明某人通过自杀 the results may actually be better if the person kills themselves
以避免痛苦的折磨会更好 rather than having their suffering continue.
对其本人和家属都会更好 It may be better for them and better for their family.
另一方面也不应该 On the other hand, we certainly wouldn't want--
假如我们是功利主义者 if we were utilitarians--
我们也不应该走入另一个极端 we also wouldn't want to go to the other extreme
说自杀总是符合道德的 and say suicide is always morally acceptable,
因为要说自杀总是符合道德 because, of course, to say that it's always morally acceptable
就必须要说 is to say that
自杀的结果总是好的 the consequences are never bad when you kill yourself.
这点明显没有说服力 And that's also pretty obviously an implausible thing to claim.
你们都很年轻 很健康 You guys are young, you're healthy,
你们有光明的前途 you've got a great future in front of you.
如果你们自杀 结果肯定是不好的 If you were to kill yourself, the results wouldn't be good.
自杀的结果肯定比 The results would be worse overall
不自杀的结果要坏 than if you had refrained from killing yourself.
因此功利主义的立场是中立的 So, the utilitarian position is in the middle.
它不认为自杀从来都是错的 It doesn't say suicide's never acceptable,
也不认为自杀从来都是对的 doesn't say suicide is always acceptable.
也许不出意料 It says, perhaps unsurprisingly,
它认为有些时候自杀是可接受的 it's sometimes acceptable;
这取决于现实情况 it depends on the facts.
取决于自杀的结果 It depends on the results.
取决于这个结果 It depends on comparing the results of this action,
和其它可能的结果的比较 killing yourself, to the alternatives open to you.
我们要问 你真的生不如死吗 We have to ask, is your life worse than nothing?
有没有一些医疗手段 Is there some medical procedure
能够治愈你呢 available to you that would cure you?
如果有 即使你现在过得生不如死 If there is, and even if your life is worse than nothing,
但就结果而言 that still doesn't make it
自杀仍然不是最好的选择 the best choice in terms of the consequences.
就结果而言 医疗救治 Getting medical help is a preferable choice
是更好的选择 in terms of the consequences.
我们还可以想像 We can even think of cases where
假如你生不如死 your life is worse than nothing,
你死了会更好 you'd be better off dead,
而且任何医疗手段都无法治愈你 and there is no medical alternative of a cure available to you,
但即便如此 按照功利主义观点 but for all that, it still isn't morally legitimate
自杀仍然可能是不道德的 to kill yourself in terms of the utilitarian outlook.
因为 一如既往 Because, as always,
我们还要考虑对他人造成的影响 we have to think about the consequences for others.
也许你的死亡对某些人 And there may be others
产生了非常不利的影响 who'd be so adversely affected by your death
其损害已经超过了 that the harm to them outweighs
你活着付出的代价 the cost to you of keeping yourself alive.
假设 比如 Suppose, for example,
你的孩子们只有你一人抚养 that you're the single parent of young children.
在道德上你有义务抚养他们 You've got a kind of moral obligation to look after them.
如果你死了 If you were to die,
对他们来说会非常可怕 they'd really have it horribly.
毋庸置疑 在这种情况下 It's conceivable then, in cases like that,
你自杀对孩子造成的痛苦 the suffering of your children, were you to kill yourself,
将超过你为孩子而活在世上 would outweigh the suffering that you'd have to undergo
所忍受的痛苦 were you to keep yourself alive for the sake of your children.
因此这取决于实际情况 So, it all depends on the facts.
如果我们站在功利主义一边 Still, if we accept the utilitarian position,
我们会得到一个中立的结论 we do end up with a moderate conclusion.
在特定情况下自杀是符合道德的 In certain circumstances suicide will be morally justified--
大致说来 就是在你死了会更好 roughly speaking, in those cases where you're better off dead
并且对他人的影响不会过大的情况下 and the effects on others aren't so great as to outweigh that.
那些就是典型的 Those will be the paradigm cases in which
从功利主义的角度来判断 suicide makes sense or is legitimate,
自杀是有意义的或者说是正当的例子 morally speaking, from the utilitarian perspective.
但当然 这也不是说这时自杀 But of course, that doesn't mean that suicide
永远都符合道德 is indeed ever morally legitimate.
因为我们不一定必须 Because we don't necessarily want
接受功利主义的道德观 to embrace the utilitarian theory of morality.
大体上说 当我们认为结果重要 Utilitarianism is what you get, roughly speaking,
而且只有结果重要时 when we say consequences matter
我们就得到了功利主义观点 and they're all that matters.
但大部分人倾向认为 But most of us are inclined to think
道德评判不应只关注结果 that there's more to morality than consequences.
大部分人倾向于认为 Most of us are inclined to think that
有些行为会导致坏的结果 there are cases in which actions can have bad results--
或者 有些行为的结果是好的 rather, actions can have good results and yet,
但尽管如此 仍然是不道德的 for all that, be morally forbidden.
或者说尽管有些行为结果是坏的 Or actions could have bad results and yet,
但仍然是道德的 for all that, still be morally required.
这并不是说结果对道德无关紧要 That's not to say that consequences don't matter morally;
而是说结果 it's to claim, rather, that consequences
不是道德评判的唯一标准 aren't the only thing that matters morally.
结果可能因其它的道德标准而变得不重要 Consequences can be outweighed by other morally relevant factors.
这是道德理论的一个分支 Well, that's the position that's held
义务论的观点 by the branch of moral theory known as deontology.
义务论者认为 So deontologists say other
除结果以外还有其它道德标准 things matter morally besides consequences.
要判断你的行为是否正确 In deciding whether your action is right or wrong,
你需要关注行为的结果 you have to pay attention to the consequences,
但还要关注一些别的事情 but you have to pay attention to other things as well.
什么事情呢 不出所料 What other things? Well, unsurprisingly,
在这个领域不同的义务论者 this is an area then in which different deontologists
对这些其它的道德评判标准 will disagree one to the next in terms of what else they want
抱有不同意见 to add to the list of morally relevant factors.
但有一个标准 But there's one kind of additional factor
是大部分义务论者 that most of us in our deontological moods
都同意的 would want to add to the list,
那就是 无论如何 我认为它 and that's this--so one, at any rate, that's relevant I think,
和自杀话题直接相关 most directly relevant for thinking about suicide.
这个标准便是 That factor is the factor
不仅要关注行为的结果 of not just what was the upshot of your action
还要关注你如何达成这个结果 but how you produced that upshot;
不仅是结果是什么 not just what the results were,
还有你达到这种结果的手段 but what was your means of getting those results
特别是 and more particularly still,
为了达到这个结果你是否必须伤害别人 did you have to harm anybody to produce the results?
大部分人认为伤害别人是不对的 Most of us are inclined to think it's wrong to harm people,
或者至少是无辜的人 or at least innocent people.
伤害无辜的人一定是错的 It's wrong to harm innocent people
即使这样做的结果是好的 even if the results of doing that might be good.
我特意强调无辜的人是因为 Now, I threw in the qualification about innocent people because,
我们大部分人倾向认为 of course, it's also true that most of us are inclined to think that
自卫是正当的 self-defense might be justified.
伤害那些攻击你 Harming people who are attacking you
或者你的朋友 or your friends
或者你的同胞的人应该是正当的 or your fellow countrymen--that may be legitimate.
因此我们不是在说 And so it's not as though we want to say
伤害别人总是错的 it's never legitimate to harm somebody.
只要那些人有罪 他们是侵略者 But those people are guilty; they're aggressors.
在义务论中 大部分人 What most of us in our deontological moods
都倾向认为 are inclined to think is
伤害无辜者总是不对的 it's never legitimate to harm an innocent person.
而且关键在于 And the crucial point is
即便这样做结果是好的 that's true even if the results would be better.
看 一般情况下 Look, there's no debate
义务论者和功利主义者 between deontologists and utilitarians about
对不应伤害无辜者这点上没有争议 harming innocent people in the normal case,
因为正常情况下 假设我 because normally of course--you know, suppose I,
举个例子 用枪声结束这堂课 to make an example--to end the class with a nice big bang,
我拿着乌兹冲锋枪 right--I brought my Uzi sub-machine gun.
然后砰砰砰地杀了15个人 I now take it and go rat-a-tat-tat, killing 15 of you.
这不会是什么有好结果的事情 Well, that would not be something that would have good results.
很明显 And so, clearly,
功利主义者和义务论者 the utilitarian is going
都拒绝这种行为 to reject that as well as the deontologist.
他们看法一致 They're in agreement about that.
一般说来 杀死无辜者的结果是坏的 In the typical case, killing an innocent person has bad results,
伤害他们是错误的 毫无疑问 harms them. It's wrong, full stop, we're done.
但假如杀死无辜者 But what should we say about cases
会有好的结果又当如何 where killing an innocent person has better results?
现实中 很难找到这样的例子 In real life, it's hard to think of cases like that,
但我们可以在 but we can at least go
"科幻实验室"里找到一个例子 "Science-fictiony" And tell an example.
这是个在伦理学中我最喜欢的例子 So, here is one of my favorite examples in moral philosophy.
假设有五个病人在医院快死了 Suppose that we have five patients in a hospital who are going to die
都是因为各种器官损坏 because of organ failures of one sort or another.
一个人需要心脏移植 One of them needs a heart transplant,
另一个需要肾脏移植 one of them needs a kidney transplant,
还有人需要肝脏移植 等等 one of them needs a liver transplant, and so forth and so on.
不幸的是 由于排异问题 Unfortunately, because of tissue incompatibilities,
即使他们开始死亡 even as they begin to die
我们也无法用先死之人的器官 we can't use the organs from the ones that have died
来拯救剩下的人 to save the others.
与此同时 约翰在医院进行例行体检 Meanwhile, here in the hospital for a routine check-up is John.
他非常健康 John's perfectly healthy.
在检查过程中你发现 And as you're doing your exams on him you discover
他的器官非常适合捐献给 that he's exactly suitable to be an organ donor
那五个病人 for all five of the patients.
你开始思考 如果你能杀掉他 And it occurs to you that if you were to find some way to kill him,
并且掩盖死因 but cover up the cause of death
让他看上去像死于突发疾病 so it looked like he died of some unexpected freak seizure,
你就能用他的器官去救那五个人 you could then use his organs to save the five.
这个人得到一个肾脏 This one gets the kidney,
另一个人得到另一个肾脏 that one gets the other kidney,
有人得到心脏 that one gets the heart,
有人得到肝脏 有人得到肺 that one gets the liver, and that one gets the lungs.
所以你的选择 大概是 So your choice, roughly, is this.
或者为约翰做完例行体检 Just give John his routine medical exam,
这样的话五个病人会死掉 in which case the five other patients die,
要么解剖了约翰 or chop up John,
杀死之后解剖了他 kill him and chop him up,
用他的器官救活五个病人 using his organs to save the five patients.
那么 在这个器官移植的案例中 Well, what should we say is the right thing to do
我们怎么做是正确的 the organ transplant case?
就结果而言 看起来 In terms of consequences it looks as though,
如果故事讲得没错 if we tell the story right at least,
杀死约翰似乎会更好 the results would be better if we chop up John.
毕竟是以一换五 After all, it's one versus five.
尽管约翰的死是很坏的结果 And although the death of John is a horrible bad result,
但五个人的死是更坏的结果 the death of the five is a horrible bad result.
因此杀死无辜的约翰 And so the results would be better
似乎会有更好的结果 if we were to kill innocent John.
好的 假如有更多时间我们会讨论 Well, if we had more time we could argue about
结果是否真的会更好 are the results really going to be better,
这件事是不是真能发生 或者什么 is that a realistic story--what have you--
是不是有些其它医学方面的问题 are there other long-term effects on the healthcare profession
我们没有考虑周全 that we haven't taken into account?
但我们没时间考虑太多细节 But we don't have time to really pursue this story in detail.
假设情况就是如此 Let's just suppose we could eventually get the details right;
杀死约翰结果会更好 the results really would be better if we chopped up John.
但这么做真的对吗 Is that the right thing to do?
也许功利主义者会说这么做没错 Well, maybe utilitarianism says it's the right thing to do,
但我们大多数人 but it's precisely for that reason
对此都会说 that most of us would then say,
还存在功利主义之外的道德原则 you know, there's more to morality than what utilitarianism says.
那么 这个反对理由是否成立 Now, whether that objection is a good one
是一个非常非常复杂的问题 is a very, very complicated question,
如果你想了解更多 and if you want--if you'd like to pursue it--
如果你想更深入地探讨它 我建议你 if you want to pursue it--then I invite you
可以选择一门伦理学的导论课 to take an introductory class in moral philosophy.
就我们而言 我们假设大部分同学 For our purposes, let's just suppose that most of us
都站在义务论一边 are on board with the deontologists
认为的确有超出功利主义之外的 when they say there's more to morality
道德标准 than what the utilitarian has,
这个例子就说明了这一点 and this example brings it out.
杀死无辜者是错的 即使 It's wrong to kill somebody who is innocent even though
以一换五的结果是好的 by hypothesis the results would be better--it's five to one.
人有生存权 有不被杀死的权利 People have a right to life, a right not to be killed.
在我们决定如何做符合道德时 And that right weighs in when we're deciding
要考虑这个权利 what to do morally,
所以杀死无辜者是错的 so that it's wrong to kill an innocent person
即使结果真的会更好 even if the results really would be better.
好吧 假设我们同意这个观点 All right, let's suppose we agree with that--accept that.
其实在内容更丰富的伦理学课上 Again, in a fuller class on moral philosophy
我们还要问这个权利的基础是什么 we'd have to ask ourselves what is the basis of that right,
在义务论中 人还有什么其它权利 what other deontological rights do people have,
这些权利的权重又是多少 what exactly are the contours of that right?
但现在我们只要问 But here we can just ask,
假设我们接受这种权利 suppose we accept a right like that,
它对自杀的道德问题有何影响 what are the implications of that for the morality of suicide?
现在 似乎我们只好说 And now, it seems what we have to say is,
自杀是错的 suicide is wrong.
自杀是不道德的 Suicide is morally unacceptable.
因为当我自杀时 Because when I kill myself,
我就杀了一个人 well, I'm killing somebody.
我刚才不是说 根据义务论者的说法 And didn't we just say as deontologists
杀死一个无辜者 that killing an innocent person--
现在我就是无辜者 and I'm an innocent person--
杀死无辜者是不道德的 killing an innocent person is morally wrong?
那么我就是 所以杀死我不道德 Well, I'm a person. So, killing me is morally wrong.
再回头说什么 And it's not really any help to come back and say,
看 我们已经假设了 but look, we've stipulated that this is a case
他死了会更好 也无济于事 where the person is better off dead.
如果他自杀 总体来讲结果会更好 The results will really be better overall if he kills himself.
好的 这没错 也许这是对的 Yeah, that's right. Maybe that is right.
但无关紧要 因为义务论者认为 It doesn't matter--because as deontologists we said
生存的权利已经超越了所有结果 the right to life is so powerful it outweighs consequences.
就像说杀死约翰不对 Just as it was wrong to chop up John,
即使结果很好 五人对一人 even though the results would be better--five versus one--
自杀同样是错的 it's wrong to kill yourself,
即使能导致好的结果 even if the results would be better.
即使那是你从痛苦中解脱的唯一出路 Even if that's the only way to put yourself out of pain,
即使结果是好的 也于事无补 and those are good results, it doesn't matter.
生存的权利超越了结果 The right to life outweighs the appeal to consequences.
那么按照义务论者的说法 似乎是 So as deontologists, it seems,
自杀应该完全禁止 证明完毕 we have to say suicide is forbidden--full stop.
然而 在哲学中通常没那么简单 Well, as usual in philosophy, it's not quite as simple as that.
其中一个回应便是 One possible response somebody might make is,
但是 看 but look,
道德只关注我如何对待他人 morality is only about how I treat others.
而不关注我如何对待自己 It's not about how I treat myself.
如果我们接受这一说法 And if we were to accept that claim,
我们就可以说 then we could say
生存的权利只关注 the right to life only covers
我如何对待他人 how I treat others.
特别是 它禁止我杀死别人 In particular, it rules out my killing other people
即使结果很好 even when the results would be good.
但这种说法不关注我如何对待自己 But it doesn't have any implications for how I treat myself.
尤其是 And in particular then,
如果生存的权利不排除自杀 if the right to life doesn't exclude self-killing,
那么自杀便可以接受 well then, suicide is acceptable.
可能会有这种道德观念 That's a possible moral view,
但我认为它完全错误 but I find it rather implausible.
如果我们是用你会受到的影响 If we were to start to explain what it is about you
来解释 为何我杀死你是错的 that explains why it's wrong for me to kill you,
我们首先讲到 你是个人 we'd start saying things about how, well, you're a person and,
你有各种各样的计划什么的 as such, you've got all these plans and so forth and so on.
作为人 你有某些权力 And as a person, you've got certain rights,
某些事不应该发生在你身上 certain things that shouldn't be done to you.
你并不仅是 You're not just, --
这是义务论背后的思想 对吧 This is the thought that lies behind much deontological thinking, right?
人不是物体 People aren't objects.
不能为了得到更好的结果而杀死他们 We can't just destroy them for the sake of better results.
没错 人的确不是物体 Well, that's right; people aren't objects.
那么当然 我也是人 But of course, I'm a person too.
所以当我自杀时 And so when I contemplate killing myself,
我也是在杀人 I'm contemplating destroying a person.
因此 很难看出为什么我们要说 So, it's at least difficult to see why we would accept the claim
道德只关注你如何对待他人 that morality only governs how I treat other people.
虽然这是个复杂的问题 It seems--although the issue is a complicated one,
我们没有时间继续深究 which we don't have time to pursue further today--
但在我看来 更合理的说法是 it seems to me more plausible to say
道德不仅关注我如何对待他人 morality includes rules not only governing how I treat others
也关注我如何对待自己 but also how I treat myself.
然而 如果这样说没错 Yet, if that's right,
而且 如果道德原则里包括生存权 and if among the moral rules are a right to life,
禁止对人造成伤害 a prohibition against harming people,
那我们不是就可以说 看 then don't we have to say, look,
按照义务论的观点自杀是错的 it's wrong from the deontological perspective to kill yourself.
当然 Well, of course,
对这种想法常见的回应是说 the natural response to this line of thought is to say,
当我自杀时 不同于杀死约翰 but look, when I kill myself--unlike the case of chopping up John
是为了救其他五人 我自杀 to save five others--when I kill myself,
是为了我自己 I'm doing it for my own sake.
我为了自己而伤害自己 I'm harming myself for my own sake.
这似乎与自杀的道德问题密切相关 That seems highly relevant in thinking about the morality of suicide.
确实是相关的 It does seem relevant,
但我们并不100%确定如何解释这一说法 though it's not 100 % clear what to do with that thought.
我们有两种可能的解释 Here are two possible interpretations of that thought.
首先 说我为了自己而伤害自己 First of all, you might think that the relevance of saying
这种说法是在说 that I'm harming myself for my own sake is this.
如果我伤害自己是为了自己 If I'm harming myself for my own sake,
我是在说 what I'm saying is,
除了对自己造成伤害外 despite the fact that I'm harming myself,
其实我更好了 I'm better off.
毕竟 我们假设在那些 After all, we stipulated that we were focusing on cases
有理由自杀的例子中 in which suicide was rational.
那个人死了会更好 So, the person is better off dead.
如果他死了会更好 If they're better off dead,
那么虽然在某种程度上 then although it's certainly true that there's a sense
他的确伤害了自己 in which they're harming themselves--
我的意思是杀死自己 I mean killing yourself
的确伤害了自己 is doing harm to yourself--
但总的来说不是伤害 still it's not harm overall.
我们的底线 我们假设 The bottom line, we were imagining,
自杀对你有利 is positive when you kill yourself.
但是 尽管 And so, although,
与约翰的例子不同 unlike the case of John
那时是你杀死他来使别人获利 where you've harmed him and benefited others--
所以总的来说伤害了他 so you have harmed him overall--
而在自杀的例子中 in the case of suicide,
当我伤害自己以避免 when I harm myself to avoid
继续遭受痛苦 the suffering I would otherwise go through,
我们可以说 I'm not really, as we might say,
总的来讲我没有伤害自己 harming myself overall.
所以 也许义务论中所禁止的伤害 So, perhaps the deontological prohibition against harm
是从总体上禁止对人伤害 is really a prohibition against harming people overall.
看 假设你得了某种疾病 Look, you've got some sort of a disease in your--
大腿发生感染并且扩散 infection in your leg that has now spread
只有截肢才能救你 and it's going to kill you unless we amputate your leg.
所以 外科医生为你做了截肢手术 So, you go into surgery and the surgeon chops off your leg.
他做了什么不道德的事吗 Has he done something immoral?
他似乎没有 It doesn't seem as though he has.
但毕竟 他锯了你的腿 But after all, he chopped off your leg!
他伤害了你 He harmed you!
你以前有腿但现在没有了 You used to have a leg and now you don't have one.
但是 我们要说的是 Well, what we want to say is
总的来说他没有伤害你 he didn't harm you overall.
他伤害你的方式 He harmed you in such a way that
是使你能好起来的唯一方式 it was the only way to leave you better off bottom line,
因此它没有违反禁止伤害的原则 and that's not a violation of the rule against harming.
至少这是一种可能的解释 At least, that's a possible thing to say.
如果这种解释是对的 And if that's the right thing to say,
也许我们又可以这样去解释自杀了 then maybe that's what we should say about the suicide case yet again.
没错 道义上的确禁止 Yeah, there's a deontological prohibition against
伤害无辜的人 harming innocent people,
但这实际上是禁止 but what it's really a prohibition against,
在总体上使他们情况变差 is leaving them worse off overall.
而当我自杀时 And when I kill myself,
总的来说我的情况没变差 I'm not leaving myself worse off overall.
如果这样说没错 And if that's right,
那么即使从义务论的角度来看 then even from the deontological perspective
自杀也有可能是符合道德的 suicide may be morally legitimate.
这至少是一种可能的方式 Well, that's at least one possible way
采用义务论的观点 to carry out the deontological stand,
来解释 one possible way of interpreting the remark,
但是看 当我自杀时 "But look, when I kill myself,
我是在做对自己有益的事 I'm doing it for my own benefit."
下面是另一种可能的解释 Here's another possible way of interpreting that thought.
我自杀的前提是对自己有益 When I kill myself, given that I'm doing it for my own benefit,
我显然得到了自己的同意 I've obviously got my own agreement.
我不可能违背自己的意愿自杀 I can't kill myself against my will.
自杀是对自己做的事 Suicide is something you do to yourself.
所以 我同意自己这么做 And so, I have my own consent to what I'm doing.
这似乎很重要 That seems pretty important.
注意这与约翰例子的不同 Notice how different it is from the case of John.
当我杀死约翰时 When I chopped up John,
我假设我并没征得他的同意 I imagine I don't have John's approval.
在自杀时我征得了同意 Consent seems to be present in the case of suicide
但杀死约翰时没有 but not in the case of chopping up John.
也许这是一个道德原则 Maybe that's morally relevant as well.
要接受这个观点 当然 Now, to accept that view is, of course,
我们就必须在义务论中 to say we need to add yet
增加另一个道德原则 another factor into our deontological theory.
我们已经有了结果原则 We have consequences,
有了禁止伤害原则 we have harm doing,
现在还要加上同意原则 but we also have the factor of consent.
那么我们在思考道德问题时 And so we need to think about the moral relevance
就要同时考虑受害者是否同意 of having the consent of the victim.
一旦我们开始考虑这个问题 And once we start thinking about that,
我相信大部分人都会认可 I think most of us would be inclined to accept the conclusion
征得同意可以使我们做一些 that consent can make it acceptable to do to someone
一般情况下没征得同意时是错误的事 what would normally be wrong in the absence of their consent.
顺便提一下 你会注意到 By the by, you'll notice that
这似乎是一件 that seems to be one of the things
和手术例子有关的事情 that's relevant in thinking about the surgery case,
不是器官移植的例子 not the organ transplant case
而是那个通过截肢 but the performing the amputation of the leg,
救人一命的例子 to save the person who would otherwise die.
显然病人已经 Surely it seems relevant that the patient
允许你为他动手术 has given you permission to operate on them.
还有一个有关征得同意的例子 Here's another example that shows you the relevance of consent.
如果我走过去一拳打你鼻子上 It would not be okay--it would not be morally acceptable
这样做应该不符合道德 for me to go up and hit you in the nose.
就像你不能走过来 Just like it wouldn't be okay
打我的脸或者肚子 for you to go up and hit me in the face or the gut.
可是在拳击比赛中 我认为 And yet, boxing matches are, I suppose,
这就符合道德 为什么 morally acceptable. Why is that?
从义务论的角度出发 答案是 Because from a deontological perspective the answer is,
拳击比赛中 他们都同意这样做 when people are boxing they've agreed to it.
我允许你打我 I give you permission to hit me,
至少允许你尝试打我 or at least to try to hit me,
作为交换 你也允许我打你 in exchange for your giving me permission to hit you,
或者至少尝试打你 or at least to try to hit you.
这便是同意原则 And it's the presence of that consent
允许你可以伤害我 that makes it permissible for you to harm me,
这需要你拳打得比我更好 assuming that you're a better boxer than I am,
但我估计这显而易见 which I'm confident would have to be the case.
所以 征得同意后 So, consent makes it legitimate
伤害别人变得正当 to harm people,
即使在没征得同意前 这样做不正当 even though in the absence of consent it wouldn't be legitimate.
好的 如果这是对的 那么 All right, if that's right, then
我们据此来考虑自杀问题 bring that thought home to thinking about the case of suicide.
表面上看自杀可能是错的 Suicide might be wrong,
因为毕竟我是一个人 because after all I'm a person, at first glance.
但我自杀时 我征得了自己的同意 But since I'm killing myself, I've given myself permission.
我同意自己伤害自己 I've given myself consent to harm myself.
如果征得同意以后 And if consent makes it
就可以做通常被禁止做的事 permissible to do what would normally be forbidden,
那么征得同意以后 then consent makes it permissible for me
我就可以杀死自己 to kill myself.
因此我们又得到了同一结论 And so, now we're led again to the conclusion
从更全面的义务论观点出发 that from a more fully developed deontological perspective
我们应该说自杀是允许的 we ought to say suicide is permissible,
至少当我们准备 at least if we're prepared
引入这类同意原则 to throw in this kind of factor of consent
并且认为这一原则可以 and think that it can just wipe out
让我们做通常情况下不能做的事情 the protections that would otherwise normally be in place.
实际上 如果我们这样想 Indeed, if we think that,
我们将会得到一个非常极端的 we're going to be led to a rather bold and extreme conclusion
关于自杀道德问题的结论 about the morality of suicide.
某人杀死自己 The person has killed himself,
他肯定获得了自己同意 so he's clearly consented,
所以在所有情况下 and so in every case
他这么干都是正当的 what he's done is acceptable.
或许这是对的 如果我们打算 Well, maybe that's right--if we're prepared to go
如此狂热地认同同意原则 that far with the principle of consent.
但也许我们不该 But maybe we shouldn't go
这么极端地认同同意原则 that far with the principle of consent.
假如下课后你对我说 Suppose we're talking after class and you say to me,
雪莱 我允许你杀了我 "Shelly, you've got my permission to kill me."
然后我就掏出枪把你杀了 And so I get out my gun and I shoot you to death.
这样做好像不符合道德 It doesn't seem morally acceptable,
即使你允许我这么做 even though you gave me your permission,
再来想个更怪的例子 especially--Think of even weirder cases.
假如你觉得自己该死 Suppose that you are feeling like you want to killed
因为你满心愧疚 because you're overcome with guilt
因为你相信自己杀了约翰·史密斯 because you believe you killed John Smith.
但其实你疯了 你没杀约翰·史密斯 But you're crazy. You didn't kill John Smith.
约翰·史密斯根本没死 John Smith's not even dead.
但你疯狂地认为自己杀了他 But in your insanity you think you did do it,
所以你说 雪莱 请杀了我 and so you say, "Shelly, please kill me."
而我知道你疯了 但你看 And I know that you're insane, but hey, you know,
同意就是同意 因此我杀了你 consent's consent, and so I kill you.
这很明显难以接受 Well, that clearly isn't acceptable.
再假设你跟三岁的侄子玩 Or suppose you're playing with your three-year-old nephew.
他说 噢 He says, "Oh yeah,
我实在不想活了 杀了我吧 I don't really like being alive. Kill me."
很明显 这不意味着可以杀死他/她 Well, that clearly doesn't make it acceptable to kill him or her--
喔 侄子 应该是他 well, nephew, it's a him.
所以 如果我们接受同意原则 So, if we start accepting this consent principle,
又会得到一些难以置信的结论 we're led to some pretty implausible conclusions.
或许我们应该抛弃它 So, maybe we should throw it out.
也许我们应该说 Maybe we should say,
不 同意原则并非像一分钟之前 no, consent really doesn't have the kind of power
看上去的那么有道理 that a minute ago it looked like it did.
但我觉得我们不要太极端 But I'm inclined to think we shouldn't go that far
不要将同意原则全部抛弃 and throw away the consent principle altogether.
因为一旦抛弃同意原则 Because if we do throw out the consent principle,
我们会发现自己无法再谈论一些 we're going to find ourselves unable to say some things
对我们来讲十分重要的事情 that I think it's pretty important to us to say.
考虑下面的例子 Consider the following example.
假设战争中 我们在一个散兵坑 Suppose that we're in war and we're in the foxhole
一枚手榴弹掉进坑里 and a hand grenade has been thrown into the foxhole.
除非你很快做些什么 And unless something happens quick,
否则手榴弹会爆炸 the hand grenade is going to blow up
并且杀死在它近旁的五个战友 and it will kill my five buddies who are near the hand grenade.
不幸的是 他们可能在打扑克什么的 Unfortunately, because they're playing cards or whatever,
没看见手榴弹 而我看见了 they don't see it. But I see it.
但时间不足以提醒他们 But I don't have time to warn them.
等到我告诉他们会发生什么 By the time I tell them what's going on,
他们也没时间做反应了 they won't have time to react.
是袖手旁观 让他们炸死 Really, it's do nothing, let them get killed
而且我也不会受什么伤 but I probably won't be hurt very much,
或者我可以扑到手榴弹上 or throw myself on the hand grenade,
用身体吸收爆炸 牺牲自己拯救战友 my body absorbs the blow, saves my buddies, kills me.
假设我现在扑到了手榴弹上 Imagine what happens is that I throw myself on the hand grenade.
我为他们牺牲了自己 I've sacrificed myself for them.
我做了件了不起的事 I've done something amazing.
很少有人有这种品质做这件事 Few of us would have it within ourselves to do this,
但令人敬仰的是 的确有人会这么做 but amazingly enough some people do.
我们钦佩 赞扬那些人 And we admire and praise these people.
他们完成了 They've committed--they've undertaken
非同凡响的英雄般的自我牺牲 an incredible act of heroic self-sacrifice--
道德上值得赞扬 morally commendable,
超越了应承担的义务 值得赞扬 above and beyond the call of duty we want to say, praiseworthy.
但是等一下 这为什么值得赞扬 But wait a minute, how could it be praiseworthy?
这个人扑到手榴弹上 The person threw himself on a hand grenade,
他知道他会死去 knowing the result of this was that he was going to die.
因此他就杀了一个人 And so he killed a person,
因此 很明显 thereby, apparently,
这侵犯了义务论里的权利 violating the deontological right
不应该杀害无辜的人 not to have innocent people be killed.
别和我说 结果会更好 Don't talk about "The results are better."
显然 五个人获救 结果肯定更好 Yeah, of course, five buddies saved; the results are better.
但这在义务论里不足以说明问题 But that doesn't seem enough to use in our deontological moods.
毕竟 假设我看到手榴弹 After all, suppose that I see the hand grenade,
我做的是 我把琼斯仍在了手榴弹上 and so what I do is I take Jones and throw him on the grenade.
这似乎做得不对 Well, that's not okay,
即使结果一样 even though the results are the same.
两者有何不同呢 What makes the difference?
为什么琼斯把自己扔在手榴弹上 Why is it morally legitimate for Jones
就符合道德 to throw himself on the grenade?
我能想到的唯一答案是 The only answer that I can see is,
因为他同意了 because he agrees to it.
他对自己做了这件事 He did it to himself;
他是自愿的 他得到了自己的批准 he volunteered, it has his consent.
如果我们抛弃同意原则 If we throw away the consent principle,
我们就只能说 we're forced to say
琼斯的行为在道德上不值得称赞 what Jones did isn't morally admirable.
这件事道德败坏 It's morally appalling,
道德上是禁止的 it's morally forbidden.
我不这么认为 I can't believe that.
因此我们需要同意原则 So, we need a consent principle.
但另一方面 But on the other hand,
我们又不用 we don't want to go with
将同意原则绝对化 such a strong consent principle that we say,
哦 杀死疯子或小孩都没问题 oh, it's okay to kill crazy people, or kill children,
因为他们说 噢 杀了我 just because they say, "Oh, kill me."
因此我们需要 So we need something--
一个更适度的同意原则 a more moderate form of the consent principle.
应该说同意原则只能在 We need to say consent can do its thing,
某些条件下成立 but only under certain conditions.
都有哪些条件呢 What exactly are the relevant conditions?
这是另一个可以讨论话题 Well, this is, of course, one more topic open for debate.
我们可能坚持认为 看 We might insist that, look,
同意必须出于自愿 the permission has got to be given freely.
必须知道它的后果 It's got to be given knowing what the upshots are going to be.
此人必须心智正常 It's got to be given by somebody who is sane,
有理性 有担当 who is rational, who is competent,
是一位 这就解决了小孩的例子 who's--and that may deal with the child case as well,
他还没有资格做出这种决定 who is not yet competent to make this sort of decision.
我们有空间来争论 There's room for disagreement about
都需要哪些限制条件 what exactly are the relevant conditions
来得到一个比较适度的同意原则 to put into a proper version of the consent principle.
我们还需要引入一些要求 We might also want to throw in some requirement
某人需要有合适的理由来要求你这样做 that the person have good reasons for his giving you permission.
可以用这点来解释那个例子 That might deal with the case
你下课后来找我然后说 where you just come up to me after class and say,
杀了我 我的意思是你没疯 "Kill me." I mean you're not insane.
至少可能没疯 Well, at least you might not be insane.
你知道即将发生什么 You know what's going to happen.
而且你已经到了能为自己负责的年龄 In some sense, you've reached the age of competence,
但你没有合适的理由 but you don't have any good reasons for it.
也许有这些对同意原则的限制就足够了 Maybe that's enough to undermine the force of consent.
那么 假设我们有了这种 Well, suppose we've got some
同意原则的升级版 kind of modified consent principle.
接下来该怎样评判自杀 What should we say about suicide then?
在我看来我们又一次得到了 Well, it seems to me what we're led to is, once again,
一个中立观点 a modest view about suicide.
仅从自杀这个事实 The mere fact that the person killed themselves won't show
无法看出它是否道德 因为 that it was morally legitimate because, of course,
即使他们得到自己的许可 even though they've given themselves permission,
他们也可能没有 they may not have had,
比如 合适的理由 for example, good reason,
或者 他们也许疯了 or they might be insane.
但即便如此 如果某人 But for all that, if we can have cases--
我认为会有这种情况 and I take it we can have cases--
理性地评估了自己的处境 where somebody rationally assesses their situation,
发现自己死了会更好 sees that they're better off dead,
他全盘考虑 而非仓促行动 thinks the case through, doesn't rush into it,
深思熟虑后 makes an informed
心甘情愿做出一个决定 and voluntary decision,
有很好的理由的决定 with good reason behind it--
在这种情况下 在我看来 in a situation like that it seems to me
同意原则就会起到作用 the consent principle might well come into play,
同意原则 in which case consent
取消了义务论禁止 will trump or nullify the force of the deontological prohibition
伤害无辜者的限制 against harming innocent people.
因此 自杀在某些情况下可以接受 So, suicide will again be acceptable in some cases,
尽管不是所有情况下 though not in all.
在我看来 这是一个正确的结论 And that's the conclusion that seems to me to be the right one,
无论我们站在功利主义立场 whether we accept the utilitarian position
还是站在义务论立场 or one of these deontological positions.
自杀并非总是正当的 Suicide isn't always legitimate,
但有时是正当的 but it's sometimes legitimate.
由此引出一个问题 It still leaves the question,
我们应该怎样做 what should we do
当我们看到某人试图自杀时 when we see, when we come across, somebody trying to kill themselves?"
我认为你应该问问自己 And there I think there is good reason to ask yourself,
你确定这个人满足 are you confident that the person has satisfied
同意原则的所有限制条件吗 the conditions on the consent principle?
也许我们应该慎之又慎 Perhaps we should err on the side of caution,
可以假定此人悲伤过度 and assume that the person may be acting under distress,
以致无法清晰思考 一叶障目 not thinking clearly, not informed,
丧失正确的判断能力 not altogether competent,
缺乏合适的理由 not acting for good reasons.
但这样做 But to accept that is not to
并不是说应该接受极端的结论 说 accept the stronger conclusion
我们绝对不能允许别人自杀 that we must never permit somebody to kill themselves.
在我们能够确认 If we become convinced
他们经过深思熟虑 that they have thought it through,
有充分的理由 对结果有足够了解 that they do have good reason, that they are informed,
并且出于自愿 that they are acting voluntarily,
那么在这种情况下 in some such cases
自杀也许是正当的 it may be legitimate for them to kill themselves,
我们不应阻拦他们 and for us to let them.
好了 快没时间了 All right, almost out of time.
我最后一次加快进度 So, let me shift gears for the very last time,
迅速回顾一下我们讲过的内容 and take a quick look at where we've been.
这学期开始的时候 At the start of the semester,
我要求你们认真思考死亡的本质 I invited you to think hard about the nature of death
或者说 生命与死亡的真相 or the facts about life and death.
大多数人 Most of us
非常努力地逃避认真思考死亡 try very hard to not think hard about death.
它看上去是个令人不快的话题 It seems to be an unpleasant topic,
我们把它抛诸脑后 and we put it out of our mind.
我们不去想它 We don't think about it,
即使死到临头也不去想它 even when there's a sense in which it's staring us in the face.
这学期的每堂课 Every single class of this semester,
这学期的每一天 every single day of this semester,
你进入这栋大楼之前 you've come into this building
都会经过路边的一片墓地 and have walked past a cemetery right across the street.
多少次你会注意到它 How many times did you notice it?
多少次这一场景会使你停下来思考 How many times did you stop to think about the complete visual reminder
我们只是这个世界的过客 that we are on this Earth for a while,
离去就不再回来 and then we're not anymore?
大多数人不去想这些 Most of us just don't think about it.
当然 在某种意义上 你们是例外 Well, of course you are, in some sense, the exceptions.
你们花了一学期思考它 You've spent a semester thinking about it,
而且我会很欣慰 and I'll be largely content
如果你利用这个机会 if you've taken the opportunity this semester
认真地审视你相信的事情 to take a hard look at the things you believe.
至于你最终是否认同我 Whether or not you ended up agreeing with me,
认同我之前提出的那些观点 about the various claims that I've put forward,
并不重要 重要的是你借此 is less important than that you've taken the chance
认真审视自己的信仰 并且知道 to take a hard look at your beliefs and asked yourself
不是你希望的 你渴望的 not just what you hoped or wished
你相信的就是真的 or kind of believed was true,
而是真正有道理的才是真的 but what you could actually defend.
不过 话虽如此 Still, having said that,
我也不想装作 it would be disingenuous of me to pretend
不希望你们认可我的观点 that I don't also hope that you've come around--
如果你一开始不认可我的观点 if you didn't start out believing what I believe--
我希望你现在认可了 that you've come around to believing what I believe.
就像我第一天说的 As I pointed out on the first day,
大部分人对生命和死亡的本质 most people accept a great deal of this package
都有一整套这样的信念 of beliefs about the nature of life and death,
他们相信存在灵魂 that--They believe we have a soul,
我们除了身体以外还有灵魂 that there's something more to us than our bodies.
他们之所以相信 是因为 And they believe that because
他们认为 如果存在灵魂 they think, given the existence of a soul,
我们就有可能永远活着 we'll have the possibility of living forever.
永生就是可能的 Immortality is a possibility,
而我们都希望并渴求这种机会 and we all hope for and crave the possibility
永生的机会 that we will live forever
因为死亡是 而且绝对是可怕的 because death is, and must be, horrible.
可怕到我们尽量不去想它 It's so horrible that we try not to think about it.
可怕到当我们想到它时 It's so horrible that when we do think about it
我们就会充满恐惧 害怕和焦虑 we're filled with dread, terror and fear.
而且很明显这是对死亡 And it's just obvious that that's the only sensible reaction
唯一合理的反应 to the facts about life and death.
生命如此美妙 所以在任何情况下 Life is so incredible that under no circumstances
都不可能对生命终结感到高兴 could it ever make sense to be glad that it had come to an end.
永生令人向往 Immortality would be desirable;
自杀从来都不是理性的选择 suicide could never be a reasonable response.
通过本学期的课程 Over the course of this semester,
我说明了 这一整套信仰 I've argued that that package of beliefs,
尽管很常见 common as it may be,
但从头到尾都是错的 is mistaken, virtually from start to finish.
灵魂并不存在 我们只是机器 There is no soul, we are just machines.
但我们不是一般的机器 We're not just any old machine;
我们是神奇的机器 we are amazing machines.
我们这种机器能够恋爱 能够梦想 We are machines capable of loving, capable of dreaming,
能够创造 capable of being creative,
能够制定计划 并与人分享 capable of making plans and sharing them with others.
我们是人 但本质上还是机器 We are people. But we're just machines anyway.
当机器坏掉 那就是终结 And when the machine breaks, that's the end.
死亡不是什么 Death is not some
我们理解不了的艰深奥秘 big mystery which we can't get our heads around.
死亡在某种意义上并不比 Death is in some sense no more mysterious than the fact
灯泡坏掉 或着电脑坏掉 that your lamp can break, or your computer can break,
或任何其它机器坏掉神秘多少 or any other machine will eventually fail.
但我并不是说 I never meant to claim that
死亡不令人遗憾 it's not regrettable that we die the way we do.
当谈到永生时 我说过 As I argued when talking about immortality,
假如生活还能给我们更多东西 better still would be if only we had the prospect of living
那么就值得继续过下去 as long as life still had something left to offer us.
只要总的来讲生活是好事 As long as life would be good overall,
死亡就是坏事 death is bad,
而且我认为 对大多数人来说 and I think for most of us
死亡来得太早 death comes too soon.
但这么说并非意味着 But having said that, it doesn't follow
永生是好事 that immortality would be a good thing.
恰恰相反 永生是坏事 On the contrary, immortality would be a bad thing.
面对死亡 The reaction that makes sense
合理的反应 in thinking about the facts of death
并不是把它看得多神秘 is not to find it as some great mystery
可怕到想都不敢想 too dreadful to think about,
摧枯拉朽一般 而是 too overwhelming. But rather,
恐惧 我认为完全不是 fear, far from being
一种合理恰当的情绪 the rationally appropriate response I think,
是种不恰当的情绪 is an inappropriate response.
虽然我们会为死得太早而难过 Although we can be sad that we die too soon,
但它也许应该和另一件事同时考虑 that perhaps should be balanced by the fact of--
我们认识到 我们能够拥有生命 the recognition of--just how incredibly lucky we all are
是多么幸运 to have been alive at all.
但是同时 Yet, at the same time,
认识到这种幸运 recognizing that sense of luck and being fortunate
并不意味着生活会 doesn't mean that we're always lucky
一直这么幸运下去 to be remaining alive.
对某些人来说 或早或晚 For some of us the time will come
他们不再幸运 in which that's no longer true,
那个时候 and when that happens
生命已经不值得坚持下去 life is not something to be held onto,
不论发生什么事情 come what may,
不论出现什么情况 under any and all circumstances.
有些人会走到 The time could come for some of us
应该撒手人寰的那一天 in which it's time to let go.
我下面希望你们做的 What I then invited you to do,
通过本学期的课程 over the course of the semester,
不只是自己想清楚 is not only to think for yourself
生命和死亡的真相 about the facts of life and death,
而且希望你们在面对死亡时 but I invite you all to come to face death
不再有恐惧和幻想 without fear and without illusion.
谢谢大家 Thanks very much.