上节课我们开始探讨 All right. Last time we started asking ourselves
到底是死亡的哪些因素 about what are some of the other aspects of death that
可能使它产生危害 或者说 might contribute to its badness, or
至少有些因素是值得我们去思考的 at least other features of death that are worth thinking about.
可以想见 有些因素会 Conceivably, some of them might
在某种程度上减少死亡带来的危害 reduce the badness of death, in some way.
我们讨论了死亡的必然性 We talked about the inevitability of death;
以及不同的 we talked about the variability,
生命长度所带来的变数 that people have different lengths of time before they die.
现在我们来讨论死亡的不可预见性 And we turned to a discussion of the unpredictability of death,
我们不知道 也不能预测 the fact that because we don't know--we can't predict--
我们将活多久 how much more time we've got,
我们似乎也无法完全掌控自己的生活 we may, as it were, pace ourselves incorrectly.
你可能壮志未酬 You may take on a long-term project and then die
身先死 before you've been able to complete it;
也可能过早的功成名就 or alternatively, you may peak too soon and then
而后看着自己 continue to stick around
慢慢老去 in an anti-climactic way.
这种不幸本可避免 These are bads of life
如果我们知道 that could presumably be avoided if only we knew
我们到底可以活多久的话 how much exactly we had--how much longer we had.
另一方面 我们必须诘问自己 On the other hand, we have to ask ourselves--
上节课我留的那个问题 and this the question that I left us with last time--
如果我们确切了解我们活在世上的时间 whether it would really, all things considered, be better to know
是不是更好 how much time you had.
假设我们身上有这么一种胎记 After all, if you knew--suppose we had the
它能告诉你 你什么时候会死 birthmarks that told you when you were going to die--
如果真有这么一块胎记 if you had that kind of a birthmark,
你会时时生活在它的阴影之下 you would face your entire life with the burden of knowing,
我还剩48年 47年 或是50年 I've got 48 years left, 47 years left, 50 years left.
我会这样一直倒计时下去 I should've been counting down--
35年 30年 25年 等等 35, 30, 25 and so forth.
许多人会发现 正如我所说 是个负担 Many of us would find that was, as I say, a burden--
就像有什么东西始终悬在心头似的 something hanging constantly over us
以至于影响我们享受生活的能力 interfering with our ability to enjoy life.
设想有这么一种基因标志 Suppose that there were some sort of genetic marker
尽管我们并不能 and, although we didn't have
把它纹在身上 想看就看 a tattoo that you would just have to look at,
但你可以做基因咨询 检测你的DNA but you could have genetic counseling--have your DNA examined
通过DNA测试 你会知道 and you could tell, if you had the DNA testing,
你还会活多久 how much time you had left.
你愿意去做这种测试吗 Would you want to get that testing done?
当然 这仅仅是像科幻小说一样 Now, that's of course science fiction,
而且我想一时半会儿这也不可能实现 and I presume it's going to stay science fiction--
尽管我们的认知 though we're on the cusp of
至少已经越来越接近 having something at least approximating that
随着我们越来越多地了解不同的基因 as we learn more and more about the various genes that
会导致不同的疾病 carry various diseases,
但越来越多的人还是要 we--more and more of us
面临这个问题 face the question of whether or not we want to
即 我们是否想被检测是否患有这些疾病 get tested for those diseases.
假定有这么一个测试 Suppose there was a test.
某人偶然间 Indeed, one occasionally
在报上读到 reads in the newspaper about this sort of thing
可以对这些疾病如此检测 where you can get tested for such and such a disease.
你得知自己有50%的概率会得这种病 You might know already that you've got a 50 percent chance of having it,
但你还是不能确认你是否一定会得 but you don't know whether you yourself have it.
如果你确实会得 If you do have it,
这种病通常会 the disease will always
在你40岁 50岁或者什么时候发作 have onset by age 40, 50 or what have you.
你希望早早得到这样一种信息吗 Would you want to have that kind of information?
言归正传 Closely related question.
如果你们现在知道你们将不久于人世 If you did know how much time you had left,
那么你们会做出何种改变呢 how would you act differently from what you're doing now?
它能否把你的注意力都集中到 Would it focus your attention on
你认为是对你来说最重要的事情上呢 making sure you did the things that were most important to you?
这是个很值得... And it's worth--
这是个很有效的测试 it's sort of a useful test for asking yourself
反问自己 生命中哪些事是有价值的 what are the things you must value in life--to ask,
如果你知道自己还有 what would you choose to do if you knew you had
5或10年的活头 你将如何去活 five years, ten years, what have you?
《周六夜现场》节目中有段老掉牙的故事 There's an old Saturday Night Live routine
说的是一名演员去看医生 where one of the actors is in the doctor's office, and the
医生告诉他一个非常不幸的消息 doctor gives him the very sad news that he's got
他的生命只剩下两分钟了 two minutes left to live.
这名演员说 "那我就尽情享受 And he says, "I'm going to pack a lifetime of enjoyment
生命的最后两分钟吧" into those two minutes."
可以想见 故事的笑点出现了 And then of course, the point of the skit is
这名演员按下了电梯的按钮 he presses the down button on the elevator and
就在他等待电梯上来的时候 a minute and a half goes by
一分半钟已经悄然间逝去了 while he's waiting for the elevator to come.
如果你知道你的生命还有一年或者两年 If you knew you had a year left or two years left,
你将如何去度过剩余的时光 what would you do with that time?
你会选择上学 还是外出旅行 Would you be in school? Would you travel?
还是花更多的时间 Would you spend more time
与你的朋友待在一起 hanging out with your friends?
对我来说 有一件刻骨铭心的事情 A very, for me, extremely striking example
就发生在我讲这门课的时候 of this question occurred in this very class.
许多年前 There was a student
有一位听我这门课的学生将不久于人世 in this class some years ago who was dying.
他知道他就要死了 And he knew that he was dying.
他在大一时就被诊断出患有癌症 He'd been diagnosed with,
如果我没记错的话 if I recall correctly, cancer as a freshmen--
他的医生告诉他基本没有治愈的可能 and his doctor had told him that he pretty much had no chance
他只剩下两年多的时间了 of recovery and indeed had only a couple more years to live.
面对此情此景 他只能问自己 Faced with that question, he had to ask himself,
"我该如何度过我的余生" "Well, what should I do with my remaining years?"
他做出了一个令人惊异不已 It was astonishing enough that somebody--
但又合乎情理的决定 but perhaps understandable--that somebody in that situation would
继续求学 并且逼迫自己 decide to take a class on death and then have himself,
周复一周地来听我的课 submit himself, to my getting up here week after week,
讨论灵魂的缥缈 talking about how there's no soul,
亦无来生 there's no prospect for an afterlife,
人终有一死是件好事 it's a good thing that we're all going to die.
但是要他直面这一问题 他将如何去做 But faced with the question what should he do,
如何去度过这剩下的两年时光 what did he want to do with his remaining couple of years,
他选择了去攻读耶鲁的学位 what he decided he wanted to do was finish his Yale degree--
并在临终前实现了他的夙愿 thought he'd set himself the goal of
顺利完成了学业 graduating college before he died.
他是大二第二学期上的这门课 And he was taking this class second semester of his senior year.
至少坚持上到春假之前 At least, he was taking it until Spring Break.
但到了春假期间他就病得很重了 By Spring Break he'd gotten sufficiently sick that
医生说他不能再在校读书了 his doctor basically said, "You can't continue in school anymore.
他必须回家静养 You've got to go home."
这基本上是说 他要回家去死 Basically, "You've got to go home to die."
的确 And indeed,
他当时病情日益恶化 后来又急转直下 he got progressively and then rapidly deteriorated at that point.
所有那学期教过他课的老师 The faculty members who were teaching his classes that semester
都面临着一个行政难题 then all faced the question posed to them by the administration,
基于他已学习了大半个学期这一情况 based on the work he's done so far this semester,
将给他怎样的一个成绩呢 has he--what kind of grade are you prepared to give him?
因为 根据他的课程通过情况来看 Because, depending on which of his classes he passed
这个问题也就演变为 and which of his classes he failed, the question was going to be,
他到底可不可以毕业 was he going to graduate or not?
当然 事实上 他还是毕业了 In fact, of course, he did manage to graduate.
我想 这对耶鲁来说实在是一种荣光 And Yale, to its, I think, real glory and credit
在他临终之时亲自 sent a member of the administration down
到他的病榻之前 to his deathbed to award him his degree
授予他学位 before he passed away.
如我所说 这是个令人难忘的故事 So, as I say, it's a very striking story.
我并不能确定我们当中有多少人会决定 I'm not sure how many of us would decide the last thing we wanted
临终之前最想做的事是在校读书 to do with our remaining years is to spend it in college.
那么你想做的是什么呢 Well, what is it that you'd want to do?
我们再来问自己一个再大点的问题 And again, to move back and ask ourselves a larger question,
知道你将还活多久是会 would knowing how much time you have be something that
让你面临种种选择早做决定 would allow you to actually embrace those choices,
还是仅仅是一种负担 or would it instead just be a burden?
这就是当我们去考虑 That's the kind of question
我们并不清楚自己还能活多久这一事实时 we have to face when we think about the
所要面临的一类问题 fact that we don't know how much time we've got.
这会增加死亡带给我们的害处 Is that something that increases the badness of death,
还是会稍微减轻些死亡的重要性呢 or does it reduce its significance somewhat?
下面谈谈死亡的另一个特征 Here's another feature.
谈到了死亡的必然性 可变性 In addition to the inevitability, in addition to the variability,
死亡的不可预见性 in addition to the unpredictability, there's the fact that
还有一样 我喜欢称之为死亡的普遍性 death is, as I like to think of it, ubiquitous.
我的意思不是说我们周围总有人即将离世 I don't just mean the fact that people are dying all around us,
而是我们会随时与死神相遇 but I mean rather, you yourself could die at any time.
谁也不能保证我们 There's never any getting away from the possibility
不会立马就死 that you'll die now.
即使是有所征兆 Even if we didn't have unpredictability,
当然 即使我们没有征兆 I mean rather, even if we had unpredictability,
也不必按着有无征兆来探讨死亡的普遍性 it wouldn't necessarily follow that death was pervasive in this way.
我想说的重点是 The point I've got in mind here is this--
即使我们认为自己十分安全的时候 even when you think you're perfectly safe,
你也可能会死于中风 you could of course die of a stroke.
或者死于心脏病突发 You could die of a heart attack.
即使是年轻人也会死于动脉瘤 Even somebody who's young could have an aneurysm.
或者像我喜欢的一个案例那样 Or one of my favorite examples,
你可能正坐在... you could be sitting in your--
你正像往常一样读着报纸 you read this sort of thing in the newspaper periodically--
你可能正呆在你的卧室里面 you could be sitting in your living room
这时一驾飞机突然撞向你的房子 when suddenly an airplane crashes into your house,
杀死了你 killing you.
事情就这样发生了 These sorts of things happen.
你原以为自己很安全 You thought you were safe.
你正在看电视节目重播 You were watching reruns on television--
然而下一分钟 你就死了 the next minute, you're dead.
人终有一死 The fact that you could die
以及你无法得知自己何时会死 and you don't know when you're going to die
的事实并不能得出 doesn't yet entail that
你会在任何时间 任何时点死去这一结论 you could die at any minute, at any moment.
但事实上 对我们也是如此 But in fact, that's true of us as well.
再举个身边的事例 Yet another example close to heart.
我记得... 在我到这里教书之前 I remember--before I taught here I used to teach
我曾在芝加哥的伊利诺斯大学教书 at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
有一次我驾车顺路行驶 And once I was driving down the highway and a car pulled in
有辆车没看路就冲了过来 撞上了我的车 without looking and clipped my car, and caused my car--
从入口直接冲过来 you know, so pulled in from
我的车被斜着撞出 the entrance--caused my car to go careening
三条行驶道之外 across three lanes of traffic spinning out of control.
我十分清楚地记得 And I remember quite
当时所发生的事情 clearly thinking to myself as that happened--
一切只发生在一瞬间 the whole thing lasted only a few moments--
但我还是清楚地记得自己当时的想法 but I remember thinking quite clearly,
"我要完了" "I'm going to die."
巧了 我居然没死 Now, as it happens, I didn't die.
我安然无恙地躲过了这场事故 I walked away from the accident,
车子也仅仅受了点小伤 and the damage to my car was rather minimal.
但是事实也可以是另一个样子 But it could've have happened like that.
死亡的可能性是无处不在的 Death is--the possibility of death--is ubiquitous.
遍布在各个角落 It's pervasive.
于是我们必须自问 We have to ask ourselves then,
这会不会使事情变得更糟 does this make things worse?
它一直在我脑子里打转转 It certainly feels, to my mind,
仿佛它是死亡所带来的特别害处 as though it's an extra bad about the nature of death.
现在应该让紧绷的神经休息一下 It would be nice to get a breather.
想像一下 如果世上有个地方 Imagine, if you will, that there were certain locations,
有处度假圣地 certain vacation spots,
只要你呆在那儿就不会死 where as long as you were there you couldn't die.
如果能到达那个地方 Wouldn't it be nice to be able to go someplace
让自己住上一段时间 心里想 and just for a period think to yourself,
"现在再也不用担心死亡的问题了 "Well, you know, right now I don't have to worry about that.
甚至连一丝这样的担忧都不用再去烦恼了" It doesn't even have to cross my mind."
如果有这样一处不死地带 Maybe if there were these sort of death-free zones,
一定为人满为患的 they'd get rather crowded.
或许我们应该把这个事例改变一下 So perhaps we should change the example.
不是存在这么一个不死的地带 Instead of having death-free zones,
而是存在一段不死的时间 imagine that there were death-free times.
假想一下 别管什么理由 Just suppose, for whatever reason,
没有人会在12点到1点之间死去 nobody could die between twelve and one.
你可以在那段时间逍遥自在 You could just put it out of your mind.
这会是件好事吗 Wouldn't that be nice? All right,
一点钟一到 你又要面临死神的挑战 one o'clock, you take the mantle back on.
但是每天都有这么一个固定的时段 But wouldn't it be nice to just have a certain period of time
你不必去考虑死神的降临 every day when you didn't have to even have it
难道这不是一件好事吗 be so much as a remote possibility?
再假定有一种免死的活动 Or suppose there were certain death-free activities.
或许是读哲学书之类的 Maybe reading philosophy would be something
只要你去做它就可以免死 that as long as you were doing it you couldn't die
或者是某些宗教传统 or, as perhaps some religious traditions might've taught,
只要你不停地祈祷就不会死去 as long as you were engaged in prayer you couldn't die.
这样好吗 Wouldn't that be nice?
或者 我们反过来看整个事例 Or turn the entire thing the other way around.
假定大多数的时间 Suppose that most times and
大多数的活动都是可以免死的 most activities were death free,
但是有些活动 but certain activities
却带有致死的可能性 introduce the possibility of dying.
换句话说 只要你不去 So you couldn't die
从事那些活动 你就不会死 unless you were engaged in certain activities.
你会长生不老 只要你不认为 So you would be immortal but
长生不老有违你的意愿 not in the sense of immortal against your will.
或许有这样的情况存在 There'd be certain activities perhaps,
比方说 有一支枪顶着你的脑袋 for example putting a gun to your head, that would
它会了结你的性命 put an end to your life.
即使长生不老是件坏事 So even if immortality would be bad,
也一定有办法去结束长久的生命 there would be certain things you could do that could end it.
反问自己 什么活动 Ask yourself, what sorts of activities
你会参与 would you engage in
如果你知道这些活动 if you knew that those activities
带有致死的危险性 carried with them the risk of dying?
当然 大多数时候你不会死 So most of the time you couldn't die.
有什么事情能重要到 What things would be so important to you that you'd be willing to
让你甘心冒着死去的风险去做呢 suddenly risk death for the sake of doing those things?
你喜欢艺术 You like art.
艺术会不会重要到你明知 Is art important enough to you that you'd be prepared to watch,
自己只要欣赏它就会死去 look at a masterpiece,
不看的话就没事 if you knew that while you were enjoying it you could die,
你还会不依不挠地去端详一件艺术杰作吗 but that wouldn't happen otherwise?
性爱是否重要到 Is sex great enough that you'd be prepared to
让你甘心冒死去做爱呢 run the risk of dying while you were engaged in sex?
这是一个很好的机会 可以反思一下 Again, it's a nice lens for asking yourself,
什么事情对你最有价值 what are the things that are most valuable to you?
你会问 By asking, which of them
哪些事情会重要到 are so valuable you'd be prepared to do them
即便这些事情会带你走上一条极端的路 even if they would introduce what isn't otherwise there,
即 冒着死的危险去做呢 namely, the risk of death?
现在 通过引出种种问题 Now, in the posing the question that way,
我一直假设有些事情是你 I've been assuming that these are things you'd do
会冒死去做的 despite the fact that they run the risk of death.
我假定还有个更进一步的问题要问 I suppose there's a further question we have to ask,
有没有些情况 are there things that would be
恰好是因为 worth doing precisely because of
它要冒死去做才选择去做呢 the fact that they introduced the risk of death?
我不得不承认现在抛出这么个问题 Now, I've got to admit that when I pose that question, that
听起来实在是匪夷所思 sounds rather bizarre.
至少 先将这种可能性抛在一边 At least, putting aside the possibility
即 我们在世上活了几十万年 that we've now lived our hundred thousand
已经被如此长久的生活折磨得疲惫不堪 years and have exhausted all that life's got to offer for us,
现在一定要做点什么 certainly to engage in activities now,
尽管生活依然还能给予更多 while life still has so much more to offer--
一定要马上行动 to engage in activities now where,
恰恰是为了冒死一搏 precisely for the chance of dying,
这种想法依然十分怪异 that strikes me as bizarre.
然而 对我来说 And yet, it seems to me that
有许多行为 there are many activities,
即使不多 至少也有那么几种 and if not many at least several activities,
诱使人们为此而冒险 that people do precisely for that reason.
比方说 For example, let me tell you
我来跟你们说个比较惊人的例子 something I know that's going to shock you.
你们都知道有人从空中跳伞吧 Did you know there are people who jump out of airplanes?
无可否认 当他们跳出机舱的时候 Now, admittedly they've got this little piece of cloth
他们只靠降落伞这么点布料 that gives them a decent chance of not killing themselves
来保证他们所谓的生命安全 when they jump out of airplanes.
但是事情总有例外 But these things do fail.
我们不时会看到这样的新闻报导 Every now and then you read in the newspaper about somebody
某人因降落伞无法打开而被摔死 whose parachute failed to open and so they died.
于是我会问我自己 为什么 And I ask myself, why?
是什么驱使一个人 What could possibly drive somebody to
仅带着几块布料 除此之外别无长物 jump out of an airplane with
毅然跳下飞机 nothing but a little piece of cloth between
将生命悬于一线呢 them and death?
最可能说服我的答案 And the answer that strikes me
就是这样的一个事实 as most plausible is, it's the very fact
只有死亡本身的极大诱惑能有助于解释 that there's a significant chance of death that helps explain
为什么有人会这么做 why people do this.
我知道 如果现在有人去问这些人的动机 Now, I know if you talk to some of these people, they'll often
他会说 "不不不 say, "Oh, no, no, no.
这实在是太抬举我们了" 诸如此类 The views are so glorious," or something like that.
但我想这更是一种貌似不合情理的暗示 But I think this is rather an implausible suggestion,
因为你本就是 because, of course, you could have
怀着这样一种堂而皇之的想法登上飞机 these glorious views just by going up in the airplane
俯瞰大地的 and looking down from the safety of your airplane.
在我看来 这种战栗部分是源自 Part of the thrill has got to be--or so it seems to me--
这样一个事实 part of the thrill has got to be the very fact
即 这些行为增加了死亡的可能性 that they now have an increased risk of death.
死亡的可能性是促使他们 The chance of dying is part of what drives somebody to
跳下的重要原因 jump out of an airplane.
如果这种解释是对的 Well, if that's right,
那我们是否就能死亡的广泛性 then should we say that the pervasiveness of death,
死亡的普遍性 ubiquitousness of death--
以及我之前提到的那些沉重的东西 the thing that I was earlier suggesting was oppressive--
即 存在免死时段 wouldn't it really be nice
或者不死地带 to have a death-free time or a death-free
是一件幸事 location or death-free activities?
或许我这样表述是错的 Maybe I was wrong in suggesting that.
如果死亡的偶然性会加些趣味的话 If the chance of death would add a kind of zest,
那么也许死亡的普遍性就是一件好事 then perhaps the ubiquity of death is actually a good thing
而非坏事 rather than a bad thing.
我倾向于认为 至少在我举的这些事例中 Well, I'm inclined to think, at least in my own case, that
这种结论并不正确 that's not right.
或许可以这样解释 And perhaps the explanation
死亡的普遍性 has got to be the ubiquity of death is
就像背景音乐 余音袅袅 this kind of background, constant hum.
这使得我们要冒死一搏显得不是 And the fact that we're always facing some risk of death
那么重要 我们大多数人对 recedes into the background in the way that most of us don't hear
跳出机舱时的这种"背景音乐"充耳不闻 background noise--that what jumping out of an airplane
也就是被摔死的危险 does for you is it spikes the risk of death.
冒死的行为并不是真正的好 So, it's not really good enough to just have some risk of death--
它较平时有着更大的危险 如果冒死正确 it's got to be greater risk than usual. If that's right,
如果存有那种心理 if that's the psychology,
甚至对那些寻求死亡刺激的人 then even for those death thrill seekers,
死亡的普遍性 the ubiquity of death
将不再是一件幸事 won't necessarily be a good thing because of
因为它被常态化了 它变得黯然无光了 it being constant. It just recedes into the background.
好了 All right. So again,
我再请大家进行思考一下 what I've been asking us to think about are various aspects
究竟哪些方面能够加剧死亡之害 of death that might contribute to either increase or
哪些方面可以相对化减死亡之害 perhaps in certain ways reduce somewhat the badness of death.
我先花几分钟说点其他 There's one more aspect that I want to take a couple of minutes
值得我们思考的问题 and have us think about, and that's this.
在近期讨论之前 Previously to this most recent discussion,
我们曾谈到生命的价值 I talked about the value of life.
介绍过某些探讨生命意义的对立学说 Some rival theories about what makes life worth living.
上节课我们又介绍了 And for the last lecture or so I've been talking about,
剥夺说 in addition to the deprivation account,
以及影响死亡之害的其他因素 the additional things that contribute to the badness of death.
你也许会想 So you might think, well,
能否从人的整个境况去思考呢 what about the human condition as a whole?
不去将目光局限于生 What about the fact that it's not just that we live,
也并非单单拘泥于死 or for that matter it's not just that we die.
事实上 人都要经历由生到死的全过程 What's true about humans is that we live and then we die.
那才是是所谓的人类境况 由生至死 That's the human condition--life followed by death.
你也许会问 You might ask,
这两者结合起来究竟有何意义 what's the value of that entire combination?
我们最先会想到 Now, the most natural thing to suggest would be,
答案就藏在 well, you get clear on
最具信服力的生命价值理论中 your favorite theory about the value of life, whatever that is.
你能从中找到我们之前 You get clear about the kinds of questions we've just been asking
关于死亡之害的所有问题的答案 about the badness of death, whatever that is.
评判人类境况的总标准是什么 What's the overall assessment of the human condition?
你也许会说 You might think, well,
直接把生命之善叠加起来 that's just a matter of adding up the goodness of
再抵减掉死亡之害 life and subtracting the badness of death and
然后汇总其结果即可 summing whatever it comes to.
我猜想 乐观主义者会说 I suppose, again, the optimist says,
"诚然 死亡很糟糕 "Yeah, death is bad,
但生命却是美好的 but life is good,
其美好足以抵消死亡的丑恶 sufficiently good to outweigh the badness of the fact that we're going to die.
总之 能来到这世上便是件好事" On balance, it's a good thing to be born."
而悲观主义者便会反驳道 And pessimists might be those who say,
"不 不是这样 从整体上看 "No, no. On balance,
生命的消极成分居多" the negative of death outweighs the positive-ness of life."
我无意深究双方孰对孰错 But I want to pause for a moment
我只关注正反两方在探讨生死意义时 and note that this assumption that the way to think about the value of the combination as just
采用善恶抵减法时所基于的前提假设 a matter of adding the goodness of life and the badness of death and just
善恶可以简单相抵 也许并不成立 summing them that way,that may not be right.
因为有时结合体的价值 Because sometimes the value of a combination
并不等同于 is different than the value you would get
各组成部分的价值 by just thinking about each one of the parts in isolation
累加的结果 and then adding them up.
机械叠加法对于整体价值的评估 A kind of addition approach to values of wholes
往往并不适用 may not always be correct.
我想通过一个简单的例子来阐述这点 Here's a nice simple example to make that point.
我最喜欢的两种食物 My two favorite foods in the world are probably
就是披萨和巧克力 pizza on the one hand and chocolate on the other.
我曾在课堂上说过我喜欢巧克力 I know I've shared my love of chocolate with you before.
但好像还没提过我也爱吃披萨 I don't recall having shared my love of pizza with you before,
但这两种食物的确是我的最爱 but there it is--two favorite things I love--
我爱披萨 因为它美味 love pizza, delicious,
我爱巧克力 因为它可口 love chocolate, delicious.
现在我们把它们 Take these two delicious things and
混在一起 做一个巧克力披萨 combine them into a chocolate covered pizza.
老天 这主意听上去真恶心 Oh my God! The whole idea just sounds disgusting.
但我们真就这么做了 And it is,
假设我正托着它 比较恶心 I take it, disgusting.
倘若分别思考披萨和巧克力 But you wouldn't notice the disgustingness
各自的价值 if you just thought about the value of pizza in isolation
你是不会联想到"恶心"这一词 and the value of chocolate in isolation.
所以说巧克力披萨的价值并不是 The value of chocolate-covered pizza is not just a matter of
由其成分的自身价值单纯叠加而来 summing up the value of the parts taken in isolation.
你也许会联想到 You've got to think about
所谓的"交互作用" what we might dub "The interaction effects."
我们不禁要问 人类的境况 So let's ask ourselves, are there any interaction effects
是否也存在交互作用呢 when we talk about the human condition that it's life followed by death?"
我们曾专门思考过生命的价值 We've thought about the value of life in isolation;
实际上 我们也曾 we've been, in effect,
专门探寻过死亡的价值 thinking about the value of death in isolation.
在由生到死整个过程中 Does the fact that death follows life--
这两者之间是否存在某种交互作用 does that produce any interaction effects between the two,
需要我们 which need to be added
把它加入到等式里呢 into our formula--added into the mix as well?
乍看上去 似乎存在两种可能 Well, there's obviously, I suppose, two possibilities.
而实际上 有三种 Well, really three.
情形一 交互作用不产生任何实质影响 Possibility number one is, no it doesn't make any difference--
对于这点我们无需赘述 uninteresting possibility.
剩下那两种才是我们关注的焦点 More interestingly--two remaining possibilities.
生与死的结合的确可能 Yeah, there are actually some ways in which the combination
以悲剧收场 ends up becoming worse.
这种情形下 交互作用产生的负面效应 The interaction effects make things even worse,
不容我们小觑 and we can't overlook those negative interaction effects.
与此相反 也许我们最终会迎来 Also, the possibility that there might be some positive
圆满的结局 interaction effects.
我们先来简单谈谈 Let me start briefly by mentioning a possibility
这种乐观的情形 for a positive interaction effect.
由于人固有一死 Because of the fact that you're going to die,
这点显而易见 obviously enough, it's not
人类无法掌控生命的长短 just that you'll get whatever life you get,
只能拥有有限的生命 but there's a finite amount of life that you're going to get.
生命由此变成一种稀缺资源 Life is a scarce resource.
异常宝贵 It's precious.
于是我们便容易推知 And we might be attracted to the thought
生命的价值与其稀缺性成正比 that the value of life is increased by its very preciousness.
当我们觉得某物 There's a kind of aspect of value
短暂易逝 脆弱易损 或是稀少罕见 for many of us where we feel that something's especially valuable
我们便认为其具有一定价值 if it won't endure, if it's fragile, or if it's rare.
稀缺性提升了它的价值 This can enhance the value of something.
所以我们可以说 And so, arguably,
生命短暂 生命珍贵 the fact that life is precious, that it won't endure,
生命的价值斐然 could actually increase its value for us.
科幻小说家奥森·斯科特·卡德 There's a short story by the science fiction writer
奥森·斯科特·卡德 当今美国科幻界最炙手可热的人物之一 Orson Scott Card,
曾写过这样一个短篇故事 where the basic point of the story is that
大意是说 of all the life forms in the universe,
假定宇宙的所有生命形式中 we, here on Earth, are the only ones that are mortal.
只有我们地球居民会死亡 And because of this we are the envy
而这一点使我们 of the rest of the universe.
为宇宙其余万物所妒 It's not so much that immortality, what the rest of them have,
对它们而言 不朽 is unattractive or boring.
简直稀松平常到惹其生厌的程度 It's perfectly fine,
长生不老固然很好 but they envy us for our finite lifespans,
但它们却艳羡我们有限的生命 because what we've got
因为我们拥有 and they don't have is something
它们无法拥有的短暂人生 that's for each individual rare--
它们眼里弥足珍贵的短暂人生 something that's not lasting,
无法持久的事物 something that's precious in that way.
在它们看来反倒成了珍品 All right, it's a possibility.
好了 这是一种可能 So, it's possible that the very fact that we're going to die
也许注定的死亡 causes an interaction effect with our life
与生命发生交互作用 so there's an upside to it.
其结果反倒成为我们的优势 It makes our life fragile,
我们的生命脆弱不堪 ephemeral, and as a result of that, more precious.
愈是昙花一现便愈发珍贵 But it's also possible--
但也可能 actually compatible with accepting that fact--there are
存在与上面的情形相调和的 two additional possibilities,
另两种可能 that there might be some negative interaction effects.
也许交互作用会带来负面效应 It could be that in thinking about the nature of the combination
在对生与死结合本质的探究中 we're led to see that in certain ways the combination--
我们可能发现 the interaction effects--are negative, are bad ones.
这种作用是消极的 有害而无益的 Well, here are two possibilities for that thought.
由此衍生出两种可能 First possibility I think of under the heading
可能情形一 我称之为 "A Taste is Just a Tease."
"玩笑体验" It's as though we live life for a while,
在有限的时间内 getting a feel for all the wonderful things life could offer us, and then
我们体验生命中的各种愉悦 但随后 a moment later, as it were, it's snatched away from us.
它又从我们手中夺走一切 It's sort of adding insult to injury
有点雪上加霜的意味 that we're offered just a whiff.
初尝甜头旋即一切消失殆尽 It's as though somebody brought in this delicious meal
好比有人在饿汉面前放上一道佳肴 to a hungry--before a hungry person--
正中饿汉下怀 allowed them to see what it looked like,
允许他们观赏 allowed them to smell the delicious aromas,
允许他们嗅闻 perhaps gave them just one little tiny forkful to see just how
或许也允许他们品尝一小口 beautifully delicious the food was.
以便他们能全方位体验美食 And then they snatched the whole thing away.
但随后 一切都被撤走了 You can imagine somebody who says,
可以想象 有人嘟囔 "Look, it would be better never to have had the taste at all
"既然不让我们吃 than to have the taste
与其这样浅尝辄止 and then not be allowed to have the entire meal."
还不如一口不尝呢" That's something that you might not notice if you just focus on
如果你仅专注于品味的本质 the intrinsic nature of the taste. After all,
也许会忽略一点 the intrinsic nature of the taste was positive.
品味的本质始终是正面积极的 Or, if you just focused on the intrinsic character
相反 倘若你只把目光定格在 of the not-having the meal.
没能享用美食上 After all, not having the meal is just an absence of a certain experience.
吃不了 不过是缺失某种体验而已 To capture what's excruciatingly undesirable about the two,
想要比较这两点谁更恶劣 you need to think about the two in combination.
你必须将它们联系起来 It's an interaction effect.
这就是交互作用 And we might think, look,
我们也许认为 this is one of the negative things about
体验便是生命消逝前 the human condition that we get a taste of life--
对人类境况的 nothing more--before it's snatched away.
一种否定 That's one possibility.
这是可能情形之一 The second possible thought that comes to mind
关于消极的交互作用 for me, in thinking about the negative interaction effects,
我能想到的另一种情形是 I call under the title--I think about under the title--
我给它取名叫做 "How the Noble Have Fallen."
"贵族落寞" Right now, there's something amazing about us.
先来说些神奇的事情 We are people.
我们是人类 In the universe we--who knows what is out there
不论宇宙中存在着怎样的生命形式 in the universe but at least on Earth
但至少 we may well be the only people there are.
我们是地球上唯一的人类 Now, who knows?
谁了解这一真相呢 Maybe dolphins or certain--some of the great apes.
也许海豚 或是猿猴知道 But at any rate, it's a rather select club.
不管怎样 这是个适者生存的地方 We are, as I said, early
在本学期开始时 in the semester when I said I'm a physicalist,
我便说过 我是个物理主义者 I believe that people are just machines,
所以我相信人类有如机器 but we're not just
但又并非等同于 any old machine.
那些古老陈旧的机器 We're amazing machines.
我们是神奇的机器 We're able to love. We're able to write poetry.
我们能够相爱 能够作诗 We're able to think about the farthest reaches of the universe
能够思索宇宙最遥远的距离 and ask what our place is in the universe.
能够了解我们身处宇宙何处 People are amazing.
人类真是不可思议 And we end up rotting. We end up corpses.
我们的肉体终将腐烂 变成死尸 There's something--
但对我们大多数人来说 for many of us, there's something horrifying about the thought
尽管我们人类 that something as amazing as us,
有着惊人之处 as exalted and valuable as us,
坐拥尊贵显赫的地位 could end up something as
但终究 lowly and unimportant as a piece of rotting flesh.
将幻化为腐朽的尸骸 Again, think about it.
请再想想 The image here that comes
我们脑海中浮现一个画面 to mind for me is one of these deposed kings
某位落寞的国王 who ends up waiting on tables
站在餐桌一旁 to make a living in New York.
当侍应 以此在纽约谋生 And it's--you might think, "All right.
你也许会说 "这没什么 The life of a waiter is not the worst thing in the world."
当侍应又不是这世上最悲惨的事情" But there's extra, again, insult to injury,
但注意 此处又有些雪上加霜的味道 when the person's got to remember that
此人仍然保留着 he used to be something extraordinary, a ruler.
过去那段掌控一切唯我独尊的美好记忆 Again, if you just thought about life as a ruler,
我请你们 well pretty good thinking about it in isolation.
将当事人先前的那段记忆隔离开来考虑 Life as a waiter, not so bad
诚然 单就侍应生活而言 thinking about it in isolation.
那人的遭遇并不悲惨 To see the nature of the
但倘若需要深究问题的本质 problem you've got to think about the fact that it's a combination package.
你就不得不将前前后后联系起来 There is something especially insulting
国王落魄为侍应 about having gone from king to waiter.
这的确比较悲惨 How the mighty have fallen.
权柄轰然倒塌 形势由盛及衰 And that fate is waiting for all of us.
而那将是我们所有人都无法摆脱的宿命 It's a fact about the human condition that the amazing
人类境况的优越 things we are don't stay amazing.
荡然无存 We turn into pieces of rotting flesh, decaying.
我们变成一群尸骨 消失殆尽 So two possible negative effects--
综上所述 可能存在的两个消极结果 the taste is just a tease,
玩笑体验 the how the noble have fallen--on the one hand.
以及贵族落寞 One possible positive effect, the extra preciousness of life.
而积极的结局便是 生命变得格外珍贵 I'm not quite sure where, on balance, we should say
总的说来 我并不确定 how these things play out.
这三种可能到底孰对孰错 Again, I suppose we could have different views.
假设我们拥有各自不同的观点 On the one hand,
一方面 the optimists might say,
乐观主义者坚持 "Even when we throw in the extra interaction effects,
"即便我们把交互作用列入考虑范畴 even the negative interaction effects,
即便存在消极的交互作用 the overall nature of the human condition
但人类境况的整体本质 is positive.
仍是积极的 So that it's a good thing to be born,
所以尽管我们终究会死 even though your life is going to be followed by death."
但能来这世上走一遭也是好的" And against that, we could have the pessimists
另一方面 悲观主义者 who say, "The negative side,
表示 "一旦我们遁入 especially once we throw in the negative interaction effects,
消极的交互作用 the negative side is so great
苦痛即朝我们袭来 that it would be better never to have been born at all."
与其这样还不如没活过呢" That's the pessimist view.
这就是悲观主义者的观点 Given that we're going to die, this fact seeps back in
死亡的必然性 and poisons the nature of life
荼毒了生命的本质 or perhaps poisons the nature of the whole,
甚至荼毒了生命的全部 life followed by death,
即由生到死的全过程 so that on balance the whole thing's negative.
由是得到否定全盘的结论 Better to have not had any of it,
在悲观主义者眼中 不曾拥有生命 better to have not been born at all, say the pessimists,
抑或根本从未出生 than to have this combination package of life
都比经历生死 followed by death.
更加明智 Now, for myself, I'm sufficiently optimistic
我个人绝对奉行乐观主义 that I'm inclined to think
所以我还是倾向于认为 life's wonderful.
生命很精彩 The negative combination effects
我们刚刚谈到的消极交互作用 that I was talking about are certainly there,
的确存在 but on balance I think the
但总体而言 我认为 human condition for must of us is a good one.
人类境况还是很明朗的 It's better to have been born
尽管死亡的结局早已注定 than never to--even though that's followed by death--
但能降临这世上 than never to have been born at all.
比未曾来过要好 But I do want to emphasize
但我也要强调一点 the point that even if we were to accept the
即便我们接受 pessimist's conclusion that
悲观主义者的观点 it would be better never to have been born at all,
我们不该来到这个世界 it doesn't follow,
也并不意味着 at least doesn't follow without further argument,
至少我们没有深究的必要 that the right response to the realization-- if it is the correct realization
如果我们赞同悲观主义的观点 that it would be better never to have been born at all
认为我们本不该来到世上 doesn't follow that the right response is to commit suicide.
也不表示我们因此要选择自杀 It's a tempting thought right?
听上去无懈可击 对吗 To go philosophically from
从哲学的角度看 life's so bad given the nature of the human condition,
人类境况导致生命如此糟糕 life followed by death, that better to never have had any of it
我们最终必将死亡 与其浅尝辄止 than to have just had a taste and a tease and so forth.
还不如从未体验 But it's a tempting philosophical thought to say,
于是我们想当然地认为 "Once I've shown it's better never to have been born,
"因为不出生还好些 it follows that suicide is the appropriate response."
所以我理应选择自杀" But in fact, as a matter of logic, that doesn't follow at all.
但其实这点在逻辑上根本说不通 Because if you think about it,
因为你想想 suicide doesn't change
自杀并未能改变 the fundamental nature of the human condition,
人类境况的本质 life followed by death.
我们依然注定要死去 It's not as though if you kill yourself
并不是说如果你把自己结果了 you somehow bring it about that you've never been born at all.
你就没有来过这世界了 It's still the case that if there's something horrible about
问题其实还是集中于浅尝 having just a taste--
到底有利有弊 Well, indeed, if you commit suicide
其实 如果你选择自杀 you've made it an even shorter taste.
你只不过是缩短了品尝的时间而言 If there's something sort of degrading or unnoble about
如果说最终的死亡结局 being a person who is going to become a corpse,
带来某些羞耻或不洁的感觉 committing suicide doesn't alter that fundamental fact either.
自杀其实并不能解决问题的本质 It just makes the insult come sooner.
它只不过将侮辱提前了 So, even if we were to agree
所以说 即便我们支持 with the pessimists that it would be better
悲观主义者的观点 认为 never to have been born at all,
我们不曾出生其实更好 as the old joke goes,
如同一个古老的玩笑所说 show me one person in a thousand who's so lucky, right?
如此幸运的家伙还真是百里挑一啊 对吧 We have all been born. And from the fact,
但我们都已在这世上了 所以 even if we were to agree with it, that it would've been better
即便我们赞同 if we hadn't been
人本不该出生 born--instead of feeling sorry for unborn Larry,
从而不再为未出生的拉里感到遗憾 perhaps we should envy unborn Larry;
甚至嫉妒拉里 that's what the pessimists say--
如果循着悲观主义者的思路 even if that were true,
即使以上都成立 it wouldn't follow that suicide was an appropriate response.
也无法证明自杀的合理性 It doesn't mean of course that suicide isn't ever
证明自杀合理 an appropriate response.
显然也不是其初衷 We're coming on toward the end of the semester,
在本学期期末 and the last topic we'll be
我们探讨的最后一个主题 talking about is indeed the topic of suicide.
将是自杀 When, if ever, is suicide
是否在某种情形中 an appropriate, rational or moral response to one's situation?
自杀符合理智道德双重标准 Let's hold off on thinking about that question a bit further.
我们到时候再展开讨论 Before we get to suicide, you might say,
你也许会说 在这之前 the question that's going to entertain us for the
数周时间中 remaining few weeks is this.
我们的话题仅仅局限于 How should one live, in light of the facts
面临死亡 我们应该如何生存 about death that I've been laying out in the semester up to this point?
正如你们学期计划表上显示的那样 How should we live, in light of the facts about death?
面临死亡 我们该如何生存 And one possible response, the last one we'll look at, is,
有人会说 what you should do, at least sometimes, is kill yourself.
最起码 你不能自杀 We'll come to that.
这点我们待会儿再谈 We're going to spend the next couple of weeks
接下来几周 我们 asking ourselves different aspects of the question,
会从各个方面思考 what should our response be to the fact of our death and the
如何应对死亡 specific features of death and the nature of death that
了解死亡的特性 以及 we've been exploring?
死亡的本质 But the very first question i suppose we really need to ask is this.
但我想我们还是先来考虑一下 Should we be thinking about all this at all?
我们是否应该思考这些问题 Well, I realize that for you guys it's too late, right?
也许你们觉得这问题提得太晚了 对吗 It's sort of late in the day for students who have been through the better part of a semester
对于那些花费整学期的时间 thinking about the nature of death to argue, maybe,
论证死亡本质的学生来说的确为时已晚 it wasn't such a good idea for you
但对将这课作为基础入门的你们而言 to take this class in the first place.
也许为时尚早 But as theorists,
但我们可以站在理论层面 we could be interested in
以理论家的身份 the theoretical possibility that the right response
思考就理论上而言 is to not think about the facts of death at all.
关于回避死亡的反应有哪些 Look, in principle
大体上 in principle I suppose there are three different reactions.
有三种不同的反应 So, I make various claims of the sort that I've been making about,
我会把它们一一列举出来 "Well look, you know, we're just physical objects.
"我们只不过是实体而已 When these objects break, we cease to exist.
当实体瓦解 我们便不复存在 The objects don't get put back together,"
而这些实体也无法再重新组合" and so forth and so on.
等等 One possibility, of course, is simply to disagree with me about the facts.
这是第一种与我观点相悖的反应 And so you--of course,
当然 if you do disagree I think you're mistaken,
如果你不认为自己的立场错误 so I'll think of you as denying the facts,
我就默认你们持否定态度 but all right,
但不管怎样 that's a possibility.
这的确是一种可能的情形 Another possibility, the one I'll turn to a little bit later,
另一种情形 我待会再展开 is admit the facts and live accordingly.
则是赞同我的看法并继续活下去 Of course, we haven't yet asked ourselves, how should you live
当然 我们至今还未问自己 if you recognize and take into
如果赞成并接纳这些观点 account those facts?
又该怎样生活 That's the question we'll turn to.
我们待会再讨论 But there's the middle possibility,
而介于这两种之间还存在一种情形 which is not so much think about them and deny them,
既不赞成也不反对 not so much think about them, accept them and act accordingly,
不去深入思考 只是一味地接受并施行 but simply don't think about them.
但不去思考个中玄妙 Maybe the best response to the facts
也许面对死亡的最佳方式 of death is just put it out of your mind.
便是不去想它 Don't give it any thought at all.
完全把它抛到九霄云外 Now, on the one hand you might think,
于是你也许会想 that can't possibly be the right response,
那根本不是什么正确的方式 the appropriate response.
更谈不上合理不合理 After all, how can it be appropriate
毕竟 你怎么可能 to disregard, to put out of your mind, facts?
不去想它 无视其存在呢 Well, that all sounds very nice,
听上去似乎不无道理 but I think that claim has got to just be mistaken.
但我认为这种想法其实是错误的 There's nothing unacceptable or inappropriate or misguided about
忽视某些往昔所了解的事实 not thinking about all sorts of facts that you might have learned
其实并不怎么难以接受 at some point or the other.
或不合时宜 Here's my favorite example of
下面我来举个我最喜欢的例子 stupid facts I was forced to learn when I was younger--
我小时候被强制要求 state capitals, right?
记熟各州首府 I've gotten pretty far in my life,
儿时的记忆已经很遥远了 and as far as I can tell I've never, ever, ever had to
印象中我似乎从未 remember the capitals of the 50 states.
记全50个州的首府 So, I just don't think about it.
所以我就一直回避它 Pretty much I think about it only once a year,
只是每次我给学生上这门课的时候 when I'm giving this very lecture.
就会回想一次 I start asking, how many state capitals can I remember?
我问自己 还记得多少个州首府 And the answer is, really not all that many of them.
答案是 真记不全了 Not thinking about those facts that I knew at one point--
不去回想我曾一度了解的事实 just not all that objectionable.
并无大碍 So, the mere fact,
所以 仅关乎事实 if it is a fact,
如果这也算得上是事实的话 suppose the facts about
假设关于生死的事实 life and death are as I've described them.
同我所描述的一致 Until we say something more,
在我们做进一步的了解之前 it's not clear that we shouldn't just,
我们并不确定是否应该 all right, note it, store it away, and forget about it,
记录 珍藏 然后忘却 just like the facts about the state capitals.
如同我刚才所举州首府的例子那样 That seems odd; that seems misguided.
这种说法看上去很奇怪 容易产生误导 But why?
那是为什么呢 What is it about the facts about life and death that
为什么我们一旦将有关生死的事实 seem to make it misguided to think we should just put them aside
放在一边 进而置若罔闻 and pay no attention to them?
就容易误入歧途呢 Presumably because we're led to the thought,
也许是因为我们被引导到这个想法上 we're attracted to the thought, that the nature of death,
我们为死亡的本质所吸引 the facts about death--whatever they are--
为死亡的事实所吸引 should have an impact on how we live.
进而在生活中发生微妙的变化 The appropriate way to live gets shaped,
适当的生存方式由是勾勒出来 at least in part,
至少部分已然成形 by the fact that we're going to die,
而这皆因死亡所致 that we won't be around forever.
因我们无法永生所致 If that's right, then it seems as though there'd be
如果真是如此 那么反对接受死亡事实 something irrational and inappropriate
似乎又显得不够理智 about simply disregarding those facts.
不大合适 Let me tell you two stories that might--
在我介绍另几个故事之前 well, look, before I tell you the stories here's the other side.
还是先讲这两个故事吧 Suppose somebody said, "Yeah, it's true
有人说 "是啊 if I thought about the nature of death,
如果我思考死亡的本质 the fact that the 50, 80, 90 years I've got on this Earth
思考我将于50 80或是90年后 is all I'm going to have. If I thought about that fact,
就要离开人世 如果我总想着这事儿 it would just be overwhelming.
迟早会崩溃的 It would be crushing.
话题太沉重 I'd be unable to go on with my life."
以至于我无法继续生活下去了" People sometimes claim that that's the case and,
人们时常会道出这种感慨 because of that,
正因为此 the right thing to do is to not think about it.
回避亦为上策 You've read at this point, long since,
想必你们之前就已读过 Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilych.
托尔斯泰的《伊万里奇之死》 The people in the Tolstoy story seem to have put facts
托尔斯泰故事里的人们好像都把 of mortality out of their mind.
死亡抛到脑后了 Why? Presumably because they
为什么呢 也许是因为他们 think that facing it is just too crushing and overwhelming.
觉得直面现实过于沉重 So the way they cope with it--they think
所以他们选择一种温和的方式来对待死亡 the appropriate response is put it aside,
即 对死亡 disregard the facts about death.
置之不理 Well, as I say, there seems to be something amiss
在我看来 这种应对似乎 about that reaction.
有些不妥 That was certainly the point that Tolstoy was trying to get us to see.
那也正是托尔斯泰想要告诉我们的 There's something
无论应对死亡的正确策略究竟为何 wrong about lives, something inauthentic about lives
无法正视生命的尽头 that are lived without facing the facts of our mortality and living accordingly,
生命终将 whatever the appropriate responses might be.
显得飘渺虚无 Here are two stories not having to do with death per se
再来讲两个与死亡无关 that may help us get a feel for the oddity
但可以帮助我们体察到 of trying to disregard these facts.
摈弃死亡的异样 Suppose that you're on a hot date,
假设你有一个重要约会 or about to go out on a hot date, with Peggy Sue
或是即将赴约 约会对象是佩姬·苏 or, depending on your preferences, Billy Bob.
或谁谁谁 比如比利·鲍勃 And your roommate holds up an envelope
室友手里拿着一个信封 and says,
告诉你说 "Written in this envelope are certain facts
"里面有关于佩姬·苏 about peggy Sue or Billy Bob.
或是比利·鲍勃的一些真相 I'm not going to tell you what these facts are yet.
我就不亲口告诉你了 They're in the envelope.
一切都在信里 But I'll give you the
我只负责把它交给你 envelope and you can open it up and read them.
由你自行拆开 But I do want to tell you this one thing.
但我一定要提醒你 It is indeed the case that if you were to read these facts,
一旦你拆开信封 if you were to think about these facts,
一旦你了解事情的真相 if you were to know the things written down in the envelope,
一旦你读完信的内容 you would not want
你就绝不会再萌生 to go out with peggy Sue."
约会佩姬·苏的念头了" And you say to yourself, well, let's see.
然后你喃喃自语 容我想想 Right now i want to go out with Peggy Sue,
我现在正想跟佩姬·苏约会 but if I knew these true--
但是 倘若我了解真相 It's not that you think,
并非像你们想象的那样 oh your roommate has made it up,
你室友欺骗了你 that these are lies; these are slander.
一切都是谎言 一切都是诽谤 You really believe, and it
你确实相信 is in fact the case that the things written down
且信上的内容 in the envelope are true.
都是事实 And so you know
所以你明白 that if only you were to read these things in the envelope,
只要你读了信 you would change your mind
你就会改变主意 and no longer want to go out with her.
不愿再约她出去 And so what you say is, "Don't show me the envelope."
所以你会说 "把信拿走" That seems odd. It doesn't seem like it makes sense.
看上去太诡异了 似乎有些不合情理 If there are things that would change your mind
倘若有些事物果真能改变你的心意 and you know that they would change your mind about your behavior,
而你也知道自己的言行会受其左右 how can it be rational to disregard them?
忽视它们根本算不上是非理性的处理方式 Here's another story.
还有一个例子 You're about to drink a milkshake,
你想喝杯奶昔 and your roommate comes rushing in and says,
室友匆忙走进来说 "I've got the lab report.
"我这里有份实验报告 I had my suspicions about the milkshake,
我之前对这份奶昔忧心忡忡 and so I took a sample and I rushed it down to the lab.
所以我暗地提取样品并已送往实验室检查 I've got the lab report."
现在实验结果出来了" You're about to drink it, right,
你当时正要一饮而尽 对吧 because you're thirsty,
天气酷热 it's a hot day, you love milkshakes.
你饥渴难耐 十分喜爱奶昔饮品 And your roommate says,
而你室友却说 "Inside the envelope are facts about this milkshake that
"这信封里装有这杯奶昔的检查报告 if--I promise you it is indeed the case--
我敢向你保证 if you knew these facts,
你了解实情后 you would not drink the milkshake anymore."
绝对再也不想碰这杯奶昔了" And you say,
而你会说 "Oh, thank God. Don't open the envelope,"
"感谢上帝 还是别打开信封好了" and you drink the milkshake, disregarding the facts.
然后你便喝下奶昔 无视真相 That seems inappropriate.
听上去似乎挺荒诞 Well, if it really was true then
如果唯有正视死亡 that if only we faced the facts about our mortality
我们才能 that we would live life rather differently,
更加自如地生活 how could it be reasonable for us to disregard those facts?
完全忽略真相又怎能说是合乎合理呢 Well, that's the puzzle.
这的确是个难题 Or maybe we shouldn't call it a puzzle at all.
也许我们本不该称之为难题 Maybe the answer is,
也许答案正表明 that just shows the disregard option is not really all that reputable.
回避并不见得有多高明 What we either have to do is deny the claims I'm made
我们要么全盘否定 about the nature of death, or else go on to ask--
关于死亡本质的主张 要么问自己 supposing they are true--how should we live in light of them?
假设那些主张成立 我们又该如何生存 Maybe the disregard option just is one that
也许回避 we can't actually take on as an intellectually
仅仅只是我们 acceptable alternative.
预备方案中不够成熟的一项 But I suspect that that's probably a little bit too quick,
但我觉着这么说也许过于仓促 because really there are two different ways in which
因为其实死亡可以通过两种方式 facts could influence our behavior.
来影响我们的行为 And if we're not careful
如果我们不注意的话 we'll disregard this distinction, even though
我们也许会漠视其中的差异 I think it's an important one.
这个差异在我看来极其重要 Here's the two ways.
下面介绍这两种方式 On the one hand, it could be that
方式一 certain facts, if you knew them, would cause you
如果你了解真相 to behave differently
你可能会 without actually giving you any reason
毫无缘由地 to behave differently.
作出异常的表现 That's possibility number one.
这是一种情形 Possibility number two is the facts change your behavior
方式二 死亡凭借一个合理的理由 by giving you a reason to behave differently.
重塑你的行为 Let me show you an example of the first possibility,
先来举个方式一的例子 because that's the one I think we may be overlooking
因为在我们假定忽视真相 when we assume that disregarding can't ever make any sense.
并不明智时可能很容易漏掉它 So, there you are kissing,
假设你 making out with Peggy Sue
正跟佩姬·苏 or Billy Bob-- whoever it is--and your
或是比利·鲍勃接吻 随便是谁 roommate bursts in and says, "I have in the
你室友突然又蹦出来说 "我这里 envelope certain facts such that if you were to think about them
有个信封 如果你看看的话 you would no longer
你就再也不想跟佩姬·苏 want to kiss Peggy Sue, Billy Bob."
或是比利·鲍勃继续吻下去了" Let me just tell you what the facts in the envelope are.
容我先来透露信里的内容 They're certain facts about the nature of Peggy Sue's
主要是些关于佩姬·苏 digestive system.
消化系统的真相 Now, well, you're making out after having had dinner,
好了 你们用完晚餐开始亲热 and while you're sitting there making out,
正打得火热 food is making its way down Peggy Sue's digestive tract,
食物从佩姬·苏的消化道滑下 being turned into shit.
转瞬变成粪便 And eventually it's going to be excreted.
最终排出体外 And if you started picturing to yourself
假使你在脑海中浮想 the feces inside Peggy Sue's digestive tract,
佩姬·苏消化道内废物的画面 and the fact that she's eventually going to be wiping
并且她最后竟然 the feces off of her behind,
果断就地解决 you might find it difficult to
你也许很难 continue to engage in making out with Peggy Sue.
跟她继续亲热 It's not so,
眼前并非如此 now these are just facts, right?
但那只是些事实 对吗 I didn't make any of these up,
我并未胡编乱造 but there you are, as I'm talking about them, you're just being
但在我讲述的过程中 grossed out as I describe them.
你们的确屡屡作呕 Now, do any of these facts about the digestive system
好了 消化系统 make it inappropriate to kiss another human being?
是否使得接吻行为不合情理 Well, of course not.
当然没有 But for all that, thinking about those facts make it rather difficult,
但随之引起的联想还是阻碍了接吻 while you're thinking about the facts,
脑海里浮现那些画面 to continue enjoying kissing the person.
遏制了你亲吻对方的冲动 So there are certain facts about the digestive tract
所以我们可以说关于消化道的联想 such that if you think about them you can't do something,
阻止了你行动的步伐 kiss the person.
你不再想要亲吻对方 But for all that, it's not because you've got any good reason
尽管如此 并非是因为你获得任何 not to kiss the person.
不去亲吻对方的正当理由 It's not that the facts about the human digestive
并非是人类的消化过程 process give you reason not to kiss her.
致使你不去吻她 They cause you to change you behavior
它们只是毫无缘由地 without giving you any reason to change your behavior.
改变了你的行为 So, when the roommate comes running in,
所以 当室友兴冲冲跑进来 holding the envelope, and says,
手上拿着信封 然后说 "I have in this envelope certain facts
"这个信封里藏有一些事实 such that if you read these facts, and thought about these facts,
读完它们之后 只要你回想起它们 you would stop kissing this person,"
便不会再想要亲吻某某" the question you should put to your roommate is,
你需要向你室友提出的问题是 "Are these facts that would merely cause me
"究竟是这些事实直接 to change what I'm doing,
阻止我的行为 or are these facts things
还是因为它们赋予我 that would give me some good reason to change?"
停下来的合理理由" If these are facts about
如果那些事实仅关乎 how Peggy Sue likes to kiss and tell, or then
佩姬·苏多么喜欢接吻之后 goes around and talks about
大肆向周围宣扬 who's a good kisser and who's a bad kisser,
谁是接吻高手 谁的技术很烂 maybe that gives you a reason to not continue what you're doing.
也许那会给予你一个停下来的理由 So the facts could be things
因此 事实可能 that would give you reason to change your behavior.
提供你做出改变的原因 But the mere fact that they
但纯粹的事实 would change your behavior doesn't yet tell you
则不会在改变你行为时 whether they're reason-generating facts.
表明它们到底是否事出有因 If they're mere causes and not reasons,
如果它们仅仅是缘由而非理由 then maybe it's perfectly okay to disregard them.
那我们大可无视它们 If your roommate comes in
如果你室友走进来 and starts trying to tell you facts about the human digestive system,
想要跟你谈谈人类消化系统的事情 you say, "Not now."
你可以说 "我们改日再谈" Disregarding is sometimes the appropriate thing to do.
回避有时也是一种明智的选择 Well, what about the facts about death?
好了 那么我们对于死亡 Are the facts about death
采取漠视的态度 things that it's appropriate to disregard?
究竟是否合适呢 A bold claim would say, "Yes."
也许有人呼喊道 "当然合适" A bold claim would say,
他会说 "The facts about death, if I thought about them,
"我一想到死亡 would change my behavior,
就会立即改变自己的行为 but not because it would give me a reason to change my behavior--
但并非因为它为我提供一个合理的理由 simply because it would influence my behavior."
只不过它直接影响了我的行为" And, given that,
基于这种回答 we might say, better to not think about them.
我们也许会说 还是不去想它们为好 That would be the bold claim to make at this point.
以上是呼喊者得出的结论 Suppose, for example, that,
假设 比方说 the right way to live, in light of the facts about death,
面对死亡 正确的生存方式 is to live life to the fullest.
是充实人生 But suppose if you think about death you just get too depressed
但假设你认为死亡使你过于压抑 and you can't live life to the fullest.
以至于你无法使你的人生充实起来 It's not that the facts about death give you reason
死亡并没有给予你 to stay in your room and sulk.
窝在家里生闷气的理由 It's just that the facts about death cause you
它们直接 to stay in your room and sulk.
促使你宅在家里生闷气 If that was the case, then disregarding,
这样一来 回避 always disregarding, the facts about death might well
长久地回避死亡也许 be the appropriate response.
的确比较合适 Well, that would be a rather bold claim.
但也可能存在另一种声音 I'm not inclined to believe that the bold claim is right.
跳出来反对前者 Should we conclude therefore that,
我们是否就能因此得出 no, you should always be thinking about the facts about death?
我们要时常惦记着死亡 No, i'm inclined to think that that other bold claim,
不 我反对刚才那个观点 on the other side,
从另一角度来看 is probably mistaken as well.
它可能也是错误的 So there you are, one more time, one last time,
那么好 再一次 最后一次了 making out with Peggy Sue
你正要跟佩姬·苏 or Billy Bob and
或是比利·鲍勃亲热 your roommate comes in and starts trying to tell you
你室友又跳出来 想要跟你讲讲 about the fact that he's taken Shelly Kagan's class on death
他在雪莱·卡根的死亡课 or he's been studying in some biology class,
或是在某堂生物课上学到的 and he wants to tell you about
想要告诉你 how human bodies decay when they turn into corpses.
人类的肉体如何腐烂 As he begins to tell you this story,
当他开始对你滔滔不绝地讲述这些时 you start picturing
你脑海里不断浮现 Peggy Sue as a rotting corpse.
佩姬·苏如何演变成即将腐烂的尸体 Suddenly, you don't really feel like kissing her anymore.
突然 你不再想去亲吻她了 It's sort of like the digestive tract story.
这跟消化道的故事有些类似 It's not that, as far as I can see,
就我看来 the fact that she's going to be
并不是她即将 a corpse gives you any reason not to kiss her.
成为死尸给予你任何不去亲她的理由 It's just that thinking
只不过是联想到 about the fact that she's going to be a corpse
她即将要腐烂 causes you to not want to kiss her,
你便不愿再亲她 not be able to enjoy kissing her.
你无法沉浸在接吻之中 So, I'm inclined to think that the right position here
所以我倾向于认为 is a kind of moderate one, a modest one.
这是一个事实 温和的事实 There are times and places for thinking about the facts of death.
你有足够的时间和场合思考死亡 When you're kissing somebody-- that is not the time and that is not the place.
当你在错误的时间错误的地点亲吻某人 The position that says,
于是乎 you should always have the fact of your mortality
你必须随时谨记 forever before your mind's eye--I think that's misguided.
生命是短暂的 我觉得这也不正确 Similarly, though, anybody who says,
类似地 尽管别人说 you should never think about
你永远也不要 the facts of mortality and the nature of death
思考死亡及其本质 I think that's misguided as well.
这也是误人子弟的说法 There's a time and place.
这其中仍存在时间和地点的问题 But that still leaves us with the question. All right,
但我们仍留有一个问题 so suppose this is the time and place.
假设现在时间地点都正确 If ever there was a time and place for thinking about the facts of death
如果存在一个便于思考死亡的时点跟地点 and how it should influence our life,
它又会如何影响我们的生活 it's right now,
现在 在死亡的课堂上 in a class on death.
我们就可以来思考死亡 So, we still have to face the question,
因此 我们仍旧不得不面对这个问题 how should you live?
你该怎样生存 What is the appropriate response
我们应该如何正确 to the facts about life and death?
看待生死 That's the question we have to turn to next time.
这个问题我们留到下节课再讨论