耶鲁大学开放课程—哲学：死亡.24.Open.Yale.course—Philosophy：Death.DivX-YYeTs人人影视

上节课Last time,
我们讨论了由于人必有一死we talked about how you should live your life,
我们应该如何度过一生in light of the fact of our--your mortality.
知道自己必有一死How does the fact that we will die--
会对我们的生活方式产生什么影响how should that affect the way that we live?
我们下面要讲的What we're going to turn to now,
这学期的最后一个话题our final topic for the semester,
是这个问题的另一面is the flip side.
我们必有一死The fact of our mortality
是否意味着raises the question as to whether or not
我们应该结束自己的生命we should put an end to our life.
严格来讲 我认为Strictly speaking, I suppose
这不是我们寿命有限的问题it's not the fact that we're mortal, per se,
而是我们以前讲过的it's one of those extra features of death that
死亡其它性质里I've discussed previously,
生命长度因人而异的问题the variability of death.
而且更准确地说And more particularly still,
是我们能控制自己生命长度的问题the fact that we can control how long we live.
我们可以在享尽天年之前We face the possibility of ending our life earlier than
结束自己的生命it would end otherwise.
这当然就是自杀了That's suicide, of course.
所以我们最后一个话题就是And so our final topic is,
在什么情况下under what circumstances,
如果有的话 自杀是合理的if any, does suicide make sense?
在什么情况下Under what circumstances,
如果有的话 自杀是恰当的if any, is it an appropriate thing to do?
我们的文化中弥漫着Now, it's a fairly widespread feature of our culture
对自杀的鄙视that suicide is looked upon with such a mixture of disdain,
恐惧和反感fear, finding it offensive,
清晰地思考以及that it's very hard, often, to think clearly
讨论这个话题都很困难and discuss the topic clearly.
人们总是认为Most people think it's either
自杀是一种疯狂的行为that you've got to be crazy to kill yourself.
你关注自杀的事情The very fact that you are contemplating suicide
就说明你已经疯了is evidence that you're crazy.
如果你没疯 就说明你道德沦丧And if you're not crazy, then it shows that you're immoral.
自杀毋庸置疑Suicide is clearly never,
从来都不是正确的选择never right, the right thing to do.
所以 我希望花些时间So, what I want to propose is that we take some time
从两方面探讨这个问题and look at the questions on both sides with a fair bit of care.
首先我们要做的是And the very first thing to do, I think,
为了探讨自杀话题in thinking about the topic of suicide,
我们需要区分理性问题和道德问题is to distinguish questions of rationality from questions of morality.
我希望大家首先考虑一下That is, I want us to take a look at, initially, the question,
在什么情况下under what circumstances,
如果

有的话 自杀是合理的if ever, would suicide be the rational thing to do?
然后再关注 在什么情况下And then later turn to the question, when,
如果有的话 自杀是符合道德的if ever, would suicide be a morally legitimate
或者说符合伦理 符合社会规范or a morally permissible or morally acceptable thing to do?
做出这种区别In posing this distinction,
我已经假设了这两个问题是不同的I'm obviously presupposing that these questions can come apart,
或者至少它们需要分开讨论or at least they need to be examined separately.
一方面是合理性问题Questions of rationality on the one hand,
一方面是道德问题and questions of morality on the other.
可以说 它们都涉及应然性These are both questions about oughts, as we might put it.
它们是评价性问题They're evaluative questions.
但大多数人总是认为But at least most people are inclined to think
我们采用不同的评价标准that we are drawing on different evaluative standards
来评价一类问题when we raise the one set of questions,
而不是另一类问题as opposed to when we raise the other.
很多情况下 不用说In many cases, no doubt,
理性问题和道德问题紧密相连rationality and morality go hand in hand.
一些哲学观点And there are philosophical views
揭示了理性本质和道德本质about the nature of rationality and the nature of morality,
基于这些本质 它们总是紧密相连according to which they always go hand in hand.
但很多人认为它们可以分开But many of us are inclined to think that they can come apart.
比如说 这个季节Take, for example, given the season of the year that it is,
你又要报税了consider doing your income taxes or,
说清楚一点 你又要做假账了more particularly still, cheating on your income taxes.
报税单被抽查的可能性非常非常低The rate at which income tax forms get audited is very, very slight.
而且被抓住以后And so--and the fines tend to not be especially egregious,
罚款也不那么惊人even if you do get caught.
所以出于理性So that from a rational point of view,
很多人会想many of us might think it
做假是个合理的选择might well be a rational decision to cheat.
你基本上不会被抓到You're not likely to get caught.
即使被抓到 罚款也没多少Even if you do get caught, how bad's the fine anyway?
但即使我们都认可But even if we were to agree
做假是个合理的选择that it was rational to cheat,
大多数人还是most of us would then immediately want to
会马上指出follow that remark up by pointing out
这样做that doesn't at all mean that
在税单上造假是不道德的it's morally acceptable to cheat on your income tax.
这就是个例子There's a case perhaps
说明道德规范要求你做的事where you're morally required to do something
不一定合乎理性that you're not rationally required to do.
我

们再看个相反的例子Or, take a choice from the other point of view.
现在你开始选择There you are, trying to decide between--there you are,
选择上哪所大学trying to decide between your various choices of college.
一个选择你可以上耶鲁And you've gotten into Yale on the one hand,
另一个选择 可能是个差学校and perhaps some crummy school,
你的第二志愿your second-rate backup school, on the other.
你在决定上哪个学校And you're trying to decide what to do there.
你可能对自己说Well, you might think to yourself,
道德上我没有义务上耶鲁morally I have no obligations here.
没有特别的义务 道德要求There's no particular obligation, moral requirement,
要求我上好学校而不是差学校to go to the better school rather than the worse school.
但不管怎么说 我如果去了坏学校But for all that, it would be irrational of me,
那就不是个理性的选择perhaps, to go to the worse school.
所以这个例子中 不存在道德要求So there's a case where there's no moral requirement,
但存在理性上的要求but there's a rational requirement.
当然 两个例子中的细节还可推敲Again, we could debate the details of the two examples,
但关键问题在于but the point's just to show that,
至少从原则上讲 从表面看来in principle at least, on the face of it,
这两个问题可以分开谈论these two questions can come apart.
有时候做的事情合理Sometimes it's rationally acceptable to do something,
但不符合道德but it's immoral.
有时候做的事情符合道德Sometimes it's morally acceptable to do something,
但不合乎理性but it's irrational.
所以在探讨自杀话题时So in thinking about suicide,
我们需要分开探讨这两个问题we need to pose the two questions, one after the other.
所以 我们先来讨论So, let's start with the
自杀的合理性问题question about the rationality of suicide.
什么时候 自杀是合理的选择When, if ever, is suicide a rational decision to make?
再一次Now, once again,
为了探讨自杀的合理性the first thing I want to do in thinking about
我首先要做的是the rationality of suicide
区分两种不同的情况is to distinguish two different issues,
两个不同的问题or two different questions.
第一个问题是The first question is going to be this.
什么时候 你死了会更好When, if ever, would it be true that you are better off dead?
有没有这种情况Could it be the case that
你的生活太糟糕了your life is going so badly
以至于你死了会更好that you'd be better off dead?
第二个问题Second question,
假设第一个问题的答案是assuming that the answer to the first question is,
在这样或那样的情况下under such and such circumstances,
你死了会更好 我们仍然会问you would be better off dead, we still have to ask,
你怎么有理由相信自己的判断could it ever be rat

ional for you to trust your judgment
现在就到了生不如死的时候that this is one of those cases in which you're better off dead?
你杀死自己怎么可能是合理的Could it ever be rational for you to kill yourself?
可以想见Conceivably,
第二个问题的答案会是否定的the answer to the second might be no.
好的 所以问题是这样的All right. So, the question was this.
你可能会有下面这种想法It's conceivable you might have a thought like the following.
在那些情况下In those circumstances
生活痛苦不堪 你生不如死in which life has gotten so horrible that you'd be better off dead,
你神志不清you can't think clearly.
你神志不清造成了And the very fact that you can't think clearly would entail
你无法判断自己that you shouldn't trust your judgment
是否已到了山穷水尽的地步that you are in one of those cases.
这一说法是否正确Whether that's a good argument or not
我们过后再说is something we'll have to turn to later.
但是正因为你会有这种想法But it's because of the possibility of that argument
所以我需要区分第一个问题that I wanted to distinguish the initial question,
是否有时候你会生不如死could it be true that you're better off dead
以及第二个问题from the secondary question,
即使有这种生不如死的时候even if it could be true that you're better off dead,
你怎么有理由相信could it ever be a reasonable or rational decision for you to believe
你正处其中that you're in one of those situations?
除非我们把两个问题都解决了Unless we've got the two things in place,
自杀才有可能it doesn't seem likely that
是合理的事情it's ever going to be rational to commit suicide.
所以 我们要讨论的第一个话题是So, the very first topic we have to look at is,
究竟有没有可能你死了会更好could it ever be true that you'd be better off dead?
马上And immediately,
一些同学会提出逻辑上的质疑there's a kind of logical worry that may occur to some of you,
很多哲学家已经提出过这样的质疑certainly has been raised by various philosophers.
也就是说And that's to say that
这个判断 这一说法the very judgment, the very claim,
琼斯死了会更好 不可能成立that Jones would be better off dead can't make any sense.
让我们假设 看On the assumption that, look,
为了比较in order to make comparisons--
哪个更好 哪个更差better off, worse off;
他现在处于这种或那种情况here he is in such and such a situation;
他在另一种情况下会更好he'd be better off in that other situation--
你一方面需要说明you've got to be able to talk about, on the one hand,
这个人以前的状态what condition or state the person is before
另一方面要说明他以后的状态and what condition or state the person would be in afterwards,
如果他做了选择的话if they were to make that choice

.
我们称其为"双态要求"Call this the two-state requirement.
一般情况下 当我们判断一件事Normally, when we make judgments about whether something
对你是好是坏would leave you better off or worse off,
我们需要知道两种状态we satisfy the two-state requirement.
你决定是否减肥You're trying to decide whether or not to lose some weight.
你会想 这是我现在超重的状态And you think, well, here's how well off I am now, being overweight.
这是我减肥以后的状态Here's how well off I would be later, if I were to lose that weight.
我可以比较两种状态I can compare the two states,
如果第二个状态比第一个好say the second state's better than the first state.
那我就能说That's what makes it true
我会过得更好that I'd be better off.
决定和某个人Trying to decide whether or not
结婚还是分手to marry the person or break up with the person
决定从事这个行业还是转行or pick this career or change careers.
你都需要比较你现在的状态You've got the state you're in and you compare it
和你以后的状态to the state you would be in.
你比较两种状态You compare the two states.
这样我们就可以说That's what allows us to say,
是的 我会更好"Yeah, I'd be better off"
或者 不 我会更差Or "No, I'd be worse off."
但当我们谈到自杀时But when we're talking about cases of suicide,
好了 现在我在这里cases where, well, here I am now,
具有前一个状态the before state requirement's in place,
但如果我们把它和后来的状态相比but if we contrast that with the after state requirement,
那个状态不存在 不是吗well, that part's not met, right?
假设死亡就是终点When you--On the assumption that death is the end,
你将不复存在that you won't exist,
不存在不是一个你能经历的状态nonexistence isn't a state that you will be in.
不是你的一种状况It's not a condition of you,
因为状态和状况都以存在为前提because states and conditions presuppose existence.
当我们谈论你是否高兴We can talk about are you happy?
是否难过 无聊 兴奋Are you sad? Are you bored? Are you excited?
都以你存在为前提All of those things presuppose your existence.
即使你睡着了Even are you sleeping?
也是一种你可以经历的状态is a state or condition you can be in,
因为你存在because you exist.
但如果我杀死自己 我不存在了But if I kill myself, I won't exist.
就没有第二种状态来比较了There is no second state to compare.
所以 反对者说 我们怎能So, how could we possibly say, the objection goes,
我们怎能说 我死了会更好how could we possibly say that I'd be better off dead?
这好像已经假设了还有第二种状态That seems to presuppose that there's a second state
可以和当前的状态比较that we can compare to my actual state.
但由于没有第二种状态Since there isn't o

ne,
判断我死了会更好就没有道理the judgment, I'd be better off dead, can't even get off the ground.
这里面有个无法避免的逻辑错误It's got a logical mistake built right into it.
以上就是这一质疑Well, that's the objection.
正如我所说And, as I say,
很多哲学家认同这一观点there are a number of philosophers who are drawn to it.
也许一些同学也被它吸引Maybe some of you are drawn to it as well.
但我认为它是错的It seems to me that it's mistaken.
回忆一下我们在谈到Consider what we wanted to say
剥夺理论时的说法when we talked about the deprivation account,
关于死亡主要坏处的那个理论the central account of what's bad about death.
对于大多数人来说 死亡是件坏事For most of us, dying would be bad,
因为它剥夺了我们because it would deprive us
生命中的美好事物of the good things in life
只要我们活着我们就会得到的美好事物that we would get, if only we didn't die.
这个观点看起来很自然That seemed like a natural thing to say.
也恰如其分It seemed like an appropriate thing to say.
但是 我们会说Of course, we might ask,
如果我们接受"双态要求"if we believe in the two-state requirement,
上述说法就有问题 毕竟how could we have said that? After all,
根据双态要求given the two-state requirement,
如果说死亡对我是坏事to say that death is bad for me,
那我最好还没死I'd be better off staying alive.
如果我们接受双态要求 我们会说If we believe in the two-state requirement, we've got to say,
哦 当我死后Oh, so had I died,
我应该处于某种状态I would have been in some state
和我现在的状态相比是比较差的that I could compare to my current state and say that it's worse.
但是当然 死亡不是一种状态But, of course, death isn't a state.
所以 这里没有满足双态要求So, the two-state requirement's not met.
这一说法给我们造成了障碍Well, we might say this should give us some pause.
如果"双态要求"If the two-state requirement--
如果"双态要求"只是说明It would be one thing if all that the two-state requirement said was,
我们根本无法断定我死了会更好you know, we can't ever say we'd be better off dead.
这就简单了But it turns out
但它的推论不只如此the two-state requirement's got more implications than that.
它还表明It's got the implication
你甚至无法断定自己活着会更好that you can't even say you're better off staying alive.
人们很难接受这一点And that's very, very hard to believe.
想象有个快乐的人Imagine that you've got some happy person,
他非常幸福 日子过得非常好some incredibly happy person with a wonderful life filled
想多好有多好with whatever goods you think are worth having in life--
爱情 事业 学问 等等love and accomplishment and knowledge and whatever it is.
他过马路时 眼看

要被卡车撞上He's walking across the street and he's about to get hit by a truck.
你冒险冲上去And so, at some risk to yourself, you leap into the way,
把他推开 救了他一命pushing him out of the way, saving his life.
很幸运 你也没受伤And happily, you don't get hurt either.
他看了看He looks up,
意识到自己与死神擦肩而过realizes he was this close from death
他说 谢谢你and he says, "Thank you.
谢谢你救了我一命Thank you for saving my life.
现在你该说的话是"And now what you have to say is,
我觉得你可能没搞明白"I'm afraid you're rather confused.
因为你感谢我救了你一命Because to say 'thank you' for my saving your life
是假设我已经施惠于你is to presuppose I've benefited you in some way.
你假设我施惠于你To presuppose I've benefited you in some way
是在假设is to assume that you're--
你继续活下来是件好事it's a good thing that your life has continued.
但是你看 基于"双态要求"But, you see, given the two-state requirement,
我们不能说你继续活下来是件好事we can't say it's a good thing that your life continued,
因为根据"双态要求"because the two-state requirement says
我们只有在前后状态we can only make that kind of remark
都存在的情况下才能这么说when there's a before state and an after state.
但现在后一种状态是"不存在"And the after state would have been nonexistence.
所以 你看So, you see,
当你认为我救你一命是件好事时you're really rather philosophically confused in thinking
你就在哲学上把事情搞混了that I've done you some sort of favor by saving your life."
我不会把这种说法当真I can't take that argument seriously.
在我看来It seems to me that--
我也希望没有同学把它当真and I hope that none of you would take it seriously, either.
救人一命当然是施惠于人Of course, you are doing somebody a favor when you save their life,
因为他们的生活本来很好given the assumption that their life has been
以后也会很好and would continue to be wonderful.
这里要说明的不是"不存在"是And what that shows is not that so nonexistence really
一种幽灵般的飘忽状态is a kind of spooky, super thin state or condition.
不 当然不是No, of course it isn't.
不存在就是不存在Nonexistence is nonexistence.
它根本不是一种状态It's no kind of condition or state at all.
这里要说明的是"双态要求"What it shows is the two-state requirement
不是这类评估中真正需要的前提isn't a genuine requirement on these sorts of evaluations.
我们不必说 如果你死了We don't have to say that if you had died--
当你面对被救之人时when you point to the person whose life you saved,
我们不必说 如果你死了we don't have to say that had you died,
你会处于一种很悲惨的状态中you would have been in some inferior state.
我们只用说We sim

ply have to say
如果我救了你 你将来的生活the life you would have had, had I saved you
而且我确实救了你and indeed will have, given that I have saved you,
会是非常美好的生活is a great life.
因为它很美好Since it's good,
所以失去它是件坏事to lose it would be bad.
因为失去它是件坏事Since losing it would be bad,
所以救了你 你没失去它saving it for you is benefiting you.
对你就是件好事It's doing you a favor.
"双态要求"不是这样说的Two-state requirement says otherwise.
所以我们应该摒弃它Two-state requirement's got to go.
同时 放弃"双态要求"But, having gotten rid of it,
原则上也能解释另一方面的事情we can say the same thing in principle on the other side.
想象有个人生活很糟糕Imagine there was somebody whose life was horrible,
痛苦不堪 难以忍受full of pain and suffering and misery.
当然 是否会有这样一个人Now, whether there could be such a person, again,
我们一会儿再谈that's a question we'll turn to in a second.
但是如果有这样一个人But if there were such a person,
那我们会说then we can say,
他们生命的延续for their life to continue
对他们不是好事而是坏事isn't good for them; it's bad for them.
他们生活中充满悲伤Their life is full of misery
痛苦 挫折和失望and suffering and frustration and disappointment.
这类东西越多 生活越糟糕And the more and more of that, the worse and worse the life is.
过年这样的生活To lead a life of years,
每分钟都是煎熬where every moment is torture and pain,
比过年这样的生活is worse than a life of years,
要更糟糕where every moment is torture and pain.
所以 如果存在这样的人So, if you had such a person,
延长他们的生命对他们就是坏事for their life to go longer would be bad.
在这种情况下In which case,
他们活得越短 对他们越好for their life to be going shorter, would be better for them.
这就是我们说And that's all we mean when we say
他们死了会更好的全部意思they'd be better off dead.
并没有一个我们死后幽灵般飘浮不定Not that there's some spooky super thin
难以描述的状态存在and hard to describe condition that they'd be in if they were dead.
很简单But simply,
回想一下两种可能的生活we look back at the two possible lives they could have.
那个获救的人Just with the person whose life we saved.
第一个人The first person,
我们把他年的幸福生活we compare the great life that lasts years
以及要是没获救versus the great life that only lasts years
年的幸福生活加以比较because you didn't save their life.
我们会说 哦We say, oh,
年的生活是更好的生活the life of years, better life.
所以 救他一命对他有好处And so, saving their life is a good thing for them.
同样 我们把漫长的痛苦生活Similarly, we compare the lives

of misery,
和较短的痛苦生活加以比较the long life versus the short life of misery.
我们说 哦 漫长的痛苦生活And we say, oh, the long life of misery is a worse life
比较短的那个更糟糕to have than the short life of misery.
这就是我们说And that being the case, we
你死了会更好时的情况simply can say you'd be better off dead.
不是说你会得到更好的状态Not that you'd be in some condition that's a good one.
只是说 你能避免痛苦的状态It's simply, you'd avoid this condition, which is a bad one.
如果"双态要求"不是这样说的And if the two-state requirement says otherwise,
那么"双态要求"就更应被摒弃so much the worse for the two state requirement.
好了 这就是逻辑上的质疑All right. So this is by way of the logical worry,
质疑我们是否有可能去谈论that we can't even get off the ground in talking about the possibility
你死了会不会更好that you'd be better off dead.
我认为如果我们接受"双态要求"I think if we believe in the two-state requirement,
我们就必须认同这个质疑maybe we'd have to say that.
但接受"双态要求"的代价太高But the cost of accepting the two-state requirement is so implausible,
如果有人得心脏病快死了that the person's dying of a heart attack
你为他实施心脏复苏and you perform CPR.
他不说"谢谢你" 而是说Instead of saying "Thank you," they say,
我没觉得这比死了好多少"Oh, I'm really no better off than I would have been if I died,
尽管我的生活很幸福even though I'm having a wonderful life."
"双态要求"如此有悖常理The two-state requirement's just so implausible,
所以我们必须放弃它we should let it go.
得到这个结论 仍然没有解决Now, having done that, of course, doesn't yet tell us that it could,
是否有些人生活非常糟糕in fact, be the case that somebody's life could be so bad
以致他们死了会更好that they'd be better off dead,
他们的存在that the existence that they've got
是不是还不如他们根本没存在过is worse than not existing at all.
迄今为止 我们未做结论All we've done so far is leave open the door;
保留这种说法逻辑上的可能性open the door to the possibility of saying that coherently.
但这不意味着它就是对的But that doesn't mean it's true.
是否存在这种生不如死的情况取决于你Whether or not there could be such lives depends on your view
对幸福的理解about what's the correct account of well-being.
什么东西使得一个人的生命值得过下去What is it that goes into making somebody's life worthwhile?
正像我们前面看到的Now, as we've seen previously,
这是一个有争议的话题this is a controversial topic.
人们对美好生活的组成部分有异议People disagree about the ingredients of the best kind of life.
因为这些区别And because of these differences,
所以在哲学上有不同

的观点we're going to get philosophical differences of opinion
关注是否有一种生活with regard to whether or not a life
如此糟糕以至于could be so bad
把它结束是比较好的选择that it would be better for it to come to an end.
我不会去罗列所有的观点I'm not going to try to rehearse all the possible theories there are.
或者说Or, for that matter,
罗列前面提到的所有观点even all the theories that we've talked about previously.
而是告诉你它何时可能发生But to give you an illustration of how it could be true,
回忆一下imagine,
最简单的幸福理论 享乐主义go back to our simplest theory of well-being--hedonism,
你生活的质量according to which your quality of life
是把所有快乐相加is a matter of adding up all the pleasure
减去所有痛苦and subtracting all the pain.
当然我们需要考虑And we need to take into account
快乐和痛苦的持续时间how long the pleasures and the pains last
以及它们的强度and how intense the pleasures and the pains are.
不过 我们仍然是把所有快乐相加But still, we add up the total amount of pleasure,
把所有痛苦相加add up the total amount of pain,
从快乐中减去痛苦subtract the pain from the pleasure and look to see
然后看看结果是多少what our grand total is.
如果是正数If it's positive,
那么你的生活值得过下去your life's worth living.
数字越大And the greater the number,
正值越大the greater the positive number,
你的生活越值得过下去the more your life is worth living.
如果是负数If it's negative though,
如果你的生活充满痛苦和煎熬if your life is filled with pain and suffering,
或者至少 痛苦和煎熬or at least so much pain and suffering that
超过你生活中的快乐it outweighs whatever pleasures you may have in your life,
那么你的结果就是负数so that your balance is a negative one,
那么你的生活就不值得过下去then your life's not worth living.
这样的生活越长Having that go longer and longer
坏处就越大is just more and more negative balance.
这样的生活对你来说就是坏事That's a life that's bad for you to have
你失去它会更好and you'd be better off not having it.
你最好给它画上句号You'd be better off having your life come to an end.
你死了会更好You'd be better off dead.
那么当然And, of course,
结果的负值越大the more and more negative the grand total is,
你的生活就越糟糕the worse your life is.
所以你死了就越好And so the more it's true that you'd be better off dead.
好了 这就是享乐主义的结论Well, that's what hedonism says.
如果我们不是享乐主义者If we're not hedonists,
当然 前面我说过and of course, previously I've argued that
我们不应该成为享乐主义者we shouldn't be hedonists,
那么我们就需要更复杂的幸福理论then we need a more complicated theory of the good.

我们需要引入一些其它东西We need to throw in other things,
或许是一些外部价值perhaps, certain external goods.
有意义的并不仅仅是自我感觉It's not just a matter of getting the insides right--
不仅仅是快乐 痛苦the pleasure and the pain
还有其它的精神状态and the other mental states--
你还有很多there are various facts
和这个世界的客观联系about your objective hookup with the rest of the world.
你是否真在攀登珠峰Are you really climbing Mount Everest?
你是否真的获得了成就Are you really accomplishing things?
人们是不是真的喜欢你 等等Do people really love you, and so forth and so on?
你可以列出很多客观上的好事Whatever your list is of those other objective goods--
你也可以well you'll probably also want to
列出除痛苦以外客观上的坏事have a list of other objective bads, besides pain.
但是 基本思路和前面一样But still, the same basic idea is going to be in place.
我们要把所有We're going to want to somehow
客观上的好事相加add up all of the various objective goods,
把所有客观上的坏事相加add up all the various objective bads,
然后看看总数and see where the balance lies.
好事是否多于坏事Do the goods outweigh the bad?
如果好事多于坏事 那太好了If the goods outweigh the bad, that's great.
你的生活值得过下去Your life's worth living.
如果坏事多于好事But if the bads outweigh the good, then
那么你的生活不值得过下去your life is not worth living,
或者不值得继续过下去or not worth continuing.
像我们之前注意到的Now, as we've noted before,
有一些哲学理论there are philosophical theories which go on to claim--
悲观主义者pessimists,
各种不同版本的悲观主义various versions of pessimistic views,
指出 任何人在任何情况下which say, for everybody in all circumstances,
生活都是坏事 大家死了更好life is so bad that they'd be better off dead.
生活充满痛苦和悲伤Life's so full of suffering and misery,
所以不论生命中that whatever pleasures there are
有什么快乐和美好and other goods there may be in the life,
也抵不过那些客观上的坏事they get outweighed by the objective bads.
有些哲学理论是这样认为的There are philosophical views like that,
但我认为从常识来讲but I suppose the commonsense view is, well,
即使有些生活很糟糕even if some lives may be so bad that
人们生不如死the person is better off dead,
但并非所有生活都如此that's not true of all lives.
要视具体情况而定It depends on the facts of the case.
下面我们就来讨论这种可能性So, let's focus on that possibility.
当然 讲到这里Of course, even here,
我们也要回顾一下we still have to return to
之前讨论过的一个问题another issue that we've considered before.
也就是 活着本身有价值吗Namely, is lif

e itself worth having?
你活着本身就是件好事吗Is the very fact that you're alive itself a good thing?
这是"有价容器"理论These are the valuable container theories,
我前面which I've previously
把它和"中性容器"理论比较过contrasted with the neutral container theories.
你们回忆一下You'll recall that
根据"中性容器"理论according to the neutral container theories,
考察某人的生活质量in thinking about the quality of someone's life,
只需考察生活内容you just look at the contents.
生活本身只是个容器Life itself is only a container,
好坏取决于填充的内容good or bad, depending on what it's filled up with.
但与"中性容器"理论相反But opposed to the neutral container theories,
"有价容器"理论指出we had valuable container theories which say
你活着本身就具有一定价值the very fact that you're alive adds some positive value above
无论你活的怎样and beyond whatever's going on in your life.
即使"有价容器"理论Now, even the valuable container theories
也有不同版本came in different versions.
有"有限价值容器"理论There were more modest versions,
它指出 原则上where in principle,
如果生活太糟糕了the positive value of being alive could be outweighed
活着本身的价值会被坏事抵消if the contents got bad enough.
和它相反的是"无限价值容器"理论And we contrast that with fantastic container theories,
这一版本指出according to which
活着本身极具价值being alive is so valuable,
无论生活多糟糕也无所谓that it doesn't matter how bad the contents get,
总和永远是正数the grand total is always a positive one.
如果你接受"无限价值容器"理论Now look, if you accept a fantastic container theory,
那么很清楚then pretty clearly,
不可能有谁死了会更好it's never true that somebody could be better off dead.
因为无论生活多糟糕Because no matter how bad the contents get,
活着本身就有无限价值the fact that they're alive, per se, is so valuable,
它冲抵了负值it outweighs that subtotal,
总和总是正数giving us a positive grand total.
很清楚So pretty clearly,
从"无限价值容器"理论出发from the perspective of fantastic container theories,
自杀绝不会是理智的suicide will never be rational,
因为没人死了会更好because it's never true that you're better off dead,
无论发生怎样的状况because it's never true that your life over all,
你的生活绝不可能taking everything that's relevant into consideration,
是负数gives us a negative.
好的 请问Yeah, question.
问题是The question was,
在"无限价值容器"理论中on the fantastic container theories,
生活本身为什么如此不可思议what's so incredible about life itself?
我们是说它具有内在价值吗Are we saying it's intrinsically valuable?
是的 答案是"的确如此"And yes, the answer is: precisely.
"

有价容器"理论的支持者The fans of the valuable container theories
认为生存本身就有价值are saying being alive itself is valuable.
你们回忆一下You may recall that
我前面讲过 尽管人们这样说I previously said although people talk that way,
但他们并不真这样想 对吧they probably don't actually mean it, right?
如果你告诉他们If you told them, okay,
你会像片叶子似的活着you can be alive as a blade of grass,
他们不会说they wouldn't say,
哦 这难道不好吗 这值得拥有"Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful? That's worth having."
大多数这个理论的支持者会说Most fans of the claim that
活着本身就有价值being alive, per se, is valuable
不是说生命本身有价值don't really mean life per se.
而是作为一个人活着有价值They mean something more like life as a person.
作为一个可以思考和策划的实体Being the kind of entity who can think and plan,
即使你计划出了问题even if your plans go wrong,
至少你能经历它们at least you were a person able to experience things,
能学习 等等know things, and so forth.
当然 如果这就是Of course, if that's the reason for
接受"无限价值容器"理论的原因accepting the fantastic container theory,
那我们就不知该如何解释那些then we might wonder what should we say about those cases
人格功能已经消散where the P-functioning has decayed
不能像人一样行事and the person is no longer able to continue as a person,
但或许还能感到疼痛的例子but perhaps can still feel pain?
在这种情况下 或许In that case, perhaps,
生活已经不值得过下去life could cease to be worth living.
但我们能否这样说Though whether or not we should describe it in that way
也取决于also depends on
我们前面讲的那些复杂情形these complicated issues that we've discussed previously,
它还是你吗about would that still be you?
你还存在吗Would you still exist?
在那些情况下你还活着吗Would you still be alive under those circumstances?
所以 "有价容器"理论的基本思想是So, the basic idea behind valuable container theories is that
生命 或说一个人的生命life, or the life of a person,
或者类似的东西or something like that,
具有内在价值has intrinsic value above
它超越生活的内容and beyond the question of what's going on within your life.
如果我们接受"无限价值容器"理论If we accept the fantastic container theory,
那么总的来说maybe nobody's life is
没有人的生活会糟糕到ever so bad, grand total.
有理由自杀Because--so that suicide would be the rational thing to do--
因为生命本身的价值because the value of life, per se,
大得不可思议is so incredible
它超越了生活的内容that it outweighs the contents.
凌驾于内容之上It has to outweigh the contents.
这是和悲观主义对立的哲学观点That's a philosophical view

at the opposite end of the pessimists.
悲观主义认为 从哲学上说The pessimist said, "As a matter of philosophical reflection,
所有人的生命都不如没有we can see that everybody's life is worse than nothing."
"无限价值容器"理论的支持者认为The fantastic container fans are saying,
从哲学上说"As a matter of philosophical reflection,
所有人的生命都值得拥有we can see that everybody's life is better than nothing."
大多数人 我认为Most of us, I imagine,
都在某种程度上处于两者之间find ourselves somewhere in between.
不论我们相信"中性容器"理论Either we believe in the neutral container theory
认为应该根据内容的好坏and think it's a contingent matter
决定生活的好坏whether the contents are sufficiently good or bad.
还是接受"有限价值容器"理论Or, we may accept the modest version of the valuable container theory.
认为 生活本身具有内在价值On that theory, of course, life has some intrinsic value,
但内在价值有限but it's got a finite intrinsic value.
所以原则上 尽管它可以抵消一些And in principle, even that could be outweighed
生活中的坏事if the contents get bad enough.
但这始终是个经验判断的问题And so again, it would be an empirical question.
我们需要判断We have to take a look and see,
何时内容的坏处大到抵消不掉in which cases do the contents get bad enough?
我想我是持中间观点的人Now, I guess I'm one of these people in the middle.
我倾向认为I'm inclined to think
不是所有人的生活都不如没有it's not true that everybody's life is worse than nothing.
也不是所有人的生活都值得拥有Nor is it true that everybody's life is better than nothing.
每个人的情况不同It varies from person to person.
实际上 因为我们在谈论自杀And indeed, not just--since we're thinking about suicide,
我们不是从整体上谈论他们的生活we're not talking about their life as a whole,
而是 从现在开始生活会如何but really, what does life promise from here on out?
很不幸 在我看来确实有些时候Sadly enough, sad to say, it seems to me there are cases,
或许我们大家也都熟悉这些情况and probably most of us are familiar with cases,
这里合适的说法where the correct description,
根据你们认可的幸福理论given the--your favorite theory of well-being--
会是 从现在开始这个人is going to be that for this person, here on out,
他的生活会非常糟糕what life has to offer is sufficiently bad,
内容的悲惨足以胜过so that the contents are sufficiently negative as to outweigh
生活本身的价值whatever value life itself might have.
想象一些到了疾病晚期的病人We could imagine somebody in the terminal stages of some illness,
比如癌症给他们造成巨大的痛苦where their cancer perhaps is causing them a great deal of pain.
痛苦难以忍受And the p

ain is so bad that
使他们无法干其它事they can't really do much of anything else.
不能接着写小说It's not as though they could continue working on their novel
不能和家人交谈or continue talking with the members of their family,
他们被疼痛搞得心烦意乱because they're just distracted by the pain
希望能有个了结and wishing it would come to an end.
很可怕Horribly enough,
很多退行性疾病造成人们many degenerative diseases leave the person
越来越无法完成一些有价值的事情less and less capable of doing the things that give life value.
意识到自己处于这种状态And the very realization that you're in that situation
并再也不能做些事情and no longer able to spend time doing things,
无法和你的家人在一起or hanging out with your family,
和他们沟通 等等or talking with them, or whatever it is may,
这件事本身就造成了沮丧和痛苦itself, be a source of more frustration and pain.
医学上还有些情况 很可怕There are medical conditions where, horribly enough,
婴儿出生后就一直处于疼痛中infants get born where they're just in continual pain
他们永远无法发展认知能力and they never develop cognitively.
他们的大脑还未开发就死了Their brain doesn't develop and then they die.
看到这样的生命And you look at these lives
你会说 我会说and you say these are lives--I want to say,
这样的生命不值得拥有these are lives that were not worth having.
这些小孩These children would have
如果根本没出生会更好been better off never having been born at all,
他们继续活下去没给他们带来任何好处certainly not any kind of favor for them to continue their lives.
好了 让我们关注几个Well, let's focus on some case
类似晚期病人的例子like the terminal patient.
有人生病了A person's got a disease--at least,
这会是个比较简单的例子that would be a nice easy example.
对活在其中的人不简单Not easy to live through,
但哲学上比较简单but easy philosophically.
考虑起来不复杂Easy example to think about--
一些晚期病人病情日益恶化some terminally ill patient whose disease is getting worse and worse.
生活中越来越没有什么好东西And so, there are fewer and fewer of the good things in life
值得期待that the future holds for them.
反而 痛苦越来越多Instead, what the future holds is more and more pain,
折磨 虚弱以及沮丧suffering, incapacity, and frustration.
当情况糟糕到一定程度When it gets bad enough,
在我看来it seems to me,
生活在其中的人可以合理地指出in some of those cases the person can correctly say,
或者至少我们可以合理地指出or we, at least, can correctly say of them,
他们死了会更好they'd be better off dead.
好的 让我画几个例子All right. Let me try to draw some examples.
再一次 我们把这个问题Again, we're bracketin

g the question:
这个人能否清楚地认识自己的处境Can the person think clearly about their case?
暂时放在一边That'll come later.
我们仅仅谈论自杀何时是合理的Let's just try to talk about when would suicide make sense?
何时结束自己的生命是合理的When would it be sort of a rational thing to do to end your life?
有几种不同的情况A couple of different cases.
我会画个曲线图I'm going to draw graphs.
X轴代表时间We'll let the x-axis represent time.
Y轴代表And the y-axis represents
你的生活在此时有多好或有多坏how good or bad your life is at that time.
支持"中性容器"理论的同学For those of us who are fans of the neutral container theory,
对你们来说the thing to say is
这里代表生活内容总体是好的this represents the overall goodness of your contents
或者生活内容总体是坏的or the overall badness of your contents.
越往上 生活越好The higher up, the better the contents.
越往下 生活越差The lower down, the worse the contents.
支持"有限价值容器"理论的同学For those who are fans of the modest container theory,
这里代表生活的总体状态this represents the grand balance.
也就是生活内容加上生命本身的价值So it's contents plus the extra bit you get from being alive.
当然But of course,
如果你支持"有限价值容器"理论if you're a fan of the modest container theory,
那么即使生活内容是负数then even if the contents are negative,
总体价值仍然可能是正数the grand balance might still be positive.
反正这里代表的是总体生活质量But this represents the overall bottom line,
不管你接受"中性容器"理论whether you accept the neutral container theory
还是"有限价值容器"理论or the modest container theory.
好的 这里是一种生活So, here's an example of what a life might look like.
最初一切都很好 然后事情逐渐变坏It's going along pretty well and then things get worse.
生活质量逐渐恶化And things sort of deteriorate.
我们假设这一点代表And let's suppose this point represents
你自然死亡的时间when you would die of natural causes, natural death.
所以 越接近死亡So, towards the end,
生活越不像你年轻时候那么如意life's not as great as it was when you were young
精力充沛 身体健康and vigorous and healthy
充满机遇和成就and had all sorts of opportunities and accomplishments.
但是 一直到死 它都是正数But still, till the very end, it stays positive.
如果你的生活是这样的Well, if that's what your lifeline would look like,
很明显pretty clearly,
自杀在任何时候都是不合理的suicide doesn't ever make any sense.
特别是 你不会说 看In particular, you wouldn't want to say oh, look,
我应该在这时杀死我自己here's the place where I should kill myself,
因为从这时开始 生活质量下降了because here is where

things start to get worse.
确实 生活质量开始下降了Yes, things are beginning to get worse,
但它从来没下降到你生不如死but they never get so bad that you're better off dead.
所以自杀绝不是合理的So, suicide wouldn't make any sense at all.
如果自杀是合理的For suicide to make sense,
至少你的生活it's got to be the case
要变差that your life takes a turn for the worse.
不是向差发展Not just any old turn for the worse,
而是发展到差but a turn so much for the worse,
你的一部分生活that for some chunk of your life,
比"不存在"还差your life is worse than nonexistence,
"不存在"就是零 X轴the zero line, the x-axis.
好的 假设这就是发生的事情All right. Imagine that's what's happened.
这里你很健康 精力充沛Here you are. You're healthy, you're vigorous,
事业有成you're accomplishing things,
但你得了某种退行性疾病but you've got some degenerative disease
生活越来越差that's going to make things worse and worse.
这段生活越来越差Here's the period in which it's getting worse.
过了一段时间And then after a while,
你的生活差到生不如死your existence is going to be worse than nothing.
现在 我们至少有理由问Here, we can at least broach the question in an intelligible way.
自杀是合理的吗Might suicide make sense?
假设生活质量在这时开始下降Suppose this is the point where the downturn begins.
你应该在这时自杀吗Should you kill yourself at that stage?
不 因为不管怎么说No. Because, after all,
即使生活从这里开始变坏even though there's a downturn, things are getting worse,
但这段时间仍然是there's still going to be another period of life,
这段时间可能是another chunk of whatever it is--
五年 六个月 等等year, five years, six months, whatever it is--
这时 虽然生活没原来那么好where although life isn't as good as it had been before,
但还是聊胜于无it's still better than nothing.
这么早结束自己的生命Killing yourself at this earlier moment is,
我们会说 为时过早we might say, premature.
放弃了一段仍然值得过下去的生活It's throwing away a chunk of life that would still be worth having.
这样做不对It's not the right thing to do.
不是个合理的选择It doesn't make sense rationally.
好的 如果这个时候不对Well, if not that moment,
那这时怎么样what about this moment?
这时你的生命Here's the precise point at which your life
恰好变成生不如死is becoming worse than nothing.
开始的一个阶段For some initial stretch of that,
还不是很差it won't be very much worse than nothing.
但总的来说 是负数But still, overall, it's a negative.
在此以前 你的生活值得过下去Up to that moment, your life was worth living.
在此之后 你的生活不值得过下去From that moment on, your life is worse than nothing.
如果你能完全

控制何时自杀If you've got complete control over when to kill yourself,
那么 这时就是自杀的时刻well, that would be the time to do it.
假设你不能完全控制Suppose you don't have complete control.
当然很直接的想法是It's straightforward enough to say
如果你的生活变得生不如死if your life is going to become worse than nothing
而且你完全能控制何时自杀and you have complete control over when you kill yourself,
那么毋庸置疑it seems pretty plausible to say
有理由自杀的确切时刻the precise moment at which suicide would become rational
就是你的生活变得would be exactly that moment at which
生不如死的那一刻your life became not worth having.
但你或许没有这种控制力But you might not have that kind of control.
假设你得了某种退行性疾病Suppose that what you've got is a degenerative disease
它会逐渐使你失去that is going to progressively strip you of the ability
控制自己身体的能力to control your body.
但是 你的意识还很清醒Still, your mind works for a much longer time.
那么在一段时间内And so, for a period of time,
你就是躺在医院的病床上you're basically stuck in your hospital bed
别人给你喂饭being fed by somebody else.
或许你能But perhaps you're able
听到家人的交谈to listen to your family talk about things,
能听别人为你读书have books read to you.
或许你也能交谈Maybe you can engage in conversation,
但你不能举起手臂 等等even though you can't use your arms and so forth.
你的生活还值得过下去Your life's still worth living,
但该来的总会来but the time's going to come
你的生活会变得不值得过下去when your life won't be worth living.
但是这时And at that point,
你不再有能力杀死自己you'll no longer have the ability to kill yourself,
因为你控制不了自己的身体because you won't have control over your body.
这引起的问题是It raises the question of--
我想大家都看得到这一点I'm sure you can all see at this point,
也就是说自杀问题伴随着the question of suicide also turns into or comes up against,
安乐死的问题the question about euthanasia, mercy killing.
在什么情况下Under what circumstances
有理由让别人杀死自己is it ever rational to ask somebody else to kill you?
在什么情况下 如果有的话Under what circumstances, if ever,
杀死另一人符合道德is it morally legitimate to kill somebody else?
但我们还是继续关注自杀问题But let's continue to focus on the case of suicide.
假设你生活在一个Suppose you live in a
不开化的社会里society which is so unenlightened
那里禁止安乐死as to have ruled out euthanasia.
事实上 你生活在我们这个社会里In fact, you live in our society.
我们就不允许And so, what we don't allow
在你想放弃生命的时候is the possibility of somebody else coming along
别

人过来杀死你and killing you when the time comes.
所以 你知道总有一天So, you know the time is going to come
你会生不如死at which you'd be better off dead.
但等到了那个时候But once you're there, once you're here,
一切都太晚了it's too late.
你做不到了You can't do it.
你没能力杀死自己了You won't have the ability to kill yourself,
而且没人能帮的上你and nobody else will be able to do it for you.
在这种情况下In that case,
早一点杀死自己仍然是合理的选择killing yourself earlier might still make sense.
比如在这时Take this earlier point, for example.
如果你在这时杀死自己Here, if you kill yourself now,
你放弃了一些值得过下去的日子you're throwing away some life that's worth living.
但如果这是你But if this is the last moment at
有能力杀死自己的最后时刻which you're going to be able to kill yourself,
这在道理上仍然说得通it might still make sense, rationally.
你可以选择的不是Because your choice is not
在这时自杀还是在这时自杀end it here or end it there.
我们假设你无法在这时自杀We're assuming you don't have the possibility of ending it here,
正好在生活变得不值得过下去时自杀at the precise moment at which life became no longer worth having.
你能选择的只是Your choice, instead, is really just this.
在这时自杀 放弃后面所有的生活End it here and throw away this whole last bit.
或者不在这时自杀Or not end it
一直等到疾病夺去你的生命and then continue until you die from the disease.
所以 你的问题只是So, your question is only,
我如何看待后面这些生活的价值what do I think about the value of this last bit?
总体来讲On the whole,
会是好的还是坏的it's got a good part and it's god a bad part.
是得到这种好坏掺杂的生活呢Is it better to have the good part and the bad part
还是什么也不得到or better to have none of it?
答案是And the answer, of course, is well,
如果坏日子会持续很长时间if the bad part's going to continue long enough,
那么什么也得不到最好it's better to have none of it.
坏日子抵消了好日子The bad outweighs the good.
那么合理的选择就是So that the rational thing to do
在这时结束你的生命would be to decide to end your life then,
趁你还能这么做when you still can,
而不是让自己忍受rather than condemn yourself
那漫长的不值得过下去的日子to the long final stretch of life not worth living.
那么 如果你能控制自己生命的Well, what if the last time
最后时刻在这里 又将如何that you could actually control it was way back here,
不管因为什么原因吧for whatever reason it is.
这里 你有机会杀死自己Here, you've got access to the means of killing yourself
但此后再无机会and you won't have access later.
你的生活还会有一段很长的好日子Your

life's still going to be great for a very long time.
然后 不可避免的And then, inevitably,
有个阶段会变差it'll be bad for a period of time.
如果我画的不错But at least if I've drawn it right,
我们可以缩短这段时间if not, we can shorten this.
我们假设死亡这时来临I suppose death would come here.
如果你现在不自杀Here's a case where if you don't kill yourself now,
你就将忍受整个人生you're condemning yourself to the whole rest of the story.
但我们会说 好吧But we might say, "All right.
虽然不可否认Although, admittedly,
生命的后期会不值得过下去the end of the story's going to be negative,
但避免最后生不如死的日子的唯一办法the only way to avoid that negative last part
是放弃开始阶段漫长的美好生活is to throw away this very long great initial part."
这不合理That doesn't make sense.
尽管你的生活仍将Although your life is now still going
好坏掺杂to be a mixture of good and bad,
你希望有办法在这里结束生命and you wish there were a way to end it here,
但你没有办法you don't have that choice.
或者全部放弃 或者全部保留It's throw away the good and the bad, or keep them both.
在这个例子里 很明显And in this story, obviously enough,
好事情多于坏事情the good is enough to outweigh the bad.
所以自杀在这种情况下不合理So, suicide doesn't make sense in that situation.
这里是另一种很不同的生活Here's a rather different way the story might go.
假设你一直过得很好Suppose your life's going along really great
然后变差and it takes a turn for the worse
但又重新好起来but then is going to get better.
然后 直到自然死亡So, it ends here with death by natural causes.
这时自杀合理吗Could suicide make sense here?
有没有理由说Does it make sense to say,
看 为了避免生活质量下降"Look, I'm going to kill myself
我要杀死我自己in order to avoid the downturn"
或者Or indeed,
即使重新变好的日子不那么长even if the recovery wasn't so long a recovery,
这时自杀合理吗could suicide make sense here,
因为你要经历这么一个低谷because you're about to take this big dip down
而且你以后的生活and be condemned to most of the rest of your life
都会比前面的生活差being significantly worse than it was before?
不 这种情况下自杀不合理No, suicide doesn't make sense in this situation.
因为 即使你将要过的生活Because even though what you're going to have during this period
没有你以前的好is a life worse than the life you had before,
但这个生活还是在X轴以上的the life you've got here is still above the x-axis.
还是一个值得过下去的生活It's still a life worth living.
我认为这一点很关键This point, I think, is probably crucial enough
值得仔细思考that it's worth taking a moment to reflect on.
你过得没有以前