耶鲁大学开放课程—哲学：死亡.21.Open.Yale.course—Philosophy：Death.DivX-YYeTs人人影视

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,
我还剩年 年 或是年I've got years left, years left, years left.
我会这样一直倒计时下去I should've been counting down--
年 年 年 等等, , 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DNAbut you could have genetic counseling--have your DNA examined
通过D

NA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%的概率会得这种病You might know already that you've got a 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
在你岁 岁或者什么时候发作have onset by age , 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
或年的活头 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 a

nd
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 wo

uldn'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,
没有人会在点到点之间死去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 sugges

ting 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 incr

eased 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
{\an}{\fn方正黑体简体\fs\b\bord\shad\c&HFFF&}奥森·斯科特·卡德 当今美国科幻界最炙手可热的人物之一
曾写过这样一个短篇故事Orson Scott Card,
大意是说where the basic point of the story is that
假定宇宙的所有生命形式中of all the life forms in the universe,
只有我们地球居民会死亡we, here on Earth, are the only ones that are mortal.
而这一点使我们And because of this we are the envy
为宇宙其余万物所妒of the rest of the universe.
对它们而言 不朽It's not so much that immortality, what the rest of them have,
简直稀松平常到惹其生厌的程度 is unattractive or boring.
长生不老固然很好It's perfectly fine,
但它们却艳羡我们有限的生命 but they envy us for our finite lifespans,
因为我们拥有because what we've got
它们无法拥有的短暂人生and they don't have is something
它们眼里弥足珍贵的短暂人生that's for each individual rare--
无法持久的事物something that's not lasting,
在它们看来反倒成了珍品something that's precious in that way.
好了 这是一种可能 All right, it's a possibility.
也许注定的死亡So, it's possible that the very fact that we're going to die
与生命发生交互作用 causes an interaction effect with our life
其结果反倒成为我们的优势so there's an upside to it.
我们的生命脆弱不堪It makes our life fragile,
愈是昙花一现便愈发珍贵ephemeral, and as a result of that, more precious.
但也可能But it's also possible--
存在与上面的情形相调和的actually compatible with accepting that fact--there are
另两种可能two additional possibilities,
也许交互作用会带来负面效应that there might be some negative interaction effects.
在对生与死结合本质的探究中It could be that in thinking about the nature of the combination
我们可能发现we're led to see that in certain ways the combination--
这种作用是消极的 有害而无益的the interaction effects--are negative, are bad ones.
由此衍生出两种可能Well, here are two possibilities for that thought.
可能情形一 我称之为First possibility I think of under the heading
"玩笑体验""A Taste is Just a Tease."
在有限的时间内It's as though we live life for a while,
我

们体验生命中的各种愉悦 但随后getting a feel for all the wonderful things life could offer us, and then
它又从我们手中夺走一切a moment later, as it were, it's snatched away from us.
有点雪上加霜的意味 It's sort of adding insult to injury
初尝甜头旋即一切消失殆尽 that we're offered just a whiff.
好比有人在饿汉面前放上一道佳肴It's as though somebody brought in this delicious meal
正中饿汉下怀to a hungry--before a hungry person--
允许他们观赏allowed them to see what it looked like,
允许他们嗅闻allowed them to smell the delicious aromas,
或许也允许他们品尝一小口perhaps gave them just one little tiny forkful to see just how
以便他们能全方位体验美食beautifully delicious the food was.
但随后 一切都被撤走了And then they snatched the whole thing away.
可以想象 有人嘟囔 You can imagine somebody who says,
"既然不让我们吃 "Look, it would be better never to have had the taste at all
与其这样浅尝辄止than to have the taste
还不如一口不尝呢"and then not be allowed to have the entire meal."
如果你仅专注于品味的本质That's something that you might not notice if you just focus on
也许会忽略一点the intrinsic nature of the taste. After all,
品味的本质始终是正面积极的the intrinsic nature of the taste was positive.
相反 倘若你只把目光定格在 Or, if you just focused on the intrinsic character
没能享用美食上 of the not-having the meal.
吃不了 不过是缺失某种体验而已After all, not having the meal is just an absence of a certain experience.
想要比较这两点谁更恶劣 To capture what's excruciatingly undesirable about the two,
你必须将它们联系起来you need to think about the two in combination.
这就是交互作用It's an interaction effect.
我们也许认为And we might think, look,
体验便是生命消逝前this is one of the negative things about
对人类境况的the human condition that we get a taste of life--
一种否定nothing more--before it's snatched away.
这是可能情形之一That's one possibility.
关于消极的交互作用The second possible thought that comes to mind
我能想到的另一种情形是for me, in thinking about the negative interaction effects,
我给它取名叫做I call under the title--I think about under the title--
"贵族落寞""How the Noble Have Fallen."
先来说些神奇的事情Right now, there's something amazing about us.
我们是人类We are people.
不论宇宙中存在着怎样的生命形式In the universe we--who knows what is out there
但至少in the universe but at least on Earth
我们是地球上唯一的人类we may well be the only people there are.
谁了解这一真相呢 Now, who knows?
也许海豚 或是猿猴知道Maybe dolphins or certain--some of the great apes.
不管怎样 这是个适者生存的地方But at any rate, it's a

rather select club.
在本学期开始时We are, as I said, early
我便说过 我是个物理主义者in the semester when I said I'm a physicalist,
所以我相信人类有如机器 I believe that people are just machines,
但又并非等同于but we're not just
那些古老陈旧的机器 any old machine.
我们是神奇的机器We're amazing machines.
我们能够相爱 能够作诗We're able to love. We're able to write poetry.
能够思索宇宙最遥远的距离We're able to think about the farthest reaches of the universe
能够了解我们身处宇宙何处and ask what our place is in the universe.
人类真是不可思议People are amazing.
我们的肉体终将腐烂 变成死尸And we end up rotting. We end up corpses.
但对我们大多数人来说There's something--
尽管我们人类for many of us, there's something horrifying about the thought
有着惊人之处that something as amazing as us,
坐拥尊贵显赫的地位as exalted and valuable as us,
但终究could end up something as
将幻化为腐朽的尸骸lowly and unimportant as a piece of rotting flesh.
请再想想Again, think about it.
我们脑海中浮现一个画面The image here that comes
某位落寞的国王to mind for me is one of these deposed kings
站在餐桌一旁who ends up waiting on tables
当侍应 以此在纽约谋生to make a living in New York.
你也许会说 "这没什么And it's--you might think, "All right.
当侍应又不是这世上最悲惨的事情"The life of a waiter is not the worst thing in the world."
但注意 此处又有些雪上加霜的味道But there's extra, again, insult to injury,
此人仍然保留着when the person's got to remember that
过去那段掌控一切唯我独尊的美好记忆he used to be something extraordinary, a ruler.
我请你们Again, if you just thought about life as a ruler,
将当事人先前的那段记忆隔离开来考虑well pretty good thinking about it in isolation.
诚然 单就侍应生活而言 Life as a waiter, not so bad
那人的遭遇并不悲惨thinking about it in isolation.
但倘若需要深究问题的本质To see the nature of the
你就不得不将前前后后联系起来problem you've got to think about the fact that it's a combination package.
国王落魄为侍应There is something especially insulting
这的确比较悲惨about having gone from king to waiter.
权柄轰然倒塌 形势由盛及衰How the mighty have fallen.
而那将是我们所有人都无法摆脱的宿命And that fate is waiting for all of us.
人类境况的优越It's a fact about the human condition that the amazing
荡然无存things we are don't stay amazing.
我们变成一群尸骨 消失殆尽We turn into pieces of rotting flesh, decaying.
综上所述 可能存在的两个消极结果So two possible negative effects--
玩笑体验the taste is just a tease,
以及贵族落寞the how the noble have fallen--on the one hand.
而积极的结局便

是 生命变得格外珍贵One possible positive effect, the extra preciousness of life.
总的说来 我并不确定I'm not quite sure where, on balance, we should say
这三种可能到底孰对孰错how these things play out.
假设我们拥有各自不同的观点 Again, I suppose we could have different views.
一方面On the one hand,
乐观主义者坚持the optimists might say,
"即便我们把交互作用列入考虑范畴 "Even when we throw in the extra interaction effects,
即便存在消极的交互作用even the negative interaction effects,
但人类境况的整体本质the overall nature of the human condition
仍是积极的is positive.
所以尽管我们终究会死So that it's a good thing to be born,
但能来这世上走一遭也是好的"even though your life is going to be followed by death."
另一方面 悲观主义者And against that, we could have the pessimists
表示 "一旦我们遁入who say, "The negative side,
消极的交互作用especially once we throw in the negative interaction effects,
苦痛即朝我们袭来the negative side is so great
与其这样还不如没活过呢"that it would be better never to have been born at all."
这就是悲观主义者的观点 That's the pessimist view.
死亡的必然性Given that we're going to die, this fact seeps back in
荼毒了生命的本质and poisons the nature of life
甚至荼毒了生命的全部or perhaps poisons the nature of the whole,
即由生到死的全过程life followed by death,
由是得到否定全盘的结论so that on balance the whole thing's negative.
在悲观主义者眼中 不曾拥有生命Better to have not had any of it,
抑或根本从未出生better to have not been born at all, say the pessimists,
都比经历生死than to have this combination package of life
更加明智followed by death.
我个人绝对奉行乐观主义 Now, for myself, I'm sufficiently optimistic
所以我还是倾向于认为that I'm inclined to think
生命很精彩life's wonderful.
我们刚刚谈到的消极交互作用The negative combination effects
的确存在that I was talking about are certainly there,
但总体而言 我认为but on balance I think the
人类境况还是很明朗的human condition for must of us is a good one.
尽管死亡的结局早已注定It's better to have been born
但能降临这世上than never to--even though that's followed by death--
比未曾来过要好than never to have been born at all.
但我也要强调一点But I do want to emphasize
即便我们接受the point that even if we were to accept the
悲观主义者的观点pessimist's conclusion that
我们不该来到这个世界 it would be better never to have been born at all,
也并不意味着it doesn't follow,
至少我们没有深究的必要at least doesn't follow without further argument,
如果我们赞同悲观主义的观点that the right response to the realization-- if it is the correct realization

认为我们本不该来到世上that it would be better never to have been born at all
也不表示我们因此要选择自杀doesn't follow that the right response is to commit suicide.
听上去无懈可击 对吗 It's a tempting thought right?
从哲学的角度看To go philosophically from
人类境况导致生命如此糟糕life's so bad given the nature of the human condition,
我们最终必将死亡 与其浅尝辄止life followed by death, that better to never have had any of it
还不如从未体验than to have just had a taste and a tease and so forth.
于是我们想当然地认为But it's a tempting philosophical thought to say,
"因为不出生还好些"Once I've shown it's better never to have been born,
所以我理应选择自杀" it follows that suicide is the appropriate response."
但其实这点在逻辑上根本说不通But in fact, as a matter of logic, that doesn't follow at all.
因为你想想Because if you think about it,
自杀并未能改变suicide doesn't change
人类境况的本质the fundamental nature of the human condition,
我们依然注定要死去life followed by death.
并不是说如果你把自己结果了It's not as though if you kill yourself
你就没有来过这世界了you somehow bring it about that you've never been born at all.
问题其实还是集中于浅尝It's still the case that if there's something horrible about
到底有利有弊 having just a taste--
其实 如果你选择自杀Well, indeed, if you commit suicide
你只不过是缩短了品尝的时间而言you've made it an even shorter taste.
如果说最终的死亡结局If there's something sort of degrading or unnoble about
带来某些羞耻或不洁的感觉being a person who is going to become a corpse,
自杀其实并不能解决问题的本质committing suicide doesn't alter that fundamental fact either.
它只不过将侮辱提前了It just makes the insult come sooner.
所以说 即便我们支持So, even if we were to agree
悲观主义者的观点 认为with the pessimists that it would be better
我们不曾出生其实更好 never to have been born at all,
如同一个古老的玩笑所说as the old joke goes,
如此幸运的家伙还真是百里挑一啊 对吧show me one person in a thousand who's so lucky, right?
但我们都已在这世上了 所以We have all been born. And from the fact,
即便我们赞同even if we were to agree with it, that it would've been better
人本不该出生if we hadn't been
从而不再为未出生的拉里感到遗憾born--instead of feeling sorry for unborn Larry,
甚至嫉妒拉里perhaps we should envy unborn Larry;
如果循着悲观主义者的思路 that's what the pessimists say--
即使以上都成立even if that were true,
也无法证明自杀的合理性it wouldn't follow that suicide was an appropriate response.
证明自杀合理It doesn't mean of course that suicide isn't ever
显然也不是其初衷an appropriate respo

nse.
在本学期期末We're coming on toward the end of the semester,
我们探讨的最后一个主题and the last topic we'll be
将是自杀talking about is indeed the topic of suicide.
是否在某种情形中When, if ever, is suicide
自杀符合理智道德双重标准an appropriate, rational or moral response to one's situation?
我们到时候再展开讨论Let's hold off on thinking about that question a bit further.
你也许会说 在这之前Before we get to suicide, you might say,
数周时间中the question that's going to entertain us for the
我们的话题仅仅局限于remaining few weeks is this.
面临死亡 我们应该如何生存How should one live, in light of the facts
正如你们学期计划表上显示的那样about death that I've been laying out in the semester up to this point?
面临死亡 我们该如何生存How should we live, in light of the facts about death?
有人会说And one possible response, the last one we'll look at, is,
最起码 你不能自杀what you should do, at least sometimes, is kill yourself.
这点我们待会儿再谈We'll come to that.
接下来几周 我们We're going to spend the next couple of weeks
会从各个方面思考asking ourselves different aspects of the question,
如何应对死亡what should our response be to the fact of our death and the
了解死亡的特性 以及specific features of death and the nature of death that
死亡的本质we've been exploring?
但我想我们还是先来考虑一下But the very first question i suppose we really need to ask is this.
我们是否应该思考这些问题Should we be thinking about all this at all?
也许你们觉得这问题提得太晚了 对吗Well, I realize that for you guys it's too late, right?
对于那些花费整学期的时间It's sort of late in the day for students who have been through the better part of a semester
论证死亡本质的学生来说的确为时已晚thinking about the nature of death to argue, maybe,
但对将这课作为基础入门的你们而言 it wasn't such a good idea for you
也许为时尚早to take this class in the first place.
但我们可以站在理论层面But as theorists,
以理论家的身份we could be interested in
思考就理论上而言 the theoretical possibility that the right response
关于回避死亡的反应有哪些is to not think about the facts of death at all.
大体上Look, in principle
有三种不同的反应in principle I suppose there are three different reactions.
我会把它们一一列举出来So, I make various claims of the sort that I've been making about,
"我们只不过是实体而已"Well look, you know, we're just physical objects.
当实体瓦解 我们便不复存在When these objects break, we cease to exist.
而这些实体也无法再重新组合"The objects don't get put back together,"
等等and so forth and so on.
这是第一种与我观点相悖的反应One possibility, of course, is simpl

y to disagree with me about the facts.
当然And so you--of course,
如果你不认为自己的立场错误if you do disagree I think you're mistaken,
我就默认你们持否定态度 so I'll think of you as denying the facts,
但不管怎样but all right,
这的确是一种可能的情形that's a possibility.
另一种情形 我待会再展开Another possibility, the one I'll turn to a little bit later,
则是赞同我的看法并继续活下去is admit the facts and live accordingly.
当然 我们至今还未问自己Of course, we haven't yet asked ourselves, how should you live
如果赞成并接纳这些观点 if you recognize and take into
又该怎样生活account those facts?
我们待会再讨论That's the question we'll turn to.
而介于这两种之间还存在一种情形But there's the middle possibility,
既不赞成也不反对which is not so much think about them and deny them,
不去深入思考 只是一味地接受并施行not so much think about them, accept them and act accordingly,
但不去思考个中玄妙but simply don't think about them.
也许面对死亡的最佳方式Maybe the best response to the facts
便是不去想它of death is just put it out of your mind.
完全把它抛到九霄云外Don't give it any thought at all.
于是你也许会想Now, on the one hand you might think,
那根本不是什么正确的方式that can't possibly be the right response,
更谈不上合理不合理the appropriate response.
毕竟 你怎么可能After all, how can it be appropriate
不去想它 无视其存在呢to disregard, to put out of your mind, facts?
听上去似乎不无道理Well, that all sounds very nice,
但我认为这种想法其实是错误的but I think that claim has got to just be mistaken.
忽视某些往昔所了解的事实There's nothing unacceptable or inappropriate or misguided about
其实并不怎么难以接受not thinking about all sorts of facts that you might have learned
或不合时宜at some point or the other.
下面我来举个我最喜欢的例子Here's my favorite example of
我小时候被强制要求stupid facts I was forced to learn when I was younger--
记熟各州首府 state capitals, right?
儿时的记忆已经很遥远了I've gotten pretty far in my life,
印象中我似乎从未and as far as I can tell I've never, ever, ever had to
记全个州的首府remember the capitals of the states.
所以我就一直回避它So, I just don't think about it.
只是每次我给学生上这门课的时候Pretty much I think about it only once a year,
就会回想一次when I'm giving this very lecture.
我问自己 还记得多少个州首府I start asking, how many state capitals can I remember?
答案是 真记不全了And the answer is, really not all that many of them.
不去回想我曾一度了解的事实Not thinking about those facts that I knew at one point--
并无大碍just not all that objectionable.
所以 仅关乎事实 So,

the mere fact,
如果这也算得上是事实的话if it is a fact,
假设关于生死的事实suppose the facts about
同我所描述的一致life and death are as I've described them.
在我们做进一步的了解之前Until we say something more,
我们并不确定是否应该it's not clear that we shouldn't just,
记录 珍藏 然后忘却all right, note it, store it away, and forget about it,
如同我刚才所举州首府的例子那样just like the facts about the state capitals.
这种说法看上去很奇怪 容易产生误导That seems odd; that seems misguided.
那是为什么呢 But why?
为什么我们一旦将有关生死的事实What is it about the facts about life and death that
放在一边 进而置若罔闻seem to make it misguided to think we should just put them aside
就容易误入歧途呢and pay no attention to them?
也许是因为我们被引导到这个想法上Presumably because we're led to the thought,
我们为死亡的本质所吸引 we're attracted to the thought, that the nature of death,
为死亡的事实所吸引the facts about death--whatever they are--
进而在生活中发生微妙的变化should have an impact on how we live.
适当的生存方式由是勾勒出来The appropriate way to live gets shaped,
至少部分已然成形at least in part,
而这皆因死亡所致by the fact that we're going to die,
因我们无法永生所致that we won't be around forever.
如果真是如此 那么反对接受死亡事实If that's right, then it seems as though there'd be
似乎又显得不够理智something irrational and inappropriate
不大合适about simply disregarding those facts.
在我介绍另几个故事之前Let me tell you two stories that might--
还是先讲这两个故事吧well, look, before I tell you the stories here's the other side.
有人说 "是啊 Suppose somebody said, "Yeah, it's true
如果我思考死亡的本质if I thought about the nature of death,
思考我将于 或是年后the fact that the , , years I've got on this Earth
就要离开人世 如果我总想着这事儿is all I'm going to have. If I thought about that fact,
迟早会崩溃的it would just be overwhelming.
话题太沉重It would be crushing.
以至于我无法继续生活下去了"I'd be unable to go on with my life."
人们时常会道出这种感慨 People sometimes claim that that's the case and,
正因为此because of that,
回避亦为上策the right thing to do is to not think about it.
想必你们之前就已读过You've read at this point, long since,
托尔斯泰的《伊万里奇之死》Tolstoy's Death of Ivan Ilych.
托尔斯泰故事里的人们好像都把The people in the Tolstoy story seem to have put facts
死亡抛到脑后了 of mortality out of their mind.
为什么呢 也许是因为他们Why? Presumably because they
觉得直面现实过于沉重think that facing it is just too crushing and overwhelming.
所以他们选择一种温

和的方式来对待死亡So the way they cope with it--they think
即 对死亡the appropriate response is put it aside,
置之不理disregard the facts about death.
在我看来 这种应对似乎Well, as I say, there seems to be something amiss
有些不妥 about that reaction.
那也正是托尔斯泰想要告诉我们的 That was certainly the point that Tolstoy was trying to get us to see.
无论应对死亡的正确策略究竟为何There's something
无法正视生命的尽头 wrong about lives, something inauthentic about lives
生命终将that are lived without facing the facts of our mortality and living accordingly,
显得飘渺虚无whatever the appropriate responses might be.
再来讲两个与死亡无关Here are two stories not having to do with death per se
但可以帮助我们体察到that may help us get a feel for the oddity
摈弃死亡的异样of trying to disregard these facts.
假设你有一个重要约会Suppose that you're on a hot date,
或是即将赴约 约会对象是佩姬·苏or about to go out on a hot date, with Peggy Sue
或谁谁谁 比如比利·鲍勃or, depending on your preferences, Billy Bob.
室友手里拿着一个信封And your roommate holds up an envelope
告诉你说 and says,
"里面有关于佩姬·苏"Written in this envelope are certain facts
或是比利·鲍勃的一些真相about peggy Sue or Billy Bob.
我就不亲口告诉你了I'm not going to tell you what these facts are yet.
一切都在信里They're in the envelope.
我只负责把它交给你But I'll give you the
由你自行拆开envelope and you can open it up and read them.
但我一定要提醒你But I do want to tell you this one thing.
一旦你拆开信封It is indeed the case that if you were to read these facts,
一旦你了解事情的真相if you were to think about these facts,
一旦你读完信的内容 if you were to know the things written down in the envelope,
你就绝不会再萌生you would not want
约会佩姬·苏的念头了"to go out with peggy Sue."
然后你喃喃自语 容我想想 And you say to yourself, well, let's see.
我现在正想跟佩姬·苏约会Right now i want to go out with Peggy Sue,
但是 倘若我了解真相 but if I knew these true--
并非像你们想象的那样It's not that you think,
你室友欺骗了你oh your roommate has made it up,
一切都是谎言 一切都是诽谤that these are lies; these are slander.
你确实相信You really believe, and it
且信上的内容is in fact the case that the things written down
都是事实 in the envelope are true.
所以你明白And so you know
只要你读了信that if only you were to read these things in the envelope,
你就会改变主意 you would change your mind
不愿再约她出去and no longer want to go out with her.
所以你会说 "把信拿走"And so what you say is, "Don't show me the envelope."
看上去太诡异了 似乎有些不合情理That seems odd.