5 philosophers on anger - Delaney Thull

翻译人员: Mina Liu 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

Anger is a complicated emotion.

愤怒是一种复杂的情绪。

It can feel reasonable and righteous or impulsive and uncontrollable.

它有时是合情合理且正义凛然， 有时又显得冲动且难以控制。

But is it ever morally right to be angry? And if so, when?

但愤怒在道德上是正确的吗？ 如果是，何时才是正确的呢？

One of the most foundational understandings of anger

对愤怒最基本的理解之一

comes from the Greek philosopher Aristotle

来自于古希腊哲学家 亚里士多德（Aristotle），

who proposed an idea called “the doctrine of the mean.”

他提出了一个名为“中庸之道”的观点。

In this model, there’s a sweet spot for our actions and emotional reactions,

在这个系统中，我们的行为 和情绪反应有一个最佳点，

and it's up to you to develop practical wisdom about when you should feel what

而你需要培养实践智慧 来判断何时应感受什么情绪

and how strongly to feel it.

以及感受的强烈程度。

For example, let’s say you’re going to sleep early

例如，假设你明天有一个重要的会议，

because you have an important meeting tomorrow

所以你要早点睡觉，

and your neighbor just started blasting music.

而你的邻居正开始大声播放音乐。

If you can’t sleep, you might botch your meeting,

如果你无法入睡， 可能会搞砸会议，

so feeling angry is definitely understandable.

所以感到愤怒是完全可以理解的。

But how much anger should you feel? And what actions, if any, should you take?

但你该感到有多麼愤怒呢？ 如果要采取行动，你应该怎么做呢？

To answer these questions, Aristotle would need to know more details.

要回答这些问题， 亚里士多德需要了解更多细节。

Have you previously talked to your neighbor about this issue?

你已经和邻居谈过这个问题了吗？

Is it a reasonable time to be playing music?

这个时间播放音乐合理吗？

Is your neighbor trying to antagonize you, or are they just enjoying their evening?

你的邻居这样做是针对你， 还是只是在享受他们的夜晚？

Relying on practical wisdom in Aristotle’s case-by-case approach

在亚里士多德的个案分析方法中，

makes a lot of sense for navigating interpersonal conflicts.

依靠实践智慧来处理人际冲突时很有用。

But what about when there’s no one to blame for your anger?

但是当你的愤怒不能归咎于任何人时， 又该怎么办呢？

Imagine a tornado completely destroys your house

想象一下，一场龙卷风 彻底摧毁了你的房子，

while your neighbor’s home is untouched.

而你邻居的家却毫发无损。

No amount of anger can undo the disaster,

再多的愤怒也无法挽回灾难，

and there isn’t really a suitable target for your frustration.

而且也没有合适的目标 来发泄你的不满。

Yet for the ancient Stoics,

然而，对于古代斯多葛派（Stoics）来说，

the tornado and the noisy neighbor are basically identical.

龙卷风和吵闹的邻居 基本上是一样的。

The Stoics believed life is like an uncontrollable cart we’re all tied to,

斯多葛派认为，生活就像我们 被绑在一辆失控的手推车上，

and we can either learn to go with the flow

我们要么学会顺其自然，

or hurt ourselves fighting its momentum.

要么在与愤怒的冲动抗争中伤害自己。

In their logic, we all live at the whims of fate,

在他们的逻辑中， 我们都活在命运的摆布之中，

and our actions can never actually change things—

我们的行为永远无法真正改变事物——

whether it's a natural disaster or how others act towards us.

无论是自然灾害 还是他人对我们的行为。

So Stoics believe anger is always wrong,

因此，斯多葛派认为愤怒都是错误的，

since it causes pain and is ultimately futile.

因为它会带来痛苦，最终是徒劳的。

The 8th century Indian Buddhist philosopher Śāntideva

8 世纪的印度佛教哲学家Śāntideva

also questioned our free will and the value of anger,

也质疑了我们的自由意志 和愤怒的价值。

arguing that because people often lack rational control over their emotions,

他认为，由于人们往往缺乏 对自己情绪的理性控制，

we should endeavor not to let their anger and cruelty spread to us.

我们应该努力不让他人的愤怒 和残酷行为蔓延到我们身上。

But even if it’s hard for us to control our anger,

但即使我们很难控制自己的愤怒，

there might be something we can learn from it.

我们也可以从中学到一些东西。

Philosopher PF Strawson’s theory of reactive attitudes

哲学家 PF Strawson 的反应态度理论认为，

suggests that experiencing anger is a natural part of human psychology

愤怒是人类心理学的自然组成部分，

that helps us communicate blame and hold each other accountable.

它可以帮助我们传达责任 并追究彼此的责任。

In this model, anger can be an important part

在这个系统中，

很重要的是愤怒可以让我们知道 什么时候发生不道德的事情，

of letting us know when something immoral is happening,

so removing it would impair our social lives and moral communities.

因此消除愤怒将降低 我们的社交生活和道德团体。

But finding the right response to those psychological alarm bells can be tricky.

但是，要找到对这些 心理警报的正确反应可能很难。

For instance, if you were supervising cruel, disrespectful young children,

例如，如果你在监督残忍、 无礼的小孩时，

it might be natural to feel anger,

可能自然而然感到愤怒，

but it would be wrong to treat their moral mistakes

但是以对待成年人的标准一样

like those of fully formed adults.

对待小孩的道德过失是错误的。

So when should you act on anger?

那什么时候应该对愤怒采取行动呢？

And can it ever help change things for the better?

且愤怒能帮助改善情况吗？

Let's imagine your community is experiencing serious health issues

想象一下，你所在的社区 因为附近的一家工厂非法污染水源

because a nearby factory is illegally polluting the water supply.

而面临严重的健康问题。

A long tradition in political philosophy argues that the righteous anger

政治哲学的悠久传统认为，

often invoked by witnessing this kind of injustice

目睹这种不公不义的现象时 常引起的义愤情绪，

can be invaluable for fueling change and motivating community action.

对于推动变革和激励社区行动 是非常有用的。

In unjust situations like this,

在这种不公义的情况下，

it could be a moral mistake to suppress your anger,

压抑自己的愤怒， 而不是将其转化为积极的行动，

instead of channeling it into positive action.

可能是一个道德过失。

But other philosophers argue that anger has an inherent negative element

但也有哲学家认为， 愤怒本质上具有负面因素，

that limits its transformative power.

限制了其变革力量。

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum pointed out that famous civil rights activists

哲学家玛莎·努斯鲍姆 （Martha Nussbaum）指出

甘地（Gandhi）、 纳尔逊・曼德拉（Nelson Mandela）

such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr

和马丁・路德・金（Martin Luther King Jr） 等著名民权活动家警告说，

warned that giving yourself over to even the most righteous anger

即使是沉溺于义愤中

can lead one to become bitter, vengeful, or hateful of others.

也会使人变得痛苦、报复或仇恨他人。

They cautioned that we should carefully calibrate our emotional responses

他们告诫我们要谨慎调整自己的情绪反应，

to ensure that we see others not as enemies

确保我们不将他人视为敌人，

but as community members with whom we must learn to coexist,

而是将他们视为我们必须学会 与之共同生活的社区成员，

regardless of our ever-changing emotions.

无论我们的情绪如何变化。