How to know if you're being selfish (and whether or not that's bad) - Mark Hopwood

翻译人员: Tong PL 校对人员: Yanyan Hong

In the kitchen at a friend's party,

在朋友聚会的厨房里，

you're in the midst of a profound moral conundrum.

你正深陷一个道德的难题之中。

Famous philosophers whisper advice in your ear.

著名的哲学家们在你耳边低语建议道，

Utilitarian John Stuart Mill tells you that one should always strive

功利主义者约翰·斯图尔特·密尔 告诉你，一个人应该始终

to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

力求为最多的人带来最大的幸福。

Aristotle reminds you of the importance of the virtues of generosity and justice.

亚里士多德提醒你 慷慨和正义这些美德的重要性。

But Thomas Hobbes points out that

但托马斯·霍布斯指出，

"of all voluntary acts, the object is to every man his own good."

“对每个人来说，所有自愿行为的目的 都是为了他自身的利益。”

In other words, human beings are inherently selfish anyway.

换句话说，无论如何， 人类天生就是自私的。

So why shouldn't you take the last cupcake for yourself?

那为什么你不应该自己吃掉 最后一个杯子蛋糕呢？

This is actually one of philosophy's oldest questions.

这实际上是哲学中最古老的问题之一。

Not your cupcake dilemma—

不是你杯子蛋糕的困境 ——

the question of whether or not human beings are inherently selfish.

而是人类本质上是否是自私的。

The idea that humans only act out of self-interest

人类仅出于自身利益而行事的观点

is known as psychological egoism,

被称为心理利己主义，

and there aren't many philosophers who endorse this extreme stance.

且支持这种极端立场的哲学家并不多。

There's simply too much evidence of humans sacrificing their self-interest,

有太多的证据表明人类 为了他人牺牲自己的利益，

and sometimes their very lives, for the sake of others.

有时甚至为此牺牲他们的生命。

And studies by psychologists have shown that even very young children

而心理学家的研究表明， 即使是非常年幼的孩子

demonstrate helpful behavior despite there being nothing in it for themselves.

也会表现出助人的行为， 尽管这对他们没有任何好处。

However, the idea that all humans have a deep selfish streak

但是，认为所有人类都具有 深层的自私倾向这个观点

is something many more philosophers would agree with.

是许多的哲学家都会认同的。

German philosopher Immanuel Kant noted that while we often seem to act

德国哲学家伊曼努尔·康德指出，

尽管我们似乎经常为他人着想，

for the sake of others,

it's impossible to be sure we're not truly motivated

但无法确定我们不是真的受到

by "a secret impulse of self-love."

“一种自爱的潜在冲动”的激励。

For example, maybe when people make large donations to charity,

例如，也许当人们向 慈善机构捐赠大量资金时，

they're actually more interested in looking good

他们实际上更关心的是看起来表现良好

or benefiting from tax breaks than helping others.

或从税收减免中受益，而不是帮助他人。

It's worth noting that not all philosophers think self-love

值得注意的是， 并非所有哲学家都认为自爱

is always a bad thing.

总是一件坏事。

French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau identified two kinds of self-love.

法国哲学家让-雅克·卢梭 指出了两种自爱。

He believed "Amour de soi," our basic need for self-preservation,

他认为，“Amour de soi” 是我们自我保护的基本需求，

is natural and essential.

是自然且必不可少的。

But he identified "amour propre,"

但他指出， “amour propre”，

our toxic desire for recognition and social status,

即我们对认可和社会地位的恶性渴望，

as the cause of many unjust disparities.

是许多不公正差距的原因。

In a similar vein, Aristotle argued that humans are social beings

同样，亚里士多德认为， 人类是社会生物，

who can only flourish when we seek the good of others as well as ourselves.

只有当我们寻求他人和 自己的利益时，才能蓬勃发展。

By this logic, true self-love requires us to work against our selfish tendencies.

按照这种逻辑，真正的自爱要求我们 与自身的自私倾向进行斗争。

For many philosophers, this is where the real problem lies—

对于许多哲学家来说， 这才是真正的问题所在 ——

how do we overcome our selfishness?

我们如何克服自私？

Some, like Kant, have argued that our sense of moral duty

一些人，例如康德， 认为我们的道德责任感

is what helps us rise above our narrow self-interest.

是帮助我们超越 狭隘的自身利益的原因。

Others, like Rousseau and Adam Smith,

卢梭和亚当·斯密等其他人则认为，

contend that emotions like pity and sympathy

怜悯和同情之类的情绪

are what allow us to consider the needs of others.

使我们能够考虑他人的需求。

But 20th century philosopher-novelist Iris Murdoch

但是20世纪的哲学家兼小说家 艾里斯·默多克则认为，

believed the only true solution to human selfishness was love.

解决人类自私的唯一真正方法是爱。

Or at least, a certain kind of love.

或者至少，某种爱。

For Murdoch, selfishness isn't about trivial things

对默多克来说，自私不是像 吃掉最后一块纸杯蛋糕

like taking the last cupcake.

这样的微不足道的事情。

It's about seeing the world in a way that casts yourself as a star,

而是以一种将自己塑造成明星，

and everyone else as secondary characters.

并将其他所有人塑造成 次要角色的方式看待世界。

To explain this, Murdoch tells the story of a discontented mother-in-law.

为了解释这一点，默多克讲述了 一个不满的婆婆的故事。

While the mother is always polite,

虽然这位母亲总是表现得很有礼貌，

she secretly feels her son made a mistake marrying his "vulgar"

但她暗地里认为儿子娶了他那 “粗俗”

and "tiresomely juvenile" wife.

且“令人厌烦的幼稚” 的 妻子是一个错误。

To Murdoch, this mother is the picture of selfishness.

对默多克来说， 这位母亲是自私的写照。

By centering her own jealousy and insecurity,

通过集中在她自己的嫉妒和不安全感，

she's reducing the nuanced reality of her daughter-in-law to a caricature.

她正在将她儿媳妇 那细致入微的现实简化为讽刺画。

But with some conscious effort,

但是通过一点有意识地努力，

Murdoch believes the mother can learn to see her daughter in law as she truly is—

默多克相信，这位母亲就能 学会看待儿媳妇的真实面貌——

not vulgar or juvenile,

既不粗俗也不幼稚，

but refreshingly straightforward and delightfully youthful.

而是清爽直率， 年轻得令人愉悦。

To be clear, this doesn't mean

需要明确的是，这并不意味着

the mother should simply don rose-colored glasses.

这位母亲应该就这样 毫无根据地乐观看待这件事。

Love, as Murdoch defines it, is "the extremely difficult realization

爱，正如默多克所定义的那样， 是 “极其难以意识到

that something other than oneself is real."

自己以外的东西是真实的”。

As challenging as this might be,

尽管这可能具有挑战性，

Murdoch believes we can all reach this realization

但默多克相信我们都可以

by cultivating what she calls attention.

通过培养她所谓的注意力 来实现这一现实。

Partially inspired by Buddhist meditation,

这种做法的部分灵感来自佛教的冥想，

this practice could include engaging with art, learning foreign languages,

可以包括参与艺术、学习外语

or simply taking the time to observe the natural environment.

或只是简单地花时间观察自然环境。

What's important for Murdoch is that the behavior

对默多克来说，重要的是这种行为

helps direct your attention beyond the self.

有助于将注意力引导到自我之外。

Because only by practicing our ability to attend to the world around us

因为只有通过练习我们 关注周围世界的能力，

can we learn to see it as it truly is.

我们才能学会看清世界的真实面貌。