How do you know you exist? - James Zucker

笛卡兒：我存不存在?　- James Zucker

譯者: Yamei Huang 審譯者: Adrienne Lin

How do you know you're real?

你怎麼知道你是存在的？

這是一個平凡無奇的問題， 直到某天你想要找出這問題的答案，

It's an obvious question until you try to answer it,

but let's take it seriously.

我們認真討論這問題吧。

How do you really know you exist?

你如何知道你是存在的？

In his "Meditations on First Philosophy,"

法國哲學家笛卡兒在他的著作 ”第一哲學沈思集” 試圖回答這問題，

René Descartes tried to answer that very question,

demolishing all his preconceived notions and opinions

笛卡兒抛棄所有成見， 由基礎重新開始思考這個問題，

to begin again from the foundations.

All his knowledge had come from his sensory perceptions of the world.

笛卡兒的知識是來自於他對這個世界的認知，

Same as you, right?

你也是，對吧？

You know you're watching this video with your eyes, hearing it with your ears.

你知道你正用眼睛看，用耳朵聽這部影片，

Your senses show you the world as it is.

你的感官知覺證明 這個世界就如它所呈現的樣子。

They aren't deceiving you, but sometimes they do.

你沒有被你的感官知覺所欺騙， 但有時候，你就是被騙了，

You might mistake a person far away for someone else,

你或許從遠處將一個人誤認成另一個人，

or you're sure you're about to catch a flyball,

或是，你確定你將接到一顆球，但實際上 這顆球掉卻狠狠地掉在你前面的地板上。

and it hits the ground in front of you.

But come on, right here and now,

此時此刻，你知道擺在你前面的事物， 到底有那些是真實存在的。

you know what's right in front of you is real.

Your eyes, your hands, your body: that's you.

你的眼睛，你的手，你的身體， 這是一個真正實在的你，

Only crazy people would deny that, and you know you're not crazy.

只有瘋子才會否認自己的存在， 而你知道自己不是瘋子。

Anyone who'd doubt that must be dreaming.

那麼一定是在作夢，才會懷疑自己的存在。

Oh no, what if you're dreaming?

如果你真的是在作夢呢？

Dreams feel real.

夢境讓你感覺眼前這一切都是真的。

You can believe you're swimming, flying

在夢中，你會相信自己正在游泳、飛行， 或是赤手空拳打敗怪獸，

or fighting off monsters with your bare hands,

when your real body is lying in bed.

而你的身體其實躺在床上，

No, no, no.

不，你醒著的時候， 你確實知道你是醒著的。

When you're awake, you know you're awake.

Ah! But when you aren't, you don't know you aren't,

但如果睡著了， 你當然也不會知道你不是醒著的，

so you can't prove you aren't dreaming.

所以，你無法證明自己不是在作夢，

Maybe the body you perceive yourself to have isn't really there.

或許在你的感官認知之下， 你的身體是不存在的。

Maybe all of reality, even its abstract concepts,

包括所有真實的事物， 甚至是抽象的概念，

like time, shape, color and number are false,

如：時間、形狀、顏色、數字等 都是騙人的。

all just deceptions concocted

這一切都是你被惡魔操控的結果，

by an evil genius!

No, seriously.

不是啦，我們認真一點，

Descartes asks if you can disprove the idea that an evil genius demon

笛卡兒問了個問題： 你是否能夠反駁

has tricked you into believing reality is real.

＂你是被惡魔欺騙， 以致於你相信一切實際存在的事物都是真的＂的看法

Perhaps this diabolical deceiver has duped you.

或許是這個邪惡的惡魔欺騙了你，

The world, your perceptions of it, your very body.

你用你的身體去感知這個世界的存在，

You can't disprove that they're all just made up,

你無法反駁”你感知到的這一切，是被捏造出來的”， 沒有感官知覺，你如何確定你的存在？

and how could you exist without them?

You couldn't! So, you don't.

你無法，也不去想你是否存在，

Life is but a dream,

人生像是一場夢， 我相信你不是愉快地划著船，

and I bet you aren't row, row, rowing the boat merrily at all, are you?

No, you're rowing it wearily

而是像存在或不存在的傻瓜一樣 疲倦地划著船，

like the duped, nonexistent doof you are/aren't.

Do you find that convincing?

這樣的說法，有說服你嗎？

Are you persuaded?

你被說服了嗎？

If you aren't, good; if you are, even better,

如果你沒有被說服，很好， 如果你被說服了， 那更好，

because by being persuaded,

因為被說服這件事， 你必須證明，你是一個被說服的人，

you would prove that you're a persuaded being.

You can't be nothing if you think you're something,

如果你認為你是一個大人物， 那你不會是一個小人物，

even if you think that something is nothing

甚至你會認為大人物就是小人物，

because no matter what you think, you're a thinking thing,

因為不論你怎麼想， 你就是一個思考型的人，

or as Descartes put it, "I think, therefore I am,"

就如笛卡兒所說的， “我思故我在”

and so are you, really.

你也是如此。

(Airplane engine)