Damon Horowitz: Philosophy in prison

Translator: Klavdija Cernilogar Reviewer: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

Meet Tony. He's my student.

Spoznajte Tonyja. Moj študent je.

He's about my age,

Približno enake starosti sva,

and he's in San Quentin State Prison.

le da je on zapornik v San Quentinu.

When Tony was 16 years old,

Ko je bil Tony star 16 let,

one day, one moment,

nekega dne, v nekem trenutku:

"It was mom's gun.

"Mamina pištola je bila.

Just flash it, scare the guy. He's a punk.

Samo pokaži jo. Prestraši tipa. Bedak je.

He took some money; we'll take his money. That'll teach him.

Vzel je nekaj denarja, mi bomo vzeli njegovega. To ga bo izučilo.

Then last minute, I'm thinking, 'Can't do this. This is wrong.'

Potem, v zadnjem trenutku, razmišljam: 'Tega ne morem narediti. To je narobe.'

My buddy says, 'C'mon, let's do this.'

Moj kolega reče: 'Daj že, napravimo to.'

I say, 'Let's do this.'"

Odvrnem: 'Dajmo, storimo to.'"

And those three words, Tony's going to remember,

In te tri besede si bo Tony zapomnil,

because the next thing he knows, he hears the pop.

saj v naslednjem trenutku zasliši pok.

There's the punk on the ground, puddle of blood.

Tip je na tleh, poleg njega mlaka krvi.

And that's felony murder --

In to je zločinski umor --

25 to life, parole at 50 if you're lucky,

od petindvajset let do dosmrtne ječe, pomilostitev pri 50, če imate srečo,

and Tony's not feeling very lucky.

in Tonyju se ni zdelo, da ima posebno srečo.

So when we meet in my philosophy class in his prison

Ko se srečava na mojem predavanju filozofije v njegovem zaporu

and I say, "In this class, we will discuss the foundations of ethics,"

in ko rečem: "Pri tem predmetu bomo razpravljali o osnovah etike,"

Tony interrupts me.

me Tony prekine.

"What are you going to teach me about right and wrong?

"Kaj boš to mene naučil o tem, kaj je prav in kaj narobe?

I know what is wrong. I have done wrong.

Vem, kaj je narobe. Napravil sem take stvari.

I am told every day,

Vsak dan mi

by every face I see, every wall I face, that I am wrong.

vsak obraz, ki ga vidim, vsak zid okoli mene, pove, da nimam prav.

If I ever get out of here, there will always be a mark by my name.

Če bom kdajkoli odšel od tu, bo poleg mojega imena vedno oznaka.

I'm a convict; I am branded 'wrong.'

Sem obsojenec, označen sem kot "napačen".

What are you going to tell me about right and wrong?"

Kaj boš ti meni govoril o prav in narobe?"

So I say to Tony,

Zato mu rečem:

"Sorry, but it's worse than you think.

"Oprosti, huje je, kot misliš.

You think you know right and wrong?

Misliš, da veš, kaj je prav in kaj narobe?

Then can you tell me what wrong is?

Mi lahko poveš, kaj je narobe?

No, don't just give me an example.

Ne, ne daj mi samo primera.

I want to know about wrongness itself, the idea of wrong.

Vedeti hočem o "narobe" samem, o ideji tega.

What is that idea?

Kaj je ta ideja?

What makes something wrong?

Kaj povzroči, da je nekaj narobe?

How do we know that it's wrong? Maybe you and I disagree.

Kako vemo, da je narobe? Morda se midva v tem ne strinjava.

Maybe one of us is wrong about the wrong.

Morda se nekdo od naju moti o tem, kaj je narobe.

Maybe it's you, maybe it's me -- but we're not here to trade opinions;

Morda se ti, morda se jaz -- a nisva tu, da bi izmenjala mnenji;

everyone's got an opinion.

vsak ima svoje mnenje.

We are here for knowledge.

Tu sva zaradi znanja.

Our enemy is thoughtlessness. This is philosophy."

Ne-razmišljanje je naš sovražnik. Tole je filozofija."

And something changes for Tony.

In za Tonyja se nekaj spremeni.

"Could be I'm wrong. I'm tired of being wrong.

"Morda se motim. Dovolj mi je tega, da se motim.

I want to know what is wrong.

Hočem vedeti, kaj je narobe.

I want to know what I know."

Hočem vedeti, kaj vem."

What Tony sees in that moment is the project of philosophy,

Kar Tony v tem trenutku vidi, je filozofski projekt,

the project that begins in wonder --

projekt, ki se začne z začudenjem --

what Kant called "admiration and awe

kar je Kant označil kot "čudenje in spoštovanje

at the starry sky above and the moral law within."

zvezdnega neba nad mano in moralnega zakona v meni."

What can creatures like us know of such things?

Kaj lahko bitja, kot smo mi, vemo o takih stvareh?

It is the project that always takes us back to the condition of existence --

Ta projekt nas vedno vodi nazaj k pogojem obstoja --

what Heidegger called "the always already there."

kar je Heidegger imenoval "vedno že tam".

It is the project of questioning what we believe and why we believe it --

Ta projekt preizprašuje to, v kar verjamemo in zaradi česar verjamemo --

what Socrates called "the examined life."

po Sokratu je to "preizprašano življenje".

Socrates, a man wise enough to know that he knows nothing.

Sokrat, možak, ki je bil dovolj moder, da je vedel, da nič ne ve.

Socrates died in prison,

Sokrat je umrl v zaporu,

his philosophy intact.

njegova filozofija je ostala nedotaknjena.

So Tony starts doing his homework.

Tony začne delati domačo nalogo.

He learns his whys and wherefores, his causes and correlations,

Nauči se o "zakaj" in "čemu", o vzrokih in povezavah,

his logic, his fallacies.

logiki in zmotah.

Turns out, Tony's got the philosophy muscle.

Izkaže se, da ima Tony mišice za filozofijo.

His body is in prison, but his mind is free.

Njegovo telo je v zaporu, njegov um pa je svoboden.

Tony learns about the ontologically promiscuous,

Tony se nauči o ontološki promiskuiteti,

the epistemologically anxious,

o epistemološkem strahu,

the ethically dubious, the metaphysically ridiculous.

o etičnem dvomu, metafizičnem nesmislu.

That's Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche

To so Platon, Descartes, Nietzsche

and Bill Clinton.

in Bill Clinton.

So when he gives me his final paper,

Ko mi torej izroči svoj končni esej,

in which he argues that the categorical imperative

v katerem trdi, da je kategorični imperativ

is perhaps too uncompromising

morda preveč brezkompromisen,

to deal with the conflict that affects our everyday

da bi rešil konflikte, ki vplivajo na naš vsakdan,

and challenges me to tell him

in me izzove, naj mu povem,

whether therefore we are condemned to moral failure,

ali smo zato vsi obsojeni na moralni propad,

I say, "I don't know.

odgovorim: "Ne vem.

Let us think about that."

Razmisliva o tem."

Because in that moment, there's no mark by Tony's name;

Kajti v tem trenutku poleg Tonyjevega imena ni nobene oznake,

it's just the two of us standing there.

samo midva sva, ki stojiva tam.

It is not professor and convict,

Nisva profesor in obsojenec,

it is just two minds ready to do philosophy.

samo dva uma, pripravljena na filozofijo.

And I say to Tony,

In takrat Tonyju rečem:

"Let's do this."

"Dajva, storiva to."

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplavz)