Damon Horowitz: Philosophy in prison

Damon Horowitz: Cezaevinde felsefe

Çeviri: Ömer Genal Gözden geçirme: Sancak Gülgen

Meet Tony. He's my student.

Tony ile tanisin. Benim bir ogrencim.

He's about my age,

Yaklasik benim yasimda,

and he's in San Quentin State Prison.

ve San Quentin Devlet Hapishanesi'nde.

When Tony was 16 years old,

Tony 16 yasindayken,

one day, one moment,

bir gun, bir an,

"It was mom's gun.

"Annesinin silahiydi.

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

Sadece gorunup kac, adami korkut. O bir toy.

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

O bir miktar para aldi, biz de onun parasini alacagiz. Bu ona bir ders olacak.

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

Sonra son dakika, dusundum ki, "Bunu yapamam. Bu yanlis."

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

Kankam dedi ki, "Hadi su isi yapalim."

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

Ben de " Hadi yapalim." dedim

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

Ve o uc kelime, Tony bunlari hatirlayacak,

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

cunku biliyor oldugu sonraki sey, polisi duyuyor olduguydu.

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

Toy yerdeydi, kanlar icinde.

And that's felony murder --

Ve bu agir bir cinayetti.

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

25 yil, eger sansi olursa 50sinde sartli tahliye edilecekti,

and Tony's not feeling very lucky.

ve Tony kendisini pek sansli hissetmiyordu.

So when we meet in my philosophy class in his prison

Sonralari hapishanesindeki felsefe dersinde karsilastigimiz zaman

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

ben dedim ki, " Bu sinifta, biz ahlakin temellerini tartisacagiz,"

Tony interrupts me.

Tony benim sozumu kesti.

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

" Bana dogru ve yanlis hakkinda ne ogreteceksiniz?

I know what is wrong. I have done wrong.

Ben yanlisi biliyorum. Yanlis yaptim.

I am told every day,

Her gun bana boyle deniyor,

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

gordugumuz herkez, karsilastigim herbir duvar, bana hatali oldugumu soyluyor.

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

Eger ben bir gun buradan cikarsam, benim ismim damgalanmis olacak.

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

Ben bir sucluyum. Ben damgalanmis bir 'Hata'yim.

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

Bana sen dogru ve yanlis hakkinda ne anlatacaksin?"

So I say to Tony,

Sonra ve Tony'e dedim ki,

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

"Uzgunum, fakat durum senin dusundugunden de kotu.

You think you know right and wrong?

Sen dogru ve yanlisi bildigini mi iddaa ediyorsun?

Then can you tell me what wrong is?

O zaman bana yanlisin ne oldugunu soyleyebilir misin?

No, don't just give me an example.

Hayir, bana sadece bir ornek verme.

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

Ben yanlisligin kendisini bilmek istiyorum, yanlislik fikrini.

What is that idea?

O fikir nedir?

What makes something wrong?

Birseyi yanlis yapan sey nedir?

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

Birseyin yanlis oldugunu nasil biliyorsun? Belki senle ben ayni fikirde degiliz.

Maybe one of us is wrong about the wrong.

Belki birimiz yanlis hakkinda yaniliyor.

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

Belki o sensin, belki benim. Fakat biz burada dusuncelerin ticaretini yapmak icin degiliz.

everyone's got an opinion.

Herkezin bir dusuncesi vardir.

We are here for knowledge.

Biz bilgi icin buradayiz.

Our enemy is thoughtlessness. This is philosophy."

Bizim dusmanimiz dusuncesizlik. Felsefemiz bu."

And something changes for Tony.

Ve Tony icin birseyler degismeye basladi,

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

"Belki hataliyim. Fakat hatali olmaktan yoruldum.

I want to know what is wrong.

Ben neyin yanlis oldugunu ogrenmek istiyorum.

I want to know what I know."

Ben neyi bildigimi bilmek istiyorum."

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

Tony'nin o an anladigi sey felsefe projesiydi,

the project that begins in wonder --

merak ile baslayan proje,

what Kant called "admiration and awe

Kant'in " takdir ve huşu

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

yildizli gokyuzunde yukarida ve ahlaki kurallar icerisinde." olarak tanimladigi sey.

What can creatures like us know of such things?

Bizim gibi varliklar boyle tur seyleri neyi bilir?

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

Bu proje bizi herzaman varolmanin kosullarina geri alip goturen bir projedir,

what Heidegger called "the always already there."

Heidegger'in "her zaman hazirda orada" dedigi sey.

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

Bu neye ve nicin inandigimizin sorgulandigi bir proje,

what Socrates called "the examined life."

Sokrates'in "hayatin sinanmasi" diyerek tabir ettigi sey.

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

Sokrates, hicbir sey bilmedigini bilecek kadar bir alim adam.

Socrates died in prison,

Sokrates hapishanede olmustur,

his philosophy intact.

felsefesi sapasaglam.

So Tony starts doing his homework.

Boylelikle Tony odevini yapmaya basliyor.

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

Nicinlerini, ne sebeptenlerini, nedenlerini ve baglantilarini,

his logic, his fallacies.

mantigini ve yanlislarini ogreniyor.

Turns out, Tony's got the philosophy muscle.

Durum tersine dondu ve Tony Felsefe de acayip guclu oldu.

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

Onun bedeni hapisteydi fakat akli ozgurdu.

Tony learns about the ontologically promiscuous,

Tony varliksal olarak karmakarisik,

the epistemologically anxious,

epitomolojik olarak endiseyi

the ethically dubious, the metaphysically ridiculous.

ahlaki olarak supheyi ogrendi.

That's Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche

Bunlar, Plato, Dekart, Nietzsche,

and Bill Clinton.

ve Bill Clinton idi.

So when he gives me his final paper,

Boylece, o en son yazisini bana verdiginde,

in which he argues that the categorical imperative

ki bu yazisinda siniflandirilmis kacinilmazligi tartisiyor,

is perhaps too uncompromising

gunluk islerimizi etkileyen catismalarla ve mucadelerle

to deal with the conflict that affects our everyday

basa cikmak icin asiri uyumsuzdu.

and challenges me to tell him

ona ahlaki basarisizlikta suclanmamiza ragmen

whether therefore we are condemned to moral failure,

dedim ki

I say, "I don't know.

"Bilmiyorum.

Let us think about that."

Bu konuda biraz dusunelim."

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

Cunku o an artik Tony'in isminde bir damga yoktu.

it's just the two of us standing there.

Orada oturan sadece ikimizdik.

It is not professor and convict,

Profesor ve mahkum olarak degil,

it is just two minds ready to do philosophy.

felesefe yapmak icin hazir olan iki beyin olarak.

And I say to Tony,

Ve Tony'e dedim ki,

"Let's do this."

"Hadi bu isi halledelim."

Thank you.

Tesekkurler.

(Applause)

(Alkislar)