Damon Horowitz: Philosophy in prison

翻译人员: Chunxiang Qian 校对人员: Yvonne Fu

Meet Tony. He's my student.

说说托尼 他是我的学生

He's about my age,

跟我差不多年纪

and he's in San Quentin State Prison.

他在圣昆汀州立监狱服刑

When Tony was 16 years old,

在他16岁的时候

one day, one moment,

有一天，

"It was mom's gun.

“那是我妈的枪

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

拿它吓唬吓唬这人。这家伙是个刺头

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

他有点钱，我们拿了钱，也是给他点颜色看看。

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

最后一刻，我想：‘我不该这么做，这不对。’

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

同伴说：‘别拖拉了，快动手！’

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

我说：“动手吧！”

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

托尼会记住这三个字

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

因为他立刻听到了响声

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

而那个刺头躺倒在血泊里

And that's felony murder --

谋杀重罪

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

终生监禁，运气好的话50岁能假释

and Tony's not feeling very lucky.

但托尼似乎不太走运

So when we meet in my philosophy class in his prison

我们在他监狱的哲学课碰到时

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

我说：“这门课我们讨论道德基础。”

Tony interrupts me.

托尼打断了我

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

“你要教我什么是是非？”

I know what is wrong. I have done wrong.

我知道什么是错的。我做过错事。

I am told every day,

每一天我都知道

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

每一天我看着面前每堵墙，我知道我错了。

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

要是我出不去，我的名字上肯定有个污点

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

我是个罪犯，我的标签就是‘错误’

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

你还有什么要告诉我哪些错的哪些对的？”

So I say to Tony,

我跟托尼说

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

“抱歉，但你的情况比你以为的还糟

You think you know right and wrong?

你以为你知道对与错？

Then can you tell me what wrong is?

那你能告诉我什么是错的？

No, don't just give me an example.

不要单给我例子

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

我要知道错这个概念

What is that idea?

错是什么意思？

What makes something wrong?

是什么导致它是错的？

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

我们怎么知道一件事情是错的？也许你我意见不同

Maybe one of us is wrong about the wrong.

也许我们之一对错的理解是错的

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

也许是你也许是我－但我们不是来交换意见的

everyone's got an opinion.

谁都有自己的意见

We are here for knowledge.

我们是为知识而来的

Our enemy is thoughtlessness. This is philosophy."

我们的敌人是不思考 这是哲学。”

And something changes for Tony.

托尼有了改变

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

“也许是我错了。我不想错下去了。

I want to know what is wrong.

我想知道什么是错

I want to know what I know."

我想知道我的想法

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

托尼那一刻明白了哲学的概念

the project that begins in wonder --

哲学始于探究－

what Kant called "admiration and awe

康德所谓的“位我上者，灿烂星空；

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

道德律令，在我心中。”

What can creatures like us know of such things?

人类生命能对此认知多少？

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

哲学的概念总是将我们带回存在的问题－

what Heidegger called "the always already there."

海德格尔所谓的“已然存在”

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

这是个质疑我们的认知及其背后理由的概念

what Socrates called "the examined life."

也就是苏格拉底所说的“经过检验的生活”

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

苏格拉底，一个知道自己一无所知的智者

Socrates died in prison,

他死于狱中

his philosophy intact.

但他的哲学长存于世

So Tony starts doing his homework.

托尼开始思考

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

他去理解他的何所来何所去，他的前因后果

his logic, his fallacies.

他的逻辑，他的谬论

Turns out, Tony's got the philosophy muscle.

托尼有哲学的领悟力

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

他身在监狱，但心却自由

Tony learns about the ontologically promiscuous,

托尼理解了本体性混杂

the epistemologically anxious,

认识性焦虑

the ethically dubious, the metaphysically ridiculous.

道德可疑性和形而上学的荒谬

That's Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche

分别是柏拉图，笛卡儿，尼采

and Bill Clinton.

和比尔･克林顿

So when he gives me his final paper,

最后他在递交给我的期末报告里

in which he argues that the categorical imperative

讨论了绝对命令

is perhaps too uncompromising

对处理日常生活中的冲突

to deal with the conflict that affects our everyday

也许是过于不妥协的态度

and challenges me to tell him

并要我告诉他

whether therefore we are condemned to moral failure,

是否因此我们注定道德失灵

I say, "I don't know.

我说：“我不知道，

Let us think about that."

我们想想这个问题。”

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

那一刻，托尼的名字上没有污点

it's just the two of us standing there.

仅仅是我们两个人站在那里

It is not professor and convict,

不是教授和罪犯

it is just two minds ready to do philosophy.

仅仅是两个心灵探讨哲学

And I say to Tony,

我对托尼说

"Let's do this."

”动手吧！“

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（掌声）