評論
打印
One thing the world needs,
有一樣?xùn)|西，這個世界非常需要，
one thing this country desperately needs
這個國家更是迫切需要
is a better way of conducting our political debates.
那就是一種更好地進行政治辯論的方法
We need to rediscover the lost art of democratic argument.
我們需要復(fù)興失落了的民主辯論藝術(shù)
If you think about the arguments we have,
想想時下的所謂辯論吧
most of the time it's shouting matches on cable television,
大多數(shù)是電視節(jié)目中的唇槍舌戰(zhàn)
ideological food fights on the floor of Congress.
或是國會里基于不同價值觀的相互抨擊
I have a suggestion.
我對此有一個建議
Look at all the arguments we have these days over health care,
大家看看時下的焦點話題：關(guān)于醫(yī)療保障，
over bonuses and bailouts on Wall Street, over the gap between rich and poor,
關(guān)于金融制度，關(guān)于貧富差距，
over affirmative action and same-sex marriage.
反對歧視和同性婚姻等等
Lying just beneath the surface of those arguments,
在這些問題背后
with passions raging on all sides,
是一些引發(fā)強烈爭議的，
are big questions of moral philosophy, big questions of justice.
關(guān)于倫理道德，公平正義的大是大非問題
But we too rarely articulate and defend
可惜在政治辯論中，
and argue about those big moral questions in our politics.
我們極少涉及或討論這些關(guān)于倫理的大問題
So what I would like to do today is have something of a discussion.
所以我今天想做的就是和大家進行一個討論
First, let me take a famous philosopher
首先，我想引用一位古希臘著名哲學(xué)家
who wrote about those questions of justice and morality,
關(guān)于公正和倫理的著述
give you a very short lecture on Aristotle of ancient Athens,
給大家一段簡短的演講，這是亞里士多德關(guān)于公正的理論
Aristotle's theory of justice, and then have a discussion here
然后我們進行討論
to see whether Aristotle's ideas
看看亞里士多德的理論
actually inform the way we think and argue about questions today.
是否驗證了今天我們看待和辯論問題的方式
So, are you ready for the lecture?
我要開始演講了，準備好了？
According to Aristotle, justice means giving people what they deserve.
亞里士多德曰：公正意味著給予人們他們所應(yīng)得的
That's it; that's the lecture.
好了，演講結(jié)束
Now, you may say, well, that's obvious enough.
你可能會說，這根本就是明擺著的
The real questions begin when it comes to arguing about who deserves what and why.
但問題的爭議往往在于誰應(yīng)該得到什么，理由是什么？
Take the example of flutes. Suppose we're distributing flutes.
舉個例子來說，假設(shè)我們要分配笛子
Who should get the best ones?
誰應(yīng)該得到最好的笛子呢？
Let's see what people -- What would you say?
你們怎么說？
Who should get the best flute?
誰應(yīng)該得到最好的笛子？
You can just call it out.
直接說出來就行
At random. You would do it by lottery.
有人說隨機分配，就跟抽彩票一樣
Or by the first person to rush into the hall to get them. Who else?
或者先到者先得，還有其他想法嗎？
The best flute players. The worst flute players.
有人說給最好的笛子手.有人說要給最差的笛子手
How many say the best flute players? Why?
有多少人覺得應(yīng)該給最好的笛子手？
Actually, that was Aristotle's answer too.
實際上，這也是亞里士多德的回答
