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上节课结束时我们提出了这么一个问题Lasttimeweendedwiththefollowingpuzzleorquestion.如果我们说要成为一个人Ifwesaythattobeaperson就要有运行人体功能的肉体istobeaP-functioningbody,那么我们似乎只能得出这么个结论itseemsthenasthoughwehavetoconclude即当你没有运行人体功能时thatwhenyou'renotP-functioning,你就是死的you'redead.那就是说你作为一个人是死的Thatis,you'redeadasaperson.之前我们区分了肉体的死亡Previously,wedistinguishedbetweenthedeathofmybody和作为人的死亡{\c现在我们来着重研究作为人的死亡let'sfocusonmydeathasaperson.如果我没有运行人体功能IfI'mnotP-functioning,我们是不是只能说我死了dowehavetothensayI'mdead?那似乎是定义死亡的最自然的方式Well,thatmayseemtobethemostnaturalwaytodefinedeath,但不可取butit'snotanacceptableapproach.因为它紧接着就会推出Becauseitwouldfollowthen,当我睡着的时候也是死的thatwhenI'masleep,I'mdead.只要不是同时Well,notduringthosetimes,比方说睡着了又在做梦perhaps,whenI'mdreamingwhileI'masleep.不过想想一个熟睡的无梦的夜晚Butthinkofthevariousperiodsduringthenight的各个不同时段inwhichyouareinadeep,deepdreamlesssleep.你并没有在思考You'renotthinking.也没有规划什么You'renotplanning.没有与人交流You'renotcommunicating.我们来假设一下也许Let'sjustsuppose,asseemslikely,在睡眠的某个时刻thatnoneoftheP-functioningisoccurring,根本没有人体功能在运作atsomepointduringsleep.我们能说你死了吗Shouldwesaythenthatyou'redead?显然那样说是不对的Well,that'sclearlynottherightthingtosay.所以我们需要从物理层面修正一下Soweneedtoreviseouraccountofwhatitis一个人死亡的具体含义onthephysicalistpicturetosaythatyou'redead.死亡到底意味着什么Whatisittobedead?不可能只是不再运行人体功能Itcan'tjustbeamatterofnotP-functioning.有一种可能性是Well,onepossibilitywouldbetosay,问题不在于你是否运行人体功能thequestionisnotwhetheryouareP-functioning.你不运行人体功能也没问题It'sokayifyou'renotP-functioning,只要这是暂时的就行aslongasyournotP-functioningistemporary.如果你能重新运行人体功能IfyouwillP-functionagain,如果你以前运行过人体功能ifyouhavebeenP-functioninginthepast未来又还会再运行andyouwillbeP-functioningagaininthefuture,我说的P功能是指人体功能P-functioningforpersonfunctioning,如果你未来还会再运行人体功能youwillbeP-functioningagaininthefuture,那么你就没死thenyou'renotdead.那至少是一个进步Well,that'satleastanimprovement,因为我们接着会说瞧becausethenwesay,look,当你睡着的时候whileyou'reasleep,虽然人体功能没有运行eventhoughthere'snoP-functioninggoingon,但这只是暂时的thelackofP-functioningistemporary,所以你仍旧活着soyou'restillalive.但我觉得那也不太说得通ButIthinkthatwon'tquitedoeither.我们假设审判日到了Let'ssupposethatcomeJudgmentDay,上帝会让死人复活Godwillresurrectthedead.我们就假设一下人格同一性的正确理论Andlet'sjustsupposethecorrecttheoryof是让我们抛开一切personalidentityissuchastoputasideanyworries之前所讨论到过的wemighthavealongwithvanInwagen,范·因瓦根的忧虑thatwediscussedpreviously,参见本课程系列之第十一课也就是在复活日astowhetherornotonresurrectionday复活的那个人究竟是不是你thatwouldreallybeyouornot.假设是你Supposeitwouldbeyou.那么上帝让这个死人复活SoGodwillresurrectthedead.到了审判日JudgmentDaycomes.死人复活了Thedeadareresurrected.现在他们正在运行人体功能Well,nowthey'reP-functioning.结果在这段时间Soitturnsoutthatduringthatperiodinwhich他们是死亡的theyweredead,但他们只是暂时停止运行人体功能theywereonlytemporarilynotP-functioning.但若死亡意味着永久地停止人体功能ButifdeathmeanspermanentcessationofP-functioning,那就说明他们根本不是真死了thenitturnsoutthedeadweren'treallydeadafterall.他们只是暂时停止运行人体功能TheywereonlytemporarilynotP-functioning,就像我们在睡眠状态中justlikewearetemporarilynotP-functioning暂时停止运行人体功能whenwe'reasleep.那好像也不太对吧Well,thatdoesn'tseemrighteither.审判日这天上帝让死人复活OnJudgmentDay,Godresurrectsthedead.这可不是说他简单地唤醒了It'snotthatHesimplywakesup那些沉睡着的人们thoseinadeep,deepsleep.所以说死亡就是讨论Sotheproposalthatdeathisamatterof人体功能究竟是永久停止还是暂时的permanentcessationofP-functioningversustemporary,貌似这样是行不通的thatdoesn'tseemlikeit'sgoingtodothetrick.那我们还能怎么解释呢Butwhatelsedowehaveupoursleeves?这儿还有另一种说法Here'sadifferentproposal我觉得它也许会更说得通thatIthinkisprobablyclosertotherightaccount.我们可能会说看当你睡着以后Wemightsay,look,whileyou'reasleep,你的确没有运行人体功能it'struethatyou'renotP-functioning.比如说你就没在做乘法Forexample,you'renotdoingyourmultiplicationtables.但尽管你没有运行人体功能ButalthoughyouarenotengagedinP-functioning,似乎还是可以说itdoesseemtruetosay你是能够运行人体功能的thatyoustillcanP-function.你仍旧是能够做乘法的Youstillcoulddoyourmultiplicationtables.尽管你没在说法语Althoughit'snottruethatyouarespeakingFrench--假设你会说法语的话let'ssupposethatyouknowhowtospeakFrench--你睡着的时候it'sstilltrueofyouwhileyou'reasleep也还是有说法语的能力的thatyoucanorcouldspeakFrench.我们是怎么知道的呢Howdoweknowthis?我们只要把你叫醒就可以了Well,allwehavetodoisjustwakeyouup.把你叫醒问你Wewakeyouupandwesay,约翰3乘以3是多少HeyJohn,what'sthreetimesthree?等你骂够我们之后Andafteryoustopswearingatus,你就会说答案是9yousay,Well,it'snine.或者我们跟你说Orwesay,琳达用法语说这个那个动词Linda,hey,conjugatesuchandsuchaverbinFrench.你也能说出来Andyoucanconjugateit.即便你在睡觉的时候EventhoughyouwerenotengagedinP-functioning没有运行人体功能whileyouwereasleep,但当你睡觉的时候it'sstilltruethatwhileyouwereasleep,你仍旧有能力运行人体功能youhadtheabilitytoengageinP-functioning.能力不一定要变成现实Abilitiesaren'talwaysactualized.你现在正在运行人体功能YourP-functioningisactualizednow,因为你在思考becauseyou'reengagedinthought,但你不在思考的时候butyoudon'tlosetheability你也不会失去tothinkduringthosemoments思考的能力whenyou'renotthinking.假设我们说那样的话Supposewesaythen作为一个人那样活着thattobealiveasaperson就意味着有运行人体功能的能力istobeabletoengageinP-functioning.而死亡Andtobedeadthen,则意味着不再具有这种能力istobeunabletoengageinP-functioning.为什么不再具有呢Whyareyouunable?很可能Well,presumably由于不管你的大脑becausewhatevercognitivestructures以什么样的认知结构ittakesinyourbrain来保证人体功能的运行tounderwritetheabilitytoP-function,这些认知结构都已经被损坏了thosecognitivestructureshavebeenbroken,再也不工作了sotheynolongerwork.当你死亡It's--Whenyou'redead,你的大脑也损坏了yourbrainisbroken.不止是你不再运行人体功能It'snotjustthatyou'renotengagedinP-fu