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在上节课最后Attheendoflastclass,我说从现在开始Isuggestedthatfromhereonout我将假设灵魂不存在I'mgoingtobeassumingthatthereisnosoul.并从物理主义者的观点I'mgoingtobediscussingtheissues来讨论这些问题thatweturntohereafterfromtheperspectiveofthephysicalist,物理主义学认为从本质上来说thepersonwhosaysthataperson人只是上帝精心设计的一具肉体isbasicallyjustafancybody--它可以做某些特殊事情abodythatcandocertainspecialtricks,并按特定的方式运作abodythatcanfunctionincertainways如此这般我们就将其称之为人thatweassociatewithbeingaperson,也就是具备人体功能的肉体abodythatcanP-function,asweputit.现在我已经向你们解释了Now,I'vegivenyoumyreasons我为什么不相信灵魂存在forbelievingtherearenosouls.基本上各种各样Basically,thatthevariousarguments支持灵魂存在的论证thatmightbeofferedforbelievinginsouls都不大经得起检验don'tseemverycompellinguponexamination,所以没什么好的理由sothere'snogoodreason可以证明这一额外实体的存在topositthisextraentity.大多数时候Forthemostpart,then,我会把灵魂置于一边避而不谈I'mgoingtobeputtingasidesoultalk.我会时不时Periodically,I'llcomebackandtalkabout来讲讲那些howsomeissuethatweareconsidering看似是从灵魂存在论角度mightlookfromtheperspectiveofsomebody得出的观点whodoesbelieveinsouls.但正如我所说大多数时候But,asIsay,forthemostpart,我会假设灵魂不存在I'mgoingtobeassumingtherearenosouls.对于你们当中仍然Forthoseofyouwhostilldobelieve相信灵魂存在的人intheexistenceofsouls,我想你们可以Isupposeyoucouldtakeagreatdealof从接下来的大讨论中获益匪浅thediscussionthatfollows前提条件假设或虚拟方式都可以assomeformoflargeconditionalorsubjunctive.如果灵魂不存在Iftherewerenosouls,接下来就是我们要讨论的东西thenhere'swhatwe'dhavetosay.所以即使我SoalthoughI'llbelargelytalking从物理主义者的角度高谈阔论fromtheperspectiveofthephysicalist,但如果你还是不能信服物理主义ifyouhaven'tbecomeconvincedofthetruthofphysicalism,那就顺其自然吧sobeit.如果我们认为人本质上只是一具肉体We'llatleastexplorewhatwillwesayaboutdeath我们至少要探讨一下大家会怎么看待死亡ifwe'vedecidedthatpeoplearebasicallyjustbodies?还记得这学期刚开始时我说过Now,you'llrecallthatatthestartofthesemesterIsaid,想想这个问题我能免于一死吗inthinkingaboutthequestion,couldIsurvivemydeath?这里我们要先弄清两个问题thereweretwobasicthingswehadtogetclearon.第一我们得弄清我是什么First,wehadtogetclearon,whatamI?我由什么组成Whataremyparts?这就是为什么我们花了几星期的时间That'swhywespentthelastseveralweeks来担心我是否只是一具肉体worryingaboutthequestion,amIjustabody?亦或是肉体与非物质灵魂的结合体AmIabodyandanimmaterialsoulaswell?又或者严格来说只是灵魂而已Orperhaps,strictlyspeaking,justthesoul?思考完这个问题Havinglookedatthatquestion,现在我们来看第二个基本问题we'renowgoingtoturntothesecondbasicquestion,如果存活下来会是什么样whatwoulditbetosurvive?这样一个东西继续存在的话Whatwoulditbeforathinglikethat会是什么样呢tocontinuetoexist?当然我们更会这样问Now,ofcourse,we'regoingtoaskmostparticularly,这样一个东西如果肉体不死的话whatwoulditbeforathinglikethat会是什么样呢tosurvivethedeathofthebody?甚至人是否真得可能Coulditevenmakesenseforaperson肉体不死呢tosurvivethedeathofhisbody?如果你是个物理主义者Youmightthinktheanswertothatisno,你也许会认为这是不可能的但事实上ifwearephysicalists,butinfact,答案未必如此it'snotsocleartheanswertothatisno.为了说明这一特殊的问题Butinordertoaddressthatparticularquestion--如果我肉体不死的话那将如何呢Whatisformetosurvivethedeathofmybody?有没有这种可能呢Isthatevenapossibilityornot?首先我们得搞清楚一个更基本的问题Wefirsthavetogetclearaboutthemoregeneralquestion,幸存一段时间对我来说意味着什么whatisitformetosurvive,period?举个大家都熟悉的例子Takethemorefamiliarhum-drumcase.今天我站在这里给你们讲课HereIamlecturingtoyoutoday,今天是周四Thursday.毫无疑问下周二这儿还会Somebody'sgoingtobehere,nodoubt,有人给你们讲课lecturingtoyounextweek,nextTuesday.在这一简单的案例中Thequestionofsurvival我们可以提出有关存活的问题canbeaskedaboutthatverysimplecase.下周二来给你们讲课的那个人Isthepersonwho'sgoingtobelecturingtoyouonTuesday和现在站在你们面前讲课的这个人theverysamepersonastheperson是完完全全同一个吗whoisstandinginfrontofyoulecturingtoyounow?现在这个人能活过这周末吗Willthatpersonsurvivetheweekend?我当然希望活过这周末Icertainlyexpecttosurvivetheweekend.但活过这周末意味着什么Butwhatisittosurvivetheweekend?Whatisit?也许我们会说看Wemightsay,look,我们已经得到答案的雏形了we'vealreadygotthebeginningsofananswer.对我来说活到周二FormetosurviveuntilTuesday,可以说就是有人presumablyisfortheretobesomebody,能活着在下周二给你们讲课somepersonalivelecturingtoyouonTuesday,关键是and--here'sthecrucialpoint--下周二来给你们讲课的人forthatpersonlecturingtoyouonTuesday和今天这周四tobetheverysameperson给你们讲课的人是同一个人asthepersonlecturingtoyoutoday,onThursday.如果我这周末IfIweretobekilled死于空难inaplaneaccidentthisweekend那么下周二就会有人来代课andtherewasaguestlecturerforyouonTuesday,还是会有一个活人来给你们讲课there'dbesomebodyalivelecturingtoyou.但是肯定不会是我But,ofcourse,thatwouldn'tbeme.所以我们要弄清楚的问题就是Sothequestionwewanttogetclearonis,下周二来讲课的人whatisitforsomebodyonTuesday和现在在这里和你们交谈的是同一个人tobethesamepersonasthepersonhere意味着什么talkingtoyouonThursday?我们可以问得更宏观些Wecanaskthequestionmoregrandly,把时间拉长aboutlargerexpansesoftime.假设有人活到Supposethere'ssomebodyalive四十多年后40-oddyearsfromnow,在二零五零年intheyear2050.那个人会是我吗Couldthatbeme?问我能否活到二零五零年Toask,haveIsurviveduntil2050?也就是问在二零五零年活着的那个人istoask,isthatpersonwho'salivein2050和现在站在这里theverysamepersonastheperson给你们讲课的人是否同一个人who'sstandingherenowlecturingtoyou?未来的某人Whatisitforsomebodyinthefuture和现在在这里的某人tobetheverysameperson是同一个人这意味着什么asthispersonwho'sherenowtoday?思考这个问题的时候Now,inthinkingaboutthisquestion,思考这个问题thinkingaboutthisquestion,千万不要误解it'simportantnotto我们问的问题misunderstandwhatwe'reasking.有些人也许会误解我的问题SomeofyoumaymisunderstandwhatI'masking.有些人会说Someofyoumaywanttosay,现在讲课的这家伙Look,thepersonlecturingtoyounow至少头上还有几根毛hasatleastafairbitofhishair.留着胡子He'sgotabeard.假设二零五零年的那个人Let'ssupposethatthepersonalivein2050头也秃了背也驼了胡子也掉光了isbaldandbentover,hasnobeard.他们怎么会是同一个人呢Howcouldtheybethesameperson?一个有头发一个没有One'sgothair,onedoesn'