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上节课Lasttime,我们讨论了由于人必有一死wetalkedabouthowyoushouldliveyourlife,我们应该如何度过一生inlightofthefactofour--yourmortality.知道自己必有一死Howdoesthefactthatwewilldie--会对我们的生活方式产生什么影响howshouldthataffectthewaythatwelive?我们下面要讲的Whatwe'regoingtoturntonow,这学期的最后一个话题ourfinaltopicforthesemester,是这个问题的另一面istheflipside.我们必有一死Thefactofourmortality是否意味着raisesthequestionastowhetherornot我们应该结束自己的生命weshouldputanendtoourlife.严格来讲我认为Strictlyspeaking,Isuppose这不是我们寿命有限的问题it'snotthefactthatwe'remortal,perse,而是我们以前讲过的it'soneofthoseextrafeaturesofdeaththat死亡其它性质里I'vediscussedpreviously,生命长度因人而异的问题thevariabilityofdeath.而且更准确地说Andmoreparticularlystill,是我们能控制自己生命长度的问题thefactthatwecancontrolhowlongwelive.我们可以在享尽天年之前Wefacethepossibilityofendingourlifeearlierthan结束自己的生命itwouldendotherwise.这当然就是自杀了That'ssuicide,ofcourse.所以我们最后一个话题就是Andsoourfinaltopicis,在什么情况下underwhatcircumstances,如果有的话自杀是合理的ifany,doessuicidemakesense?在什么情况下Underwhatcircumstances,如果有的话自杀是恰当的ifany,isitanappropriatethingtodo?我们的文化中弥漫着Now,it'safairlywidespreadfeatureofourculture对自杀的鄙视thatsuicideislookeduponwithsuchamixtureofdisdain,恐惧和反感fear,findingitoffensive,清晰地思考以及thatit'sveryhard,often,tothinkclearly讨论这个话题都很困难anddiscussthetopicclearly.人们总是认为Mostpeoplethinkit'seither自杀是一种疯狂的行为thatyou'vegottobecrazytokillyourself.你关注自杀的事情Theveryfactthatyouarecontemplatingsuicide就说明你已经疯了isevidencethatyou'recrazy.如果你没疯就说明你道德沦丧Andifyou'renotcrazy,thenitshowsthatyou'reimmoral.自杀毋庸置疑Suicideisclearlynever,从来都不是正确的选择neverright,therightthingtodo.所以我希望花些时间So,whatIwanttoproposeisthatwetakesometime从两方面探讨这个问题andlookatthequestionsonbothsideswithafairbitofcare.首先我们要做的是Andtheveryfirstthingtodo,Ithink,为了探讨自杀话题inthinkingaboutthetopicofsuicide,我们需要区分理性问题和道德问题istodistinguishquestionsofrationalityfromquestionsofmorality.我希望大家首先考虑一下Thatis,Iwantustotakealookat,initially,thequestion,在什么情况下underwhatcircumstances,如果有的话自杀是合理的ifever,wouldsuicidebetherationalthingtodo?然后再关注在什么情况下Andthenlaterturntothequestion,when,如果有的话自杀是符合道德的ifever,wouldsuicidebeamorallylegitimate或者说符合伦理符合社会规范oramorallypermissibleormorallyacceptablethingtodo?做出这种区别Inposingthisdistinction,我已经假设了这两个问题是不同的I'mobviouslypresupposingthatthesequestionscancomeapart,或者至少它们需要分开讨论oratleasttheyneedtobeexaminedseparately.一方面是合理性问题Questionsofrationalityontheonehand,一方面是道德问题andquestionsofmoralityontheother.可以说它们都涉及应然性Thesearebothquestionsaboutoughts,aswemightputit.它们是评价性问题They'reevaluativequestions.但大多数人总是认为Butatleastmostpeopleareinclinedtothink我们采用不同的评价标准thatwearedrawingondifferentevaluativestandards来评价一类问题whenweraisetheonesetofquestions,而不是另一类问题asopposedtowhenweraisetheother.很多情况下不用说Inmanycases,nodoubt,理性问题和道德问题紧密相连rationalityandmoralitygohandinhand.一些哲学观点Andtherearephilosophicalviews揭示了理性本质和道德本质aboutthenatureofrationalityandthenatureofmorality,基于这些本质它们总是紧密相连accordingtowhichtheyalwaysgohandinhand.但很多人认为它们可以分开Butmanyofusareinclinedtothinkthattheycancomeapart.比如说这个季节Take,forexample,giventheseasonoftheyearthatitis,你又要报税了considerdoingyourincometaxesor,说清楚一点你又要做假账了moreparticularlystill,cheatingonyourincometaxes.报税单被抽查的可能性非常非常低Therateatwhichincometaxformsgetauditedisvery,veryslight.而且被抓住以后Andso--andthefinestendtonotbeespeciallyegregious,罚款也不那么惊人evenifyoudogetcaught.所以出于理性Sothatfromarationalpointofview,很多人会想manyofusmightthinkit做假是个合理的选择mightwellbearationaldecisiontocheat.你基本上不会被抓到You'renotlikelytogetcaught.即使被抓到罚款也没多少Evenifyoudogetcaught,howbad'sthefineanyway?但即使我们都认可Butevenifweweretoagree做假是个合理的选择thatitwasrationaltocheat,大多数人还是mostofuswouldthenimmediatelywantto会马上指出followthatremarkupbypointingout这样做thatdoesn'tatallmeanthat在税单上造假是不道德的it'smorallyacceptabletocheatonyourincometax.这就是个例子There'sacaseperhaps说明道德规范要求你做的事whereyou'remorallyrequiredtodosomething不一定合乎理性thatyou'renotrationallyrequiredtodo.我们再看个相反的例子Or,takeachoicefromtheotherpointofview.现在你开始选择Thereyouare,tryingtodecidebetween--thereyouare,选择上哪所大学tryingtodecidebetweenyourvariouschoicesofcollege.一个选择你可以上耶鲁Andyou'vegottenintoYaleontheonehand,另一个选择可能是个差学校andperhapssomecrummyschool,你的第二志愿yoursecond-ratebackupschool,ontheother.你在决定上哪个学校Andyou'retryingtodecidewhattodothere.你可能对自己说Well,youmightthinktoyourself,道德上我没有义务上耶鲁morallyIhavenoobligationshere.没有特别的义务道德要求There'snoparticularobligation,moralrequirement,要求我上好学校而不是差学校togotothebetterschoolratherthantheworseschool.但不管怎么说我如果去了坏学校Butforallthat,itwouldbeirrationalofme,那就不是个理性的选择perhaps,togototheworseschool.所以这个例子中不存在道德要求Sothere'sacasewherethere'snomoralrequirement,但存在理性上的要求butthere'sarationalrequirement.当然两个例子中的细节还可推敲Again,wecoulddebatethedetailsofthetwoexamples,但关键问题在于butthepoint'sjusttoshowthat,至少从原则上讲从表面看来inprincipleatleast,onthefaceofit,这两个问题可以分开谈论thesetwoquestionscancomeapart.有时候做的事情合理Sometimesit'srationallyacceptabletodosomething,但不符合道德butit'simmoral.有时候做的事情符合道德Sometimesit'smorallyacceptabletodosomething,但不合乎理性butit'sirrational.所以在探讨自杀话题时Sointhinkingaboutsuicide,我们需要分开探讨这两个问题weneedtoposethetwoquestions,oneaftertheother.所以我们先来讨论So,let'sstartwiththe自杀的合理性问题questionabouttherationalityofsuicide.什么时候自杀是合理的选择When,ifever,issuicidearationaldecisiontomake?再一次Now,onceagain,为了探讨自杀的合理性thefirstthing