耶鲁大学开放课程哲学死亡的26课的英文字幕16Word文档下载推荐.docx

耶鲁大学开放课程哲学死亡的26课的英文字幕16Word文档下载推荐.docx

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sconceivablethatsomebodycould,atsomelevel,notreallybelievethey'

regoingtodie.ButIalsotakeitthatTolstoymeanstobeputtingforwardmorethanjustaclaimthattherecouldbesuchaperson."

Lookhowbizarreheis.Letmedescribehimforyou."

Butrather,thesuggestionismeanttobethatIvanIlyich'

scaseisrathertypical.Maybeallofusareinhissituation,oratleastmostofusareinhissituation.Or,attheveryleast,manyofusareinhissituation.That'

sastrongerclaim,thoughIthinkit'

snotthesortofclaimthat'

suniquetoTolstoy,thatallofusormostofusormanyofusatthefundamentalleveldon'

treallybelievethatwe'

regoingtodie.

Youmightask,whatkindofevidencecouldbeofferedforthat?

Offeringarealisticscenario,arealisticdescriptionofsuchaperson--IvanIlyich--doesn'

tgiveusanyreasontothinkthatmostofusormanyofusareinhissituation.So,isthereanyreasontothinkthat?

Youmightask,whatkindofargumentcouldbeofferedforaclaimlikethat?

Whatwe'

dbelookingfor,Itakeit,wouldbesomekindofbehavioronourpartthatcallsoutforexplanation.Andthebestexplanationistobehad--Thisishowtheargumentwouldgo.Thebestexplanationistobehadbysupposingthatthosepeoplewhobehavethisway--Let'

ssupposemanyofuswhobehavethisway.Thebestexplanationofthatbehavioristobefoundbyclaimingthatatsomelevel,atsomefundamentallevel,wedon'

treallybelievewhatweclaimtobelieve.Wedon'

treallybelievewhatwegivelipserviceto.

Takesomebodywhoperhapssuffersfromsomesortofcompulsiontowashhishands.Weaskhim,"

Areyourhandsdirty?

"

Hemightsay,"

No,ofcoursenot."

Andyet,thereheis,goingbacktobathroom,washinghishandsagain.Youmightsay,theonlywaytoexplainthebehavioristosaythatatsomelevel,hereallydoesbelievehishandsaredirty,despitethefactthathesaysthey'

renot.Well,inthesameway,ifwecouldfindsomebehavioronourpartthatcallsoutforexplanation,thatthebestpossibleexplanationwouldbethatatsomelevelwedon'

tbelievewe'

regoingtodie,thenwemightsay,look,thisgivesussomereasontothinkthatwedon'

treallybelievewe'

regoingtodie,eventhoughwesaywebelieveit.

Suppose,forexample,thatifyoureallydidbelieve,fundamentally,unconsciously,allthewaydown--howeverweshouldputit--ifyoureallydidbelieveyouweregoingtodie,thehorrorofthatwouldleadyoutostartscreamingandjustkeepscreaming.Ofcourse,thisexampleremindsusagainofIvanIlyich,whoscreamsandscreamsandscreamsalmosttillhisdeath.Well,supposethiswastrue.Supposethatifyou--Supposewebelieved--wehadgoodreasontobelieve--ifyoureallytookseriouslythethoughtthatyouweregoingtodie,youcouldn'

tstopscreaming.Butofcourse,nobodyhereisscreaming,fromwhichwecanconcludenoneofusreallydobelieve,fundamentally,deepdown,thatwe'

regoingtodie.Thatwouldbeagoodargumentifwehadgoodreasontobelievetheconditional,theif-thenclaim.Ifonlyyoureallytrulybelievedyouweregoingtodie,youwouldscreamandscreamandscream.That'

sthecrucialpremise.Andofcourse,wedon'

thaveanygood--asfarasIcansee--wedon'

thaveanygoodreasontobelievethatcrucialpremise.

Youmightaskthough,istheresomeotherbehavior,somethingelsethatshouldtipusoff,couldtipusoff,astowhetherornotwereallydoordon'

tbelievethatwe'

regoingtodie?

Well,here'

sthebestthatIcando.Thisstrikesmeasthemostplausiblecontenderforanargumentlikethis.Asweknow,therearepeoplewhohavebrusheswithdeath.Theymightbe,forexample,inanaccident,andcomeclosetobeingkilled,butwalkawaywithoutascratch.Orsufferaheartattackandbeontheoperatingtableforsomenumberofhoursandthen,thankstocardiacsurgeryorwhathaveyou,beresuscitated.Whenpeoplehavethesenearbrusheswithdeath,it'

seasytobelievethatthefactoftheirmortalityismorevivid.It'

smorebeforetheirmind'

seye.It'

ssomethingthattheynowreallytrulydobelieve.Andtheinterestingpointismanypeoplewhohavethissortofexperience,forwhomtheirmortalityhasbecomevivid,theyoftensay,"

I'

vegottochangemylife.Ineedtospendlesstimeattheofficeandmoretimewithmyfamily,tellingthepeoplethatIlovethatIlovethem,doingthethingsthatareimportanttome,spendlesstimeworryingaboutgettingahead,makingmoney,gettingtheplasmaTV,"

whateveritis.

Let'

ssupposethatthisistrueofallofus,oratleastmostofus.Whenwefindthefactofourmortalityismadevivid,whenwereallytrulycanseethatwe'

remortal,thenwechangeourpriorities,stopgivingallthetimeandattentiontotryingtogetaheadintheratraceandspendmoretimewithourlovedonesdoingwhat'

simportanttous.Supposethatclaimweretrue.Well,armedwiththatclaim,wemightnotice,welllook,ofcourse,mostofusdospendalotoftimetryingtogetahead,tryingtoearnalotofmoney,don'

tspendthebulkofourtimedoingthethingsthatwereallytrulythinkaremostimportanttous,don'

ttellourfriends,don'

ttellourfamilymembershowmuchtheymeantous,howmuchwelovethem.Whatarewetomakeofthatfact?

Well,maybetheexplanationis,althoughwegivelipservicetotheclaimthatwe'

remortal,atsomemorefundamentallevel,wedon'

ttrulybelieveit.Thebelief'

snotvividforus.Wedon'

tbelieveitallthewaydown.

Well,thisisanargument--atleastitseemstome--thathassomechanceofbeingright.I'

mnotatallconvincedthatitisright.Butatleastitdoesn'

tseemtobethesortofargument,unlikesomeoftheargumentsI'

veconsideredlasttimeaboutoh,nobodybelievesthey'

regoingtodiebecauseyoucan'

tpicturebeingdeadorwhathaveyou.Thisargument,Ithink,hassomepossibilityofbeingright.Itdoesseemasthoughpeoplewhohavebrusheswithdeathchangetheirbehaviorinsignificantways.Thefactthatwedon'

tbehaveinthoseotherwaysgivesussomereasontobelievethatperhapsatsomelevelwedon'

tcompletelyorfullyorfundamentallybelievewe'

regoingtodie.AsIsay,I'

mnotsurewhetherthatargument'

sright.Butatleastit'

sanargumentworthtakingseriously.

Letmeturnnowtoadifferentclaimthatsometimesgetsmadeaboutdeath.Thisistheclaim--notthatnobodybelievesthey'

regoingtodie;

that'

stheonewe'

vebeentalkingaboutforthelastlectureorso--butinstead,theclaimthateverybodydiesalone.Thissoundslikeoneofthosedeepinsightsintothenatureofdeath.It'

sgotthatkindofairofprofundityaboutitthatphilosophy'

sthoughttohaveoraspirestohave.Everyonediesalone.Thisistellingussomethingdeepandimportantandinterestingaboutthenatureofdeath.

Now,asithappens,thisisoneI'

mgoingtobecompletelydismissiveof.Ithink,asfarasIcansee,thattheclaim"

wealldiealone,"

howeverweinterpretit,justendsupbeingimplausibleorfalse.IgiveitsuchahardtimeeachtimeIteachthisclass,thatI'

moftentemptedtojustdropitfromthediscussionaltogether.Eventhough,ifyou'

vedonethereadingoftheEdwardspaperthatIassigned,youhaveaseriesofquotesfromEdwardsinwhichpeoplesaythingslike,theydiealone.Isometimescomeawayafterthisdiscussionthinking,"

WhyamIwastingourtime?

Nobodyreallybelievesthis,thatwealldiealone."

LastyearIwasvirtuallyreadytodropitandthen,Ikidyounot,thatveryafternoon,Icameacrossaquote.I'

llsharethiswithyouinasecond.Somebodysaying,"

Oh,wealldiealone."

AndthenIthinkitwastwodayslater,aweeklater,Icameacrossanotherquoteofsomebodysaying,"

Itmademethink,"

Oh,Iguessthisisacommonenoughthought."

Soherearethetwoquotes.ButIthinkonceyoustartlookingforthem,youfindthemeveryplace.ThisfirstoneisfromthefolksingerLoudonWainwrightIII,fromhissongLastManonEarth."

Welearntolivetogetherandthenwediealone."

Wediealone.Interestingclaim.Itseemstosaysomethingimportantaboutthenatureofdeath.Here'

sanotherquote.Thisisfromthechildren'

sbook,EldestbyChristopherPaolini,thesequel,ofcourse,tothebestsellerEragon."

鈥楬owterrible,'

saidEragon,鈥榯odiealone,separate,evenfromtheonewhoisclosesttoyou.'

TheanswergiventoEragon,"

Everyonediesalone,Eragon,whetheryouareakingonabattlefieldoralowlypeasantlyinginbedamongyourfamily,noonecanaccompanyyouintothevoid鈥?

Everyonediesalone.

AsIsay,thisisacommonenoughview.Twoquotes.Icouldcertainlyproduceothers.Everyonediesalone.Thetrick--Thequestionwe'

regoingtoaskis,canwefindsomeinterpretationofthatclaimunderwhich,firstofallitendsupbeingtrue,secondly,itendsupbeinganecessarytruthaboutdeath?

SupposeeveryonehappenstodieonMonday,duetosomecosmiccoincidence.Itmightbesortofinteresting,butitwouldn'

ttellussomethingdeepaboutthenatureofdeath,ifpeopl