耶鲁大学开放课程哲学死亡的26课的英文字幕16.docx

耶鲁大学开放课程哲学死亡的26课的英文字幕16.docx

《耶鲁大学开放课程哲学死亡的26课的英文字幕16.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《耶鲁大学开放课程哲学死亡的26课的英文字幕16.docx（10页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

耶鲁大学开放课程哲学死亡的26课的英文字幕16

Death:

Lecture16Transcript

ProfessorShellyKagan:

--Tolstoy'sIvanIlyichissurprisedtodiscoverthathe'sgoingtodie.It'sthesortofthinghe'sgivenlipserviceto,nodoubt,overthecourseofhislife.Butwhenhefinallygetsillandcomesuptothefactofhismortality,thathisbodyisgoingtosickenandeventuallydie,thefactofhismortalityseemstoshockhim,seemstosurprisehim.Wemightsay,ononelevelhebelievesthathewasmortal.He'sbelieveditallalong.Butatanotherlevel,atsomedeeperlevel,itcomesasasurprisetohim.Heneverreallybelievedit.

Now,ItakeitthatwefindIvanIlyichaperfectlybelievableexample.Thatis,wethinkit'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,"Oh,wealldiealone."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