社会学 - 西奥多·阿多诺：英语精读讲义

Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno was born in Frankfurt in 1903

特奥多尔·维森格伦德·阿多诺于1903年出生在法兰克福

into a wealthy and cultured family.

一个富裕且有教养的家庭。

His father, a wine merchant,

他的父亲是一位酒商，

was of Jewish origin

有着犹太血统，

but had converted to Protestantism at university. 短語搭配

但在大学期间改信了新教。

Until his 20s,

在20多岁之前，

Adorno planned for a career as a composer 短語搭配

阿多诺原本打算以作曲家为业，

but eventually focused on philosophy.

但最终转向了哲学。

In 1934,

1934年，

he was barred on racial grounds 講解

因种族原因，他被禁止

from teaching in Germany.

在德国任教。

So he moved to Oxford

于是他搬到了牛津，

and later to New York and then Los Angeles.

后来又去了纽约，接着是洛杉矶。

He was both fascinated and repelled by Californian consumer culture 語法

他对加州的消费文化既着迷又反感，

and thought with unusual depth about suntans and drive-ins. 文化背景

并对日光浴和免下车影院等现象进行了异常深刻的思考。

Adorno was closely connected with a pioneering Institute of Social Research,

阿多诺与当时具有开拓性的社会研究所关系密切，

also known as the Frankfurt School, 講解

该所也被称为法兰克福学派，

which had been founded and funded by his friend Felix Weil.

由他的朋友菲利克斯·韦伊创立并资助。

The Institute aimed to develop a psychological understanding

研究所旨在建立一种心理学上的理解，

of the problems thrown up by modern capitalism, 短語動詞

以研究现代资本主义所带来的问题，

especially the culture and mindset it generates.

特别是它所产生的文化和思维方式。

Adorno drew attention to three significant ways 講解

阿多诺引起了人们对三个重要方面的关注，

in which capitalism corrupts and degrades us.

即资本主义是如何腐蚀和贬低我们的。

Adorno believed that the primary focus for progressive philosophers 語法

阿多诺认为，进步哲学家的首要任务

should be the study of how the working and middle classes of developed nations

应该是研究发达国家的工人和中产阶级

think and feel,

是如何思考和感受的，

and in particular, 表達脈絡

尤其是，

the manner in which they spend their evenings and weekends. 語法

他们度过夜晚和周末的方式。

Adorno had a highly ambitious view

阿多诺对闲暇时间的意义

of what leisure time should be for. 語法

有着极高的期望。

It was not to relax and take one's mind off things. 習語

他认为闲暇时间不是用来放松和抛开烦恼的。

Free time should be our prime opportunity

空闲时间应该是我们的首要机会，

to expand and develop ourselves,

去拓展和发展自我，

to reach after our better nature, 習語

去追求我们更好的天性，

and to acquire the tools with which to change society. 語法

以及获取改变社会的工具。

It's a time when we might see films

在这些时间里，我们可以去看电影，

that can help us to understand our relationships with new clarity,

从而以崭新的视角清晰地认识我们的人际关系，

or read books that give us fresh insights into politics, 短語搭配

或者阅读能为我们提供政治新见解的书籍，

or listen to music

又或是去听音乐，

that gives us courage to reform ourselves and collective life. 短語搭配

从中获得改造自我和集体生活的勇气。

But in the modern world,

但在现代世界，

Adorno bemoaned that leisure

阿多诺哀叹休闲时光

has fallen into the hands 習語

已经落入了

of an omnipresent and deeply malevolent entertainment machine,

一台无处不在且极度恶毒的娱乐机器手中，

which he called the culture industry. 文化背景

他称之为“文化工业”。

Modern films, TV, radio, magazines, and now social media

现代电影、电视、广播、杂志以及如今的社交媒体，

seemed for Adorno to be almost designed to keep us distracted, 語法

在阿多诺看来，其设计初衷简直就是为了让我们分心，

unable to understand ourselves,

让我们无法认清自己，

and without the will to alter political reality. 短語搭配

并丧失改变政治现实的意愿。

So for example, 表達脈絡

比如，

the news will feed us a mixture of salacious nonsense 習語

新闻会向我们灌输各种低俗无聊的八卦

and political stories that scramble any possibility

和混淆视听的政治故事，抹杀一切可能，

of understanding the open prison within which we exist. 習語

让我们无法看清自己其实生活在一座开放式的监狱中。

The cinema shows us the adventures of an alien invasion,

电影院向我们展示外星人入侵的冒险故事，

while the real calamities of our world go unattended. 表達脈絡

而我们现实世界中真正的灾难却无人问津。

Pop music focuses relentlessly on the emotions around romantic love, 短語搭配

流行音乐始终专注于围绕浪漫爱情的情感，

suggesting that happiness can only come from meeting one very special person,

暗示幸福只能来自于遇到那唯一特别的人，

rather than awakening us to the pleasures of community 語法

而不是唤醒我们去体会社区的乐趣，

and of a more broadly distributed human sympathy.

以及更广泛的人类同理心。

We wander through museum galleries, 表達脈絡

我们在博物馆的画廊中漫步，

privately unsure what they really mean and why we should care.

私下里其实并不确定它们真正的含义，以及我们为何要关注它们。

The culture industry likes to keep us like that,

文化工业喜欢让我们保持那种状态：

distracted, pliant, confused, and a bit intimidated.

注意力分散、顺从、困惑，甚至带点怯懦。

Adorno perceptively described Walt Disney as the most dangerous man in America. 表達脈絡

阿多诺敏锐地将华特·迪士尼描述为美国最危险的人。

Because of the huge range of consumer goods available in modern capitalism,

由于现代资本主义提供了琳琅满目的消费品，

we naturally suppose that everything we could possibly want is available. 語法

我们自然会以为所有我们可能想要的东西都应有尽有。

The only problem, if there is one, 語氣意圖

唯一的问题在于（如果有的话），

is that we can't afford it.

是我们买不起。

But Adorno pointed out 短語動詞

但阿多诺指出，

that our real wants are carefully shielded from us 習語

我们真正的需求被资本主义工业

by capitalist industry,

小心翼翼地屏蔽了，

so that we end up forgetting what it is we truly need 短語動詞

以至于我们最终忘记了自己真正需要什么，

and settle instead for desires manufactured for us 短語動詞

转而满足于企业为我们制造的欲望，

by corporations without any interest in our true welfare.

而这些企业对我们的真实福祉毫无兴趣。

Though we think we live in a world of plenty, 語法

虽然我们认为自己生活在一个物质充裕的世界，

what we really require to thrive,

但我们茁壮成长真正需要的东西，

namely tenderness, understanding, calm, insight, community, 表達脈絡

即温柔、理解、平静、洞察力和社区感，

all these things are in painfully short supply 短語搭配

所有这些东西都极度匮乏，

and are utterly disconnected from the present economy.

并且与当前的经济完全脱节。

When they're trying to sell us something, 語法

当他们试图向我们推销东西时，

advertisers show us the thing that we really want

广告商会向我们展示我们真正渴望的事物，

and then connect it to something we don't actually need. 短語搭配

然后把它与我们其实并不需要的东西联系起来。

So we can see an advert

因此，我们会看到一则广告，

showing a group of friends walking along a beach chatting amiably, 語法

展示一群朋友走在海滩上亲切交谈，

or a family having a picnic and laughing warmly together.

或者一家人在野餐，温馨地欢笑。

These adverts show us these things

这些广告之所以向我们展示这些场景，

because they know we crave community and connection. 用詞

是因为他们知道我们渴望社区和人际连结。

But the industrial economy

但工业经济

prefers to keep us lonely and consuming.

更希望我们保持孤独，并继续消费。

So at the end of the adverts,

因此，在广告的最后，

we'll be urged to buy some 25-year-old whisky 語法

我们会受到怂恿去买一瓶25年陈酿的威士忌，

or a car so powerful 語法

或者买一辆马力强劲的汽车，

that no road would ever let us legally drive it at top speed.

尽管没有任何道路会允许我们合法地全速驾驶它。

Adorno was writing at the dawn of the age of the psychological questionnaire. 習語

阿多诺写作的年代正是心理学问卷时代的黎明。

These were widely in use in the United States,

这些问卷在美国被广泛使用，

where they were measuring consumer attitudes and commercial behavior.

用于测量消费者的态度和商业行为。

Adorno was intrigued by the underlying concept of the questionnaire,

阿多诺对问卷背后的基本概念产生了浓厚的兴趣，

and so together with colleagues,

于是他与同事们一起，

devoted himself to designing a rather different kind of questionnaire, 短語搭配

致力于设计一种相当不同的问卷，

one designed to spot fascists. 用詞

一种旨在揪出法西斯分子的问卷。

The questionnaire that he designed asked contributors

他设计的问卷要求受访者

to assess their level of agreement with statements like 短語搭配

评估他们对以下陈述的认同程度，例如：

"Obedience and respect for authority

“服从和尊重权威

are the most important virtues children should learn"

是孩子们最应该学习的美德”

and "If people would talk less and work more,

以及“如果人们少说话多做事，

everybody would be better off." 短語搭配

每个人的生活都会更好。”

And "When a person has a problem or worry,

还有“当一个人有烦恼或担忧时，

it's best for him not to think about it, 語法

对他来说最好的办法是不去想它，

but to keep busy with more cheerful things." 短語搭配

而是让自己忙于更愉快的事情。”

Given the traumas Germany had just been through, 表達脈絡

考虑到德国当时刚经历的创伤，

it's no surprise that Adorno gave his questionnaire, 短語搭配

阿多诺对他的问卷，

and what he called the F-scale, 文化背景

也就是他所说的‘F量表’（法西斯量表）

fascist scale, such attention.

给予如此高度的关注也就不足为奇了。

His team even sent the F-scale to every school in West Germany.

他的团队甚至将F量表发送到了西德的每一所学校。

But a more widely applicable lesson to be drawn from this experiment 短語搭配

但从这个实验中可以得出的一个具有更广泛适用性的教训，

is that psychology comes ahead of politics. 習語

是心理学先于政治学。

Long before someone is racist, 語法

早在一个人的思想变得具有种族歧视、

homophobic, or authoritarian,

恐同或倾向专制之前，

they are, Adorno skillfully suggested,

阿多诺精辟地指出，他们

likely to be suffering from psychological frailties and immaturities, 語法

很可能正在遭受心理脆弱和不成熟的折磨，

which is the task of a good society

而一个良好社会的任务，

to get better at spotting and responding to. 語法

就是在这方面更善于发现并做出回应。

Rather than leaving problems to fester so long 習語

与其放任问题恶化，

that there's eventually no way to deal with them 語法

最终导致除了使用武力之外

other than through force,

别无他法来解决，

we should learn to understand the psychology

我们倒不如学会从最初始的阶段起，

of everyday insanity from the earliest moments.

就去理解日常疯狂行为背后的心理。

Adorno was a left-wing thinker

阿多诺是一位左翼思想家，

who recognized that the primary obstacles to social progress

他认识到社会进步的主要障碍

are cultural and psychological, 語法

是文化和心理层面的，

rather than narrowly political or economic.

而不仅仅是狭隘的政治或经济层面的。

We already have the money, the resources,

我们已经拥有了金钱、资源、

the time, and the skills

时间和技术，

to make sure that everyone can sleep in a house, 短語搭配

足以确保每个人都有栖身之所、

stop destroying the planet,

停止破坏地球、

is given a fulfilling job,

获得一份有成就感的工作，

and feel supported by the community.

并感到被社区所支持。

So the reason why we continue to suffer and hurt one another 語法

因此，我们之所以继续受苦并互相伤害，

is first and foremost because our minds are sick. 短語搭配

首要原因在于我们的思想生病了。

This is the continuing provocation

这是特奥多尔·阿多诺那迷人而冷酷愤怒的著作

offered by the beguiling and calmly furious work of Theodor Adorno. 習語

所持续发出的挑衅。

Thank you so much for watching.

非常感谢您的观看。

If you like the videos we produce at The School of Life,

如果你喜欢我们在The School of Life制作的视频，

then may we suggest you visit our friends over at a channel called Wisecrack. 語氣意圖

那么我们建议您去看看我们的朋友Wisecrack频道的作品。

They too create wonderful videos

他们也制作非常棒的视频，

about philosophy, literature, cinema, psychology, and more,

内容涵盖哲学、文学、电影、心理学等更多领域，

all with a cheeky twist. 用詞

且都带有一种幽默俏皮的风格。

So click here to visit their channel

因此，点击这里访问他们的频道，

and we highly suggest that you subscribe.

我们强烈建议您订阅。

You might be especially interested in their show called 8-Bit Philosophy.

您可能会对他们名为《8-Bit Philosophy》的节目特别感兴趣。

Click here to watch their classic episode

点击这里观看他们的经典节目：

on Plato's Allegory of the Cave 文化背景

通过电子游戏《塞尔达传说》来解释

as explained through the video game Zelda.

柏拉图的洞穴之喻。