我是谁？：英语精读讲义

Over a lifetime, 短語搭配

在人的一生中，

all of us change to an extraordinary degree. 短語搭配

我们所有人都会发生惊人的变化。

From a physical perspective, 表達脈絡

从生理的角度来看，

we start off as a little bundle about 50 cm high 短語動詞

我们一开始只是一个大约50厘米高的小肉团，

with cherubic features and elastic soft skin,

带着天使般的面容和富有弹性的柔软肌肤，

and then we may end up some 90 years later 短語動詞

然后大约90年后，我们可能会变成

as a stooped, gray, liver spotted,

一个驼背、头发花白、长满老年斑，

180 cm high structure.

180厘米高的躯体。

In the intervening period, 表達脈絡

在这期间，

every single cell in our body will have been replaced, 語法

我们体内的每一个细胞都会被替换掉，

often many times over, 短語搭配

往往是反反复复好多次，

and we'll have gone through all kinds of experiences 短語動詞

我们还会经历各种各样的事情，

that perhaps leave almost no trace in memory. 短語搭配

这些事情或许在记忆中几乎没有留下任何痕迹。

The 25-year-old won't remember most of what

25岁的人不会记得

the 5-year-old felt so strongly about.

5岁时有着强烈感受的大部分事情。

The 67-year-old will only dimly recall 短語搭配

67岁的人也只能隐约回忆起

what was on their mind as they approached 30. 短語搭配

他们快到30岁时在想些什么。

We carry the same name throughout our lives

我们一生中都叫同一个名字，

and consider ourselves

并认为我们自己

as a relatively stable unitary entity.

是一个相对稳定的单一实体。

But is it really right to think of ourselves

但把我们自己看作

as the same person?

是同一个人真的正确吗？

Once one puts it under a philosophical microscope, 習語

一旦把它放在哲学的显微镜下，

the issue of personal identity

个人身份认同的问题

emerges as far trickier than at first assumed. 語法

就会显得比最初设想的要复杂得多。

So in what ways could we be said to be 語法

那么，我们在哪些方面可以说是

continuous throughout time?

随着时间推移而连续不断的呢？

What does guarantee

是什么保证了

that we can plausibly think of ourselves 短語搭配

我们能够合理地认为自己

as the same people over a lifetime?

在一生中都是同一个人？

Just where is personal identity located?

个人身份究竟存在于哪里？

A standard assumption is that it's our body

一个标准的假设是，是我们的身体

that guarantees our personal identity.

保证了我们的个人身份认同。

This is the theory that a key part of what makes me me 語法

这种理论认为，“我之所以为我”的一个关键部分

is that I'm housed in an identical body.

是我居住在一个不变的身体里。

But philosophers like to push this assumption around a little.

但哲学家们喜欢对这个假设进行一点推敲。

Imagine if I lost all my hair.

想象一下如果我失去了所有的头发。

Would I still be me?

我还是我吗？

Yes, sure.

是的，当然。

What if I lost a finger?

如果我失去了一根手指呢？

Yes.

是的。

A leg?

一条腿？

Definitely.

绝对是。

Now, what if a malevolent demon appeared

现在，如果出现了一个恶毒的恶魔，

and told us that we'd have to lose 語法

告诉我们必须失去

every part of our bodies,

我们身体的每一个部分，

but could keep just one bit?

但只能保留一点？

Which bit would it be?

那会是哪一部分呢？

Few of us would pick our elbow or belly button.

我们当中很少有人会选胳膊肘或肚脐眼。

Almost all of us would pick our brains.

我们绝大多数人会选我们的大脑。

and that tells us something interesting.

这告诉了我们一些有趣的事情。

We assume implicitly that

我们在潜意识中认为

some bits of our bodies are more me-ish, 用詞

我们身体的某些部分更“像我”，

closer to the core of personal identity than others.

比其他部分更接近个人身份的核心。

And the most me-ish of all the bits are our brains.

而在所有部分中，最“像我”的，就是我们的大脑。

Christianity runs a version of this thought experiment. 用詞

基督教有一个这个思想实验的版本。

It asks us to think what will happen after our death,

它让我们思考死后会发生什么，

and it imagines a separation of the body,

它设想了身体的分离，

ultimately not that significant,

这最终没那么重要，

and the ongoing survival of a more modest precious bit

还有一个更为不起眼且珍贵的部分会继续存活，

that it calls the soul.

它称之为“灵魂”。

There's another version of this thought experiment that two lovers can play.

这个思想实验还有一个两个相爱的人可以玩的版本。

In the early throes of love, 習語

在热恋初期，

two people who have gone to bed together might ask, 習語

上过床的两个人可能会问：

"What do you really like about me?"

“你到底喜欢我什么？”

The wrong answer is to say,

错误的回答是：

"Your fabulous breasts or your amazing muscular arms."

“你迷人的乳房，或者你惊人的肌肉臂。”

Breasts and chest don't ultimately feel me-ish

乳房和胸肌最终让人感觉没那么“像我”，

enough to be a respectable answer.

不足以成为一个体面的答案。

It seems we want to be loved for something closer to our real self, 語法

看来我们希望被爱的原因，是那些更接近我们真实自我的东西，

perhaps our soul or our brain.

也许是我们的灵魂或大脑。

Now let's push the thought experiment further. 表達脈絡

现在让我们把这个思想实验进一步推进。

What bit of the brain is actually most crucial to being me? 語法

大脑的哪一部分对“成为我”实际上最关键？

Let's imagine that I have a bump to the head 短語搭配

让我们想象一下，我碰到了头，

and lose my ability to play table tennis. 短語搭配

失去了打乒乓球的能力。

Am I still myself?

我还是我自己吗？

Most of us would say,

我们大多数人会说，

"Yes, sure."

“是的，当然。”

What if I once spoke Latin and lose the ability

如果我曾经会说拉丁语然后失去了这个能力，

or forgot how to cook asparagus with a light mayonnaise sauce?

或者忘记了如何用淡蛋黄酱烹饪芦笋呢？

Would I still be me?

我还是我吗？

Yes.

是的。

In other words, 表達脈絡

换句话说，

technical capacities don't feel

技能让人感觉

very close to the core of personal identity.

并不是非常接近个人身份的核心。

What about other kinds of memories?

其他种类的记忆呢？

A big part of making me me

使“我成为我”的一个很大部分，

tends to be my store of memories. 語法

往往是我的记忆库。

I remember the carpet in my bedroom when I was growing up

我记得我成长时卧室里的地毯，

or the girl I was in love with at university

或者是大学时我爱上的那个女孩，

or the weather over Sydney

或者是悉尼的天气，

as we came in to land for my first Australian book tour.

就在我第一次澳大利亚巡回售书着陆时。

But what if these memories all vanished as well?

但如果这些记忆也全都消失了呢？

Could I still be me?

我还能是我吗？

One view is, possibly,

一种观点是，也许可以，

so long as something else remained. 語法

只要还有其他的东西留存下来。

And that thing we can call my character.

那个东西我们可以称之为我的性格。

In other words,

换句话说，

if my characteristic way of responding to situations, 短語搭配

如果我对各种情况的特有反应方式、

my sense of what is funny, wise, interesting or important

我对什么是有趣、明智、有趣或重要的感觉

remained the same,

保持不变，

I can still in some fundamental way

我在某种根本的意义上仍然可以

claim to be the same person.

声称是同一个人。

My memory store of feelings and behaviors might be gone,

我对感受和行为的记忆库可能已经消失，

but I could be assured of continuing 語法

但我可以确信会继续

to feel and behave in compatible ways in the future.

在未来以相符的方式去感受和行动。

Those around me would need to keep reminding me of stuff that had happened, 短語搭配

我周围的人将需要不断提醒我发生过的事情，

but they would still recognize me as me.

但他们仍然会认出我就是我。

A fascinating idea comes into view. 習語

一个迷人的观点出现了。

Personal identity seems to consist not in bodily survival. 語法

个人身份似乎既不包含在身体的存活中。

I could be put in somebody else's body or live in a jar and still be me,

我可以被放入别人的身体或生活在罐子里，却仍然是我，

nor in the survival of memory.

也不包含在记忆的留存中。

I could forget everything and still be me.

我可以忘记一切，但仍然是我。

But in the survival of what we're here going to call character.

而是在于我们在此称之为“性格”的留存中。

This is an idea attributed to the English philosopher John Locke, 文化背景

这个观点归功于英国哲学家约翰·洛克，

who famously wrote personal identity

他的名言是，个人身份

is made up of what he called sameness of consciousness.

是由他所称的“意识的同一性”组成的。

If a demon offered us a choice between remembering everything

如果一个恶魔给我们一个选择：要么记住一切

but feeling and valuing very differently

但感受和价值观发生极大变化，

or feeling and valuing the same sorts of things

要么感受和重视相同种类的事物

but remembering nothing,

但什么都不记得，

most of us would, Locke suggests,

洛克认为，我们大多数人会

choose the latter. 用詞

选择后者。

So, if we have to boil personal identity down to its essence, 短語動詞

所以，如果我们必须把个人身份归结为其本质，

it seems to come down to values, inclinations, and temperament. 短語動詞

它似乎可以归结为价值观、倾向和气质。

Let's think of death with all this in mind. 表達脈絡

让我们带着所有这些想法来思考死亡。

The standard view of death is that it's sad

对死亡的标准观点是它让人悲伤，

because it means the end of our identity.

因为它意味着我们身份的终结。

Now, it certainly does mean the end

现在，它的确意味着终结，

if we identify identity with the survival of our bodies 短語搭配

如果我们把身份等同于我们身体的存活，

or with that of our memories.

或者是我们记忆的留存。

But if we think that who we are is to a large degree about our values 短語搭配

但如果我们认为“我们是谁”在很大程度上关乎我们的价值观

and characteristic loves and hates,

以及我们特有的爱与恨，

then we are in a sense granted a kind of immortality 表達脈絡

那么在某种意义上我们就获得了一种永生，

simply through the fact that these will continue to live 短語動詞

仅仅因为这些将继续生存下去，

on in our species as a whole,

在我们整个物种中，

lodged here and there outside of their present home.

寄居在它们目前居所之外的各个地方。

Perhaps what we have learned to call me

也许我们学会称之为“我”的东西，

was only ever a temporary resting place 習語

只不过是一个临时的落脚点，

for a set of ideas and proclivities that are far older

供一套比我们的身体古老得多、

and are destined to live on far longer than our bodies. 語法

且注定存活得久得多的理念与癖好栖息。

We might attempt to be less sad about death

我们可以尝试对死亡少些悲伤，

by letting go of the idea 短語動詞

通过放下这个念头：

that we are a particular constellation of physical features. 習語

我们是一组特定生理特征的集合。

We are always in a sense far longer lasting,

在某种意义上，我们总是能存在得更久，

far more transgenerational 用詞

更加跨越世代，

as a bundle of inclinations and ideas.

作为一堆倾向和思想。

We will continue to crop up and live wherever those ideas 短語動詞

我们将继续出现并生活，只要那些

that are most characteristic of us will emerge,

最具我们特色的思想会显现，

as they must,

正如它们必须的那样，

in the generations that are to come.

在未来的世世代代中。

Focusing in on questions of identity 短語動詞

聚焦于身份的问题

has the paradoxical and rather cheering effect

具有一种看似矛盾却相当令人振奋的效果，

of making us both less attached to certain bits of us 語法

它让我们对自己的某些部分不再那么执着，

and more confident

并更加确信，

that the really important things about who we have been will survive in a way

关于我们曾经是谁，那些真正重要的东西会以某种方式存活下来，

long after our bodies have returned to dust 習語

很久以后，在我们的身体归于尘土、

and our memories have been obliterated.

我们的记忆被抹去之后。