ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Damon Horowitz - Philosopher, entrepreneur
Damon Horowitz explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities.

Why you should listen

Damon Horowitz is a philosophy professor and serial entrepreneur. He recently joined Google as In-House Philosopher / Director of Engineering, heading development of several initiatives involving social and search. He came to Google from Aardvark, the social search engine, where he was co-founder and CTO, overseeing product development and research strategy. Prior to Aardvark, Horowitz built several companies around applications of intelligent language processing. He co-founded Perspecta (acquired by Excite), was lead architect for Novation Biosciences (acquired by Agilent), and co-founded NewsDB (now Daylife).

Horowitz teaches courses in philosophy, cognitive science, and computer science at several institutions, including Stanford, NYU, University of Pennsylvania and San Quentin State Prison.

Get more information on the Prison University Project >>

More profile about the speaker
Damon Horowitz | Speaker | TED.com
TED2011

Damon Horowitz: Philosophy in prison

Damon Horowitz: Filozofia në Burg

Filmed:
1,417,089 views

Damon Horowitz ligjeron filozofin nëpërmjet projektit në universitetet e burgjeve, duke sjelle nivelin e klasave të kolegjit në San Quentina - Burgin e shtetit.Në këtë bisedim të vogel por të fuqishem, ai tregon historine e takimit me të mirën dhe të keqen që shumë shpejt e beri ceshtje personale.
- Philosopher, entrepreneur
Damon Horowitz explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
Meet Tony. He's my student.
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Ju prezantoj Tonin. Ai është studenti im.
00:17
He's about my age,
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Ai eshte sa mua ne moshe,
00:19
and he's in San Quentin State Prison.
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dhe ai është ne Burgun e shtetit San Quentina.
00:22
When Tony was 16 years old,
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Kur Toni ishte 16 vjec,
00:25
one day, one moment,
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një ditë, një moment,
00:28
"It was mom's gun.
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Ishte arma e mamasë,
00:30
Just flash it, scare the guy. He's a punk.
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Vetem ta shkrejte, e trembte djalin.. I pa vlere.
00:32
He took some money; we'll take his money. That'll teach him.
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I mori ca para; ne do ti marrim parat e tij. Ajo do ta mësoj atë.
00:34
Then last minute, I'm thinking, 'Can't do this. This is wrong.'
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Minuten e fundit, ishte duke menduar. 'Unë smund ta bëjë këtë. Eshte e gabuar.'
00:37
My buddy says, 'C'mon, let's do this.'
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Trupi imë thoshte, Hajde, beje kete.'
00:39
I say, 'Let's do this.'"
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Une thashe, Hajde ta bejme kete."
00:44
And those three words, Tony's going to remember,
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Dhe këto tri fjalë Toni do ti mbaj mend,
00:46
because the next thing he knows, he hears the pop.
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sepse gjen tjeter që ai di, ai ndjen barutin.
00:48
There's the punk on the ground, puddle of blood.
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Eshte nje barut në toke i mbuluar nga gjaku.
00:50
And that's felony murder --
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Dhe ky është krimi i vrasjes --
00:52
25 to life, parole at 50 if you're lucky,
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25 vite denim, 50 vite lirim më kusht nëse ishte me fat,
00:54
and Tony's not feeling very lucky.
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dhe Toni nuk ndihej shumë me fat.
00:57
So when we meet in my philosophy class in his prison
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Kështu që kur u takuam në burg në klasen filozofis
01:00
and I say, "In this class, we will discuss the foundations of ethics,"
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unë i them, "Në këtë klase, do të diskutojm themelin e etikes,"
01:04
Tony interrupts me.
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Toni më ndërpret mua.
01:06
"What are you going to teach me about right and wrong?
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"Cfare do të na mësosh se cfare është e mirë dhe keqe?
01:08
I know what is wrong. I have done wrong.
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E di cfare është e keqe.Kam bërë keq.
01:11
I am told every day,
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Me eshte thene cdo dite,
01:13
by every face I see, every wall I face, that I am wrong.
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nga cdo fytyre që shoh, nga cdo mur qe perballem.
01:16
If I ever get out of here, there will always be a mark by my name.
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Nëse ndonjehere do dal jashte qe këtu, do të kete gjithmone një shenjë me emrin tim.
01:19
I'm a convict; I am branded 'wrong.'
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Jam i dënuar; Jam i emeruar "keq."
01:21
What are you going to tell me about right and wrong?"
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Cfare do të më tregoni për te miren apo te keqen?
01:24
So I say to Tony,
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Keshtu qe i thashe Tonit,
01:27
"Sorry, but it's worse than you think.
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"Më fal, por është më keq sesa mendon ti.
01:30
You think you know right and wrong?
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Mendon që e di se qcare është e keqe dhe e mirë?
01:32
Then can you tell me what wrong is?
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Atëhere mund te më thuash se cfare është e keqe?
01:34
No, don't just give me an example.
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Jo, mos më jepni vetem shembuj.
01:36
I want to know about wrongness itself, the idea of wrong.
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Dua të di rreth të keqes ne brendesi, idese së të keqes.
01:39
What is that idea?
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Cfare eshte ajo ide?
01:41
What makes something wrong?
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Cfare e ben diqka te keqe?
01:43
How do we know that it's wrong? Maybe you and I disagree.
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Si e dim ese është e keqe? Ndoshta une dhe ti nuk pajtohemi.
01:46
Maybe one of us is wrong about the wrong.
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Ndoshta njëri nga ne është gabim rreth asaj që është e keqe.
01:48
Maybe it's you, maybe it's me -- but we're not here to trade opinions;
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Ndoshta jam unë, ndoshta je ti -- mirepo ne nuk jemi këtu për ti tregetuar opsionet;
01:50
everyone's got an opinion.
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secili ka nga një opinion.
01:52
We are here for knowledge.
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Ne jemi këtu për të mësuar.
01:54
Our enemy is thoughtlessness. This is philosophy."
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Armikja jonë është rreth mësimit. Kjo është filozofia."
01:58
And something changes for Tony.
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Dhe dicka ndryshoi për Tonin.
02:03
"Could be I'm wrong. I'm tired of being wrong.
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"Mund të jete që une jam gabim. Jam lodhur duke qene i gabuar.
02:06
I want to know what is wrong.
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Dua të di se cfare është gabimi.
02:08
I want to know what I know."
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Dua të di se cfare di"
02:10
What Tony sees in that moment is the project of philosophy,
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Cfare Toni shef në atë moment është projekti i filozofise,
02:13
the project that begins in wonder --
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projekti i cili fillon në cudi --
02:15
what Kant called "admiration and awe
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cfare Kanti ka quajtur "admirim dhe tmerr
02:17
at the starry sky above and the moral law within."
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tek qielli dhe tek ligji i moralit"
02:20
What can creatures like us know of such things?
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Cfare mundë të dinë krijesat ne këto lloj gjërash?
02:22
It is the project that always takes us back to the condition of existence --
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Eshtë një projekt i cili gjithmone na kthen mbrapa tek kushti i ekzistences --
02:25
what Heidegger called "the always already there."
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cfare Heidegger ka quajtur "gjithmone gati aty."
02:28
It is the project of questioning what we believe and why we believe it --
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Eshtë projekti per te pyetur se cfare ne besojm dhe pse ne e besojmë atë --
02:31
what Socrates called "the examined life."
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cfare Sokrati ka quajtur "Jeta e ekzaminuar."
02:33
Socrates, a man wise enough to know that he knows nothing.
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Sokrati, një njeri i mencur për të ditur se ai nuk di asgjë.
02:36
Socrates died in prison,
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Sokrati vdiq në burg,
02:39
his philosophy intact.
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filozofia e tij e pademtuar.
02:42
So Tony starts doing his homework.
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Kështu që Toni filloi te bej detyrat e tij.
02:44
He learns his whys and wherefores, his causes and correlations,
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Ai mësoi pse-te dhe perse-te e tij, cështjet dhe përmiresimet,
02:46
his logic, his fallacies.
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logjiken, moslogjiken e tij.
02:48
Turns out, Tony's got the philosophy muscle.
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Toni përfitoi filozofine e muskujve.
02:50
His body is in prison, but his mind is free.
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Trupi i tij është në burg, por truri i tijë është i lirë.
02:52
Tony learns about the ontologically promiscuous,
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Toni mësoi rreth formave logjike,
02:54
the epistemologically anxious,
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ankthit të epist-logjikes,
02:56
the ethically dubious, the metaphysically ridiculous.
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etikes se dubious-it, radiusit metafizik.
02:59
That's Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche
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Ky eshte Plato, Deskarti, Nice
03:01
and Bill Clinton.
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dhe Bill Klintoni.
03:03
So when he gives me his final paper,
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Keshtu qe kur me dorezon mua dëtyren e tij finale,
03:06
in which he argues that the categorical imperative
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ku argumenton se kategoria imperative
03:08
is perhaps too uncompromising
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është ndoshta shume jo-premtuese
03:10
to deal with the conflict that affects our everyday
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për të bërë marreveshje me konfliktet qe prekin jetet tona te përditëshme
03:12
and challenges me to tell him
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dhe me sfidojne mua per ti treguar
03:14
whether therefore we are condemned to moral failure,
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nese per kete arsye jemi te denuar per dështimet morale,
03:16
I say, "I don't know.
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I them "Nuk e di"
03:18
Let us think about that."
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Na lini të mendojme rreth asaj."
03:20
Because in that moment, there's no mark by Tony's name;
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Sepse në atë moment, nuk ka ndonje tregues me emrin Toni;
03:22
it's just the two of us standing there.
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jemi vetem ne të dy duke qendruar atje.
03:24
It is not professor and convict,
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Nuk është profesori dhe i denuari,
03:26
it is just two minds ready to do philosophy.
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jane vetem dy mendje duke bërë filozofi.
03:28
And I say to Tony,
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Dhe i them Tonit,
03:30
"Let's do this."
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Le ta bëjmë këtë."
03:33
Thank you.
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Faliminderit
03:35
(Applause)
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(Duartrokitje)
Translated by Liridon Shala
Reviewed by Amantia Gjikondi

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Damon Horowitz - Philosopher, entrepreneur
Damon Horowitz explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities.

Why you should listen

Damon Horowitz is a philosophy professor and serial entrepreneur. He recently joined Google as In-House Philosopher / Director of Engineering, heading development of several initiatives involving social and search. He came to Google from Aardvark, the social search engine, where he was co-founder and CTO, overseeing product development and research strategy. Prior to Aardvark, Horowitz built several companies around applications of intelligent language processing. He co-founded Perspecta (acquired by Excite), was lead architect for Novation Biosciences (acquired by Agilent), and co-founded NewsDB (now Daylife).

Horowitz teaches courses in philosophy, cognitive science, and computer science at several institutions, including Stanford, NYU, University of Pennsylvania and San Quentin State Prison.

Get more information on the Prison University Project >>

More profile about the speaker
Damon Horowitz | Speaker | TED.com