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: 監獄裡的哲理

Filmed:
1,417,089 views

Damon Horowitz 通過監獄大學的項目教導哲理,把大專層次的課程帶到聖昆廷州立監獄的犯人。在這個強大有力的短談,他訴說遇到一個有關正確與錯誤的事例,以及它如何迅速變成他個人的故事。
- 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遇見 Tony托尼. He's my student學生.
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這位是東尼。他是我的學生。
00:17
He's about my age年齡,
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他大概是我的年齡,
00:19
and he's in San Quentin昆汀 State Prison監獄.
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他在聖昆廷的州立監獄。
00:22
When Tony托尼 was 16 years年份 old,
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當東尼16歲時,
00:25
one day, one moment時刻,
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有一天,一個時刻,
00:28
"It was mom's媽媽的 gun.
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「 這是媽媽的槍。
00:30
Just flash it, scare the guy. He's a punk朋克.
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只要亮一亮相,嚇嚇那傢伙。他是個小流氓。
00:32
He took some money; we'll take his money. That'll那會 teach him.
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他之前取了一些錢, 我們要拿回他的,教訓他。
00:34
Then last minute分鐘, I'm thinking思維, 'Can't“不能 do this. This is wrong錯誤.'
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然後在最後一分鐘,我在想, 『不能這樣做,這是不對的。』
00:37
My buddy夥伴 says, 'C'mon“來吧, let's do this.'
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我的朋友說:『來吧,讓我們去幹。』
00:39
I say, 'Let's'讓我們 do this.'"
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我說,『讓我們就這樣幹。』
00:44
And those three words, Tony's托尼的 going to remember記得,
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這句話,東尼會記得,
00:46
because the next下一個 thing he knows知道, he hears就听 the pop流行的.
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因為接下來的事情,便是他聽到砰的一聲。
00:48
There's the punk朋克 on the ground地面, puddle水坑 of blood血液.
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那個小流氓在地面上, 躺在一坑血水之中。
00:50
And that's felony重罪 murder謀殺 --
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接著是重罪謀殺--
00:52
25 to life, parole言語 at 50 if you're lucky幸運,
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25年到終生,如果幸運,在50年後假釋,
00:54
and Tony's托尼的 not feeling感覺 very lucky幸運.
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而東尼不感覺幸運。
00:57
So when we meet遇到 in my philosophy哲學 class in his prison監獄
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所以,當我們在獄中哲學課會面時,
01:00
and I say, "In this class, we will discuss討論 the foundations基金會 of ethics倫理,"
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我說,「 在這課程中,我們將會討論道德的基礎,」
01:04
Tony托尼 interrupts中斷 me.
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東尼打斷我,
01:06
"What are you going to teach me about right and wrong錯誤?
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問 :「你要教我對與錯的什麼呢?
01:08
I know what is wrong錯誤. I have doneDONE wrong錯誤.
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因為我知道什麼是錯的,我已經做錯了。
01:11
I am told every一切 day,
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我每一天,
01:13
by every一切 face面對 I see, every一切 wall I face面對, that I am wrong錯誤.
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每一個人的臉, 我對着的每一面牆, 都告訴我我錯了。
01:16
If I ever get out of here, there will always be a mark標記 by my name名稱.
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如果我有機會離開這裡,我的名字將永遠有一個標誌。
01:19
I'm a convict定罪; I am branded品牌 'wrong'錯誤.'
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我是一個罪犯,我被烙印『 犯錯』。
01:21
What are you going to tell me about right and wrong錯誤?"
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你要告訴我什麼是對與不對? 」
01:24
So I say to Tony托尼,
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我對東尼說,
01:27
"Sorry, but it's worse更差 than you think.
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「 很抱歉,但它比你想像還更糟糕。
01:30
You think you know right and wrong錯誤?
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你認為你知道對與錯?
01:32
Then can you tell me what wrong錯誤 is?
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那你能告訴我什麼是錯嗎?
01:34
No, don't just give me an example.
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不, 不要只是給我一個例子。
01:36
I want to know about wrongness不正當 itself本身, the idea理念 of wrong錯誤.
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我想知道錯的本身, 錯的基礎理念。
01:39
What is that idea理念?
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那概念究竟是什麼?
01:41
What makes品牌 something wrong錯誤?
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什麼因素令東西成為錯呢?
01:43
How do we know that it's wrong錯誤? Maybe you and I disagree不同意.
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我們怎樣知道錯呢? 當你和我意見分歧。
01:46
Maybe one of us is wrong錯誤 about the wrong錯誤.
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也許我們其中之一是錯上加錯。
01:48
Maybe it's you, maybe it's me -- but we're not here to trade貿易 opinions意見;
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也許是你, 也許是我--但我們在這裡不是為了要交換意見;
01:50
everyone's大家的 got an opinion意見.
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每個人都有自己的意見。
01:52
We are here for knowledge知識.
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我們在這裡是為了知識。
01:54
Our enemy敵人 is thoughtlessness輕率. This is philosophy哲學."
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我們的敵人是輕率。這就是哲學。」
01:58
And something changes變化 for Tony托尼.
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東尼像有所領悟。
02:03
"Could be I'm wrong錯誤. I'm tired of being存在 wrong錯誤.
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「可能是我錯了。我厭倦自己的錯誤。
02:06
I want to know what is wrong錯誤.
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我想知道什麼是錯的。
02:08
I want to know what I know."
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我想知道我知道甚麼。 」
02:10
What Tony托尼 sees看到 in that moment時刻 is the project項目 of philosophy哲學,
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東尼在那一刻看到的是哲學的項目,
02:13
the project項目 that begins開始 in wonder奇蹟 --
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該項目開始於奇妙的驚異--
02:15
what Kant康德 called "admiration欽佩 and awe威嚴
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是康德(德國古典哲學創始人) 稱為 「 對頭上的
02:17
at the starry星光燦爛 sky天空 above以上 and the moral道德 law within."
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星空和之內的道德律欽佩和敬畏 」。
02:20
What can creatures生物 like us know of such這樣 things?
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我們這樣的生物可以理解像這的樣事情嗎?
02:22
It is the project項目 that always takes us back to the condition條件 of existence存在 --
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是這項目總是把我們帶回到了存在的條件 --
02:25
what Heidegger海德格爾 called "the always already已經 there."
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是海德格(德國哲學家)稱為「 已然存在」。
02:28
It is the project項目 of questioning疑問 what we believe and why we believe it --
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這學問是要質疑我們相信什麼和為什麼相信--
02:31
what Socrates蘇格拉底 called "the examined檢查 life."
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蘇格拉底稱為「檢驗的人生」。
02:33
Socrates蘇格拉底, a man wise明智的 enough足夠 to know that he knows知道 nothing.
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蘇格拉底, 一個有足夠智慧是以覺悟我們什麼都不知道的人。
02:36
Socrates蘇格拉底 died死亡 in prison監獄,
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蘇格拉底死在獄中,
02:39
his philosophy哲學 intact完整.
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保留他完整的哲學。
02:42
So Tony托尼 starts啟動 doing his homework家庭作業.
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因此,東尼開始做他的作業。
02:44
He learns獲悉 his whys個為什麼 and whereforeswherefores, his causes原因 and correlations相關,
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他探悉了理由和原因,來頭和關連,
02:46
his logic邏輯, his fallacies謬論.
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他的邏輯,他的謬論。
02:48
Turns out, Tony's托尼的 got the philosophy哲學 muscle肌肉.
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原來, 東尼具有不少哲學頭腦。
02:50
His body身體 is in prison監獄, but his mind心神 is free自由.
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他的肉身是在監獄裡,但他的精神是自由的。
02:52
Tony托尼 learns獲悉 about the ontologically本體論 promiscuous淫亂,
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東尼了解了本體論的混雜,
02:54
the epistemologically認識論 anxious,
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知識論的焦慮,
02:56
the ethically道德 dubious可疑, the metaphysically形而上學 ridiculous荒謬.
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道德上的可疑,和形而上學的荒謬。
02:59
That's Plato柏拉圖, Descartes笛卡爾, Nietzsche尼采
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也就是柏拉圖,笛卡爾,尼采
03:01
and Bill法案 Clinton克林頓.
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和比爾柯林頓。
03:03
So when he gives me his final最後 paper,
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所以當他給我他最後的論文,
03:06
in which哪一個 he argues主張 that the categorical明確的 imperative勢在必行
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其中他認為康德的無上命令
03:08
is perhaps也許 too uncompromising堅定的
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或許對我們日常生活的衝突
03:10
to deal合同 with the conflict衝突 that affects影響 our everyday每天
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顯得太不近情理時
03:12
and challenges挑戰 me to tell him
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他挑戰我要告訴他
03:14
whether是否 therefore因此 we are condemned譴責 to moral道德 failure失敗,
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是否我們因此被譙讓到道德上失敗,
03:16
I say, "I don't know.
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我說,「 我不知道,
03:18
Let us think about that."
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讓我們去想想這個。」
03:20
Because in that moment時刻, there's no mark標記 by Tony's托尼的 name名稱;
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因為在那一刻, 東尼的名字沒有囚犯的標記,
03:22
it's just the two of us standing常設 there.
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只是我們兩個人站在那裡。
03:24
It is not professor教授 and convict定罪,
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這不是教授和囚徒,
03:26
it is just two minds頭腦 ready準備 to do philosophy哲學.
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而是兩個頭腦準備思考哲學。
03:28
And I say to Tony托尼,
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所以我對東尼說:
03:30
"Let's do this."
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「 讓我們去幹。」
03:33
Thank you.
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謝謝。
03:35
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Ana Choi
Reviewed by Allison Shu

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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