第二课 给生命贴上价格.docVIP

公正：该如何做才好？ 第二课给生命贴上价格 (后续课程翻译会陆续上传) Putting a price tag on life 上一次，我们讨论了 Last time, we argued about 英国女王与Dudley和Stephens案件 the case of The Queen v. Dudley Stephens, 一个发生在救生艇上，人吃人的案件。 the lifeboat case, the case of cannibalism at sea. 我们讨论了发生在救生艇上的一些争论And with the arguments about the lifeboat in mind, 关于支持还是反对Dudley和Stephens的做法的争论the arguments for and against what Dudley and Stephens did in mind, 让我们回到哲学，边沁的功利主义哲学。 lets turn back to the philosophy, the utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham. 1748年，边沁生于在英国。在12岁时，他去了牛津大学。 Bentham was born in England in 1748. At the age of 12, he went to Oxford. 15岁时去了法学院。19岁时就拿到律师资格At 15, he went to law school. He was admitted to the Bar at age 19 但他从来没有从事法律。 but he never practiced law. 相反，他毕生致力于法学和道德哲学。 Instead, he devoted his life to jurisprudence and moral philosophy. 上一次，我们开始谈到了边沁的功利主义。 Last time, we began to consider Benthams version of utilitarianism. 其主要思想可以表达为： The main idea is simply stated and its this: 不论是个人或政治道德，道德的最高原则， The highest principle of morality, whether personal or political morality, 就是为了将大众福利、集体的幸福最大化 is to maximize the general welfare, or the collective happiness, 或在快乐和痛苦之间找到平衡点; or the overall balance of pleasure over pain; 一句话，效用最大化。 in a phrase, maximize utility. 边沁是经过以下的推理，得出这个原则： Bentham arrives at this principle by the following line of reasoning: 我们都是受痛苦和快乐支配， Were all governed by pain and pleasure, 他们就像统治我们的君主，所以任何道德体系 they are our sovereign masters, and so any moral system 都要把它们考虑进去。 has to take account of them. 怎么才能最优地把这两者都考虑到？通过最大化。 How best to take account? By maximizing. 这也就引出了：追求最多数人的最大利益的原则。 And this leads to the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number. 那么我们应该把什么最大化呢？ What exactly should we maximize? 边沁告诉我们，是幸福，或者更准确，效用 - Bentham tells us happiness, or more precisely, utility - 将效用最大化，不仅是对个人maximizing utility as a principle not only for individuals 还有集体，及立法者。 but also for communities and for legislators. “那什么是集体？”边沁问道。 Wha