今天跟朋友聊到:在哲学写作中,清晰性和论证的力度比风格和优美的语言更重要。但即使如此,读到一段优美的文本还是让人愉快。
我想分享两段自己喜欢的文本。来自David Benatar的Suicide: A Qualified Defence
We must keep in sight, of course, the fact that once we have come into existence, life’s hardships are only avoidable at a cost.
Those who take their own lives, especially when the quality of these lives is much less bad than those of the cancer patient or the concentration camp prisoner, fly in the face of the normal will to live. They are seen as abnormal, not merely in the statistical sense of being unusual but also in the sense of being defective, either morally or psychologically.
I have argued that this response is inappropriate. Suicide is sometimes morally wrong and it is sometimes the consequence of psychological problems. However, it is not always susceptible to such criticism. If we step back from our powerful survival instinct and our optimism bias, ending one’s life may seem much wiser than continuing to live, particularly when the burdens of life are considerable. Moreover, it would be indecent to condemn those who, having deliberated carefully about the matter, decide that they no longer wish to endure the burdens of a life to which they never consented. They ought to take the interests of others, especially family and friends, into account. This is particularly true of those (such as spouses and children) toward whom obligations have been voluntarily undertaken. The presence of such connections and obligations will trump lesser burdens, morally speaking. However, once the burdens of life reach a certain level of severity (determined, in part, by the relevant person’s own assessment of his life’s value and his life’s quality), it becomes indecent to expect him to remain alive for the benefit of others.
不知道大家读到哪些段落会觉得“啊,写的真美”呢