TED演讲:科学可以回答道德问题(9)

 　　Now, to say this is not to say that we have got the perfect solution in our own society. 我这么说，并不是说我们的社会有最完美的解答

　　For instance, this is what it's like to go to a newsstand almost anywhere in the civilized¹ world. 举例来说，现在你到任何文明国家的报摊，都可以看到这样的景象

　　Now, granted, for many men it may require a degree in philosophy to see something wrong with these images. 我必须承认，对大部分的男人来说，可能需要有博士学位才会觉得这有什么不对

　　But if we are in a reflective mood, we can ask, 但在我们自省的时候，我们也可以想

　　"Is this the perfect expression of psychological balance with respect to variables like youth and beauty and women's bodies?" “这样的东西会让我们学习尊重不同女性的年龄和肉体吗？”

　　I mean, is this the optimal² environment in which to raise our children? 难道我们会希望我们的孩子生在在这种视觉环境里吗？

　　Probably not. OK, so perhaps there's some place on the spectrum³ 大概不会。于是在这两个极端中

　　between these two extremes that represents a place of better balance. 应该有一个中间点能带来一种比较健康的平衡

　　Perhaps there are many such places --  或许这个平衡点不止一个

　　again, given other changes in human culture there may be many peaks on the moral landscape. 在这个多元的世界里，我们的道德地图应该有许多不同的山峰

　　But the thing to notice is that there will be many more ways not to be on a peak. 但重点是这世界上还有许多不是这些山峰的地方

　　Now the irony⁴, from my perspective,  在我看来，讽刺的事情是

　　is that the only people who seem to generally agree with me  一般会认同我说法的

　　and who think that there are right and wrong answers to moral questions are religious demagogues of one form or another. 那些觉得道德争议是有正确和错误答案的大都是一些宗教家

　　And of course they think they have right answers to moral questions  他们当然会觉得道德争议有正确答案

　　because they got these answers from a voice in a whirlwind,  因为他们已经在神秘之声中听到这些答案了

　　not because they made an intelligent analysis of the causes and condition of human and animal well-being⁵. 而不是因为他们理智思考和分析过这些议题，人类和动物的幸福快乐

1 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

2 optimal   

adj.最适宜的；最理想的；最令人满意的

参考例句：

• What is the optimal mix of private and public property rights in natural resources?私人和国家的自然资源产权的最适宜的组合是什么？
• Optimal path planning is a key link for the sailing contest.帆船最优行驶路径规划是帆船比赛取胜的关键环节。

3 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

4 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

5 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。