2021年经济学人 人类之蜜糖,动物之砒霜(2)（在线收听）

Yet elsewhere the arguments in “How to Love Animals” are arresting. After pondering which sea creatures feel pain, Mr Mance rules that mussels, clams and oysters can be eaten in good conscience. He argues that cows raised for beef have better lives overall than those on dairy farms. It is usual to condemn trophy-hunters who cross continents to shoot lions, but “if anyone wants to stop wasteful killing for pleasure, they should focus on farming.”

但《如何爱动物》中的其他论点却很有吸引力。在仔细琢磨了会感到痛苦的海洋生物类别之后，曼斯先生规定，人们可以问心无愧地食用贻贝、蛤蜊和牡蛎。他还认为，肉用牛的生活总体上要比奶牛场的奶牛过得更好。人们通常会谴责那些跨越大洲猎杀狮子且战绩显赫的狩猎者，但“如果有人想要阻止这种以享乐为目的的浪费性猎杀，那他们应该着重关注畜牧业。”

As Mr Mance travels from the fishing ports of northern Spain to a Polish hunting lodge, he encounters plenty of strange ideas. Some activists believe seats in parliament should be reserved for people representing the interests of domesticated animals. Others recommend editing wild species’ genes so that they no longer harm other creatures with which they share habitats. There is apparently a case for letting captive elephants communicate with their counterparts in other zoos, through a device nicknamed the “Elephone”.

当曼斯从西班牙北部的渔港前往波兰的一个狩猎小屋时，他见识到了很多奇怪的想法。一些活动人士认为，议会席位理应留给那些为家畜争取利益的人。其他活动人士则建议对野生物种进行基因编辑，从而让它们不再伤害共享栖息地的其他生物。显然，让圈养的大象通过一种名为“Elephone”的设备与其他动物园的同类进行交流的想法也显得合情合理了。

No shortage of evangelists insist that technology will improve the lives of animals. Mr Mance is sceptical, concluding that restraint will achieve more than ingenuity. Even if his best line is borrowed from Martin Luther King —“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”—he is a skilful writer who never shies away from painful stories, and leavens even the grimmest episodes with humour. He also has a rare ability to couch strenuous ethical arguments in terms that are warmly familiar.

不乏有传道士坚持认为科技将改善动物的生活。但曼斯先生对此持怀疑态度，他断定，约束所带来的成就将超越独创力。纵然他书中最好的一段文字是借用的马丁·路德·金的名言——“人类的道德弧线虽然很长,但是它是最终是通向平等的”——但他还是一名娴熟的作家，他从不回避痛苦的故事，即使是最阴暗的情节也会被他写出幽默感。他还拥有一种罕见的能力，能够用大家亲切熟悉的术语来阐述激烈的道德论题。