Transcript 投影片 1 - 臺大開放式課程 (NTU OpenCourseWare)

哲學概論
授課教師：王榮麟
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本作品轉載自Microsoft Office 2003多媒體藝廊，依據Microsoft服務合約及著
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The question is, why don’t those who treat human life as
absolute stop driving cars? If you drive a car, your
behavior shows that you don’t value human life as absolute.
Indeed, the Convenience Machine in our earlier thought
experiment is the car. We know with high probability that
each year over 50,000 people will lose their lives in
automobile accidents in the United States alone. The car
also causes harmful air pollution, which shortens life.
Anyone who believes that human life really is of absolute
value should be against the use of the automobile!
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反對意見(1)：對於命運非常悲慘、生不如死
的人（例如罹患重大疾病而沒有任何治癒希望
的人），死了似乎比活著更好。
這種說法的弱點：
This could be admitted without giving up the
view that life is intrinsically valuable. We could
say that life has value, but that not being
desperately miserable can have even more value.
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反對意見(2)：即使沒有任何知覺意識，活著本身也就有
價值嗎？一個永久昏睡的生命與死亡何異？叔本華說：
「對主體而言，當大腦活動停止，意識消失時便構成了死
亡本身。隨之而來的身體機能之停頓，擴及到有機體的其
它部份，已是死後的事件。因而，就主體面而言，死亡只
有關於意識。」（The World as Will and Representation,
Book 4, Section 54.）
From the subjective point of view, there is nothing to choose
between a life of permanent coma and death.
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3 有意識本身就有價值（Being conscious is intrinsically
valuable）：主張人之生命是神聖的人可以退一步說活著只
具有工具價值，而意識才真正是本身就有價值。
但這裡所謂的意識指的是什麼？它指的就只是意識（mere
consciousness）而已？還是所謂高階的意識（a high level of
consciousness）？如果是前者，則指的是有知覺、有經驗
（例如：當我清醒時對於環境的知覺）。如果是後者，則指
的是更加豐富多樣的、複雜微妙的、帶有各種情感的纖細知
覺。
但是有什麼理由相信意識本身就有價值呢？
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反對意見：動物（至少較高等的動物）似乎也和我們一樣能夠知覺
到環境。難道因此也要承認動物的生命如同人的生命一樣也是神聖
的嗎？若是，則在救一頭牛和救人之間必須取捨時，似乎沒有差別。
注意：雖然人具有高度抽象推理的能力而動物則沒有，但是動物並
不會因為不具有高度抽象推理的能力便沒有意識。況且若堅持一定
要具有高度抽象推理的能力方能具有神聖的生命價值，則嬰兒和智
力退化的人便不具有神聖的生命價值。
其次，若以有無具有某種意識向度或是所具有的意識向度之程度高
低以判定意識高低的話，則人未必會比動物來得優越。例如：狗的
視覺雖然較人為差，但嗅覺卻更勝於人。又如：正常的狗具有視覺，
而盲人則不具有。
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4 做為人本身就有價值（Being human is
intrinsically valuable）：人的生命是神聖的，
就僅僅因為是人的生命。
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反對意見：不能只因為是人的生命，所以便具
有神聖性。這樣的物種主義（speciesism）有
如種族主義（racism）一樣站不住腳。正如不
能只因某個個體是某個種族的一員便享有特殊
待遇一樣，也不能只因某個個體是某個物種的
一員便享有特殊待遇。這樣的區分是武斷的區
分，缺乏理據。
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人的生命並非本來就有價值，所以殺害人
的生命也並非按其本質便是錯的。
 問題：那麼在什麼情況下殺害人的生命才
是錯的呢？或者，怎麼樣的生命才有價值
從而一旦破壞這樣的生命便是錯的呢？
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The doctrine of the sanctity of life is opposed by the doctrine of the
quality of life. The Quality of Life principle states that the values a
life contains are more important than mere living. Some kinds of life
are more worth living than others.
主張生命神聖和主張生活品質的對比：以分數來表示。生命神
聖的觀點認為不存在就是負分，可是即使是最糟的生命也還是
正分。所以對於主張生命神聖觀點的人而言，愈多生命愈好。
至於生活品質的想法則認為，不存在是零分，有些生活是正分，
而有些生活則是負分。
「值得過的生活」（life worth living）的想法：Socrates：「未
經反省的生活不值得過。」
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反對的意見：「判斷值不值得活著」根本
不可行，因為我們無法把活著和死亡兩者
的情況做一番比較，然後根據這比較的結
果來做出決定。Wittgenstein: “Death is not
an event in life: we do not live to experience
death.”
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“But we can have a preference for being alive over being dead, or for being
conscious over being unconscious, without needing to make any ‘comparisons’
between these states. We prefer to be anaesthetized for a painful operation; queuing
for a bus in the rain at midnight, we wish we were at home asleep; but for the most
part we prefer to be awake and experience our life as it goes by. These preferences
do not depend on any view about ‘what it is like’ being unconscious, and our
preference for life does not depend on beliefs about ‘what it is like’ being dead. It
is rather that we treat being dead or unconscious as nothing, and then decide
whether a stretch of experience is better or worse than nothing. And this claim, that
life of a certain sort is better than nothing, is an expression of our preference.”
（”Against the Sanctity of Life Doctrine”, in Life and Death, A Reader in Moral
Problems, p. 74.）
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怎麼樣的生活算是值得過的生活？
這點會有爭議。
Aristotle在Eudemian Ethics 1216 a 11中說：“And so they tell us
that Anaxagoras answered a man who was raising problems of this
sort and asking why one should choose rather to be born than not—
‘for the sake of viewing the heavens and the whole order of the
universe’.”
Nietzsche則說過：「要是沒有音樂，生命會是一場錯誤。」
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儘管怎樣的生活才值得一過是有爭議的，不過
只要有所謂值得過的生活，那麼剝奪人的生命
使之無法繼續過活便是道德上錯的。
注意：這樣的主張並不蘊含如果一個人所過的
生活並不值得過下去，則殺害他便是道德上對
的。它也沒有蘊含我們可以隨意地判斷一個人
所過的生活是否是值得過的生活。
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J. Glover: “If we are to make these judgments, we cannot escape appealing
to our own independent beliefs about what sorts of things enrich or
impoverish people’s lives. But, when this has been said, it should be
emphasized that, when the question arises whether someone’s life is worth
living at all, his own views will normally be evidence of an
overwhelmingly powerful kind. Our assessments of what other people get
out of their lives are so fallible that only a monster of self-confidence
would feel no qualms about correcting the judgment of the person whose
life is in question.”
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想活下去的欲望是生活值不值得過下去的判準嗎？若是，則一個
人的生活值得過當且只當他想活下去。
這個說法的好處在於：一個人的生活是否值得過，是根據他自己
的觀點而作的判斷，而不是根據他對其他人的生活有無貢獻。
但是這種說法的困難在於它會推出以下的結論：如果一個人的生
活值得過下去，則他就不能想要結束它；而如果他的生活不值得
過下去，則他也不能想要延長它。然而，這兩個結論都有問題。
因為即使一個人的生活值得過下去，他在心情不好時仍然會會自
殺的念頭興起。而一個相信自己死後會下地獄的人，不論他的生
活再怎麼不值得過下去，他也想要延長它。因此，一個人自己想
活或想死並無法指出他的生活是否值得過下去。
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問題：一旦放棄人之生命神聖的看法，則人作為人便
不再具有絕對的價值。如此一來，人的價值究竟取決
於什麼呢？人會不會淪為本身並不具有價值，而只有
在製造出效益時才有價值呢？亦即人的價值會不會淪
為只不過是工具性的價值而已呢？如果人的價值淪為
只不過是工具性的價值，那麼這是否意謂著對於人的
看重（尊重）便不再是毫無條件的，而是視他有無價
值以及價值多寡而定？
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Kant reinterpreted the idea of the sanctity of human life in such a
way as to make it dependent on a determinate quality: rationality. It
is our ability to engage in rational deliberation that gives us worth.
Kant: “Now I say, man, and in general every rational being exists as
an end in himself and not merely as a means to be arbitrarily used
by this or that will….Act so that you treat humanity….always as an
end and never as a means only. Human beings qua rational have an
inherent dignity and so ought to treat each other as ends and never
merely as means.”
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Kant’s insight that the locus of human value is rational selfconsciousness is persuasive because it enables us to have plans
and projects, to project our wishes into the future, to discipline
ourselves so that we sacrifice immediate pleasure for future
good, and to develop language and communicate with one
another. The combination of self-consciousness and rationality
makes us intrinsically valuable and grants us a right to live. On
a Kantian view, the defective neonate described above by
Anthony Shaw would be allowed to die, but a normal fetus
would not be allowed to be aborted, since it would likely
develop into a rational child.
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問題：一旦放棄生命神聖的看法，則生命價值和生存權利便不再是最
高考量。而人們針對效益方面的考量一旦高於生存權利，便離納粹集
中營的作法不遠了，也難保諸如底下的事件不會再發生：
二次大戰期間，德國一家化學公司I. G. Farben寫給奧茲比茨集中營總
司令的信件片斷：“In contemplation of experiments with a new
soporific drug, we would appreciate your procuring for us a number of
women….We received your answer but consider the price of 200 marks a
woman excessive. We propose to pay not more than 170 marks a head. If
agreeable, we will take possession of the women. We need approximately
150.”
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After the women were received by I.G. Farben and the experiments
accomplished, a second letter was sent by the chemical company:
“Received the order of 150 women. Despite their emaciated
condition, they were found satisfactory….The tests were made. All
subjects died. We shall contact you shortly on the subject of a new
load.”
The letters show to what depths of evil people can descend. Yet you
do not have to believe in the Sanctity of Life principle, which is an
extreme notion, to hold that the Nazi practices of sacrificing humans
were reprehensible.
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If what is said about the Quality of Life Principle is accurate, it is sufficient to prohibit
such atrocious conduct. The Quality of Life principle does not deny that life is important,
simply that it is sufficient in itself to procure any positive value. Indeed, the Quality of
Life principle recognizes that life is a necessary condition for other values and, as such, it
recognizes a strong presumption in favor of preserving human life. Biologic life is not an
absolute value, but without it none of the other good things are possible. To prevent a
callous disregard of human life, as reflected in the letters of I.G. Farben, this presumption
must be emphasized and locutions such as “the sanctity of life,” properly understood, may
play a valuable role. If this is correct, then the idea that life is sacred or valuable is, at best,
of symbolic value, a shorthand for saying that the god things in life (rational selfconsciousness, happiness, knowledge, love, justice, and so forth) should be promoted.
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作者／來源
本作品轉載自Microsoft Office 2003多媒體藝廊，依據Microsoft服務合約及著作權法第46、52、65
條合理使用
1-25
2
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The question
is, …against the
use of the
automobile!
This could
be …permanent
coma and death
The doctrine of
the …worth
living than others
Louis P. Pojman，Life and death: grappling with the moral dilemmas of our time, Philosophy Series，
Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1992，p.20。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
Robert J. Stainton, Samantha Brennan，Philosophy and Death: Introductory Readings，Broadview
Press, 2009，p.350。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
Louis P. Pojman，Life and death: grappling with the moral dilemmas of our time, Philosophy Series，
Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1992，p.21。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
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11
Death is not an
event … live to
experience death
L.Wittgenstein, 《Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus,》 6.4311
依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
12
“But we can
have …expressio
n of our
preference.”
Against the Sanctity of Life Doctrine, in Life and Death, A Reader in Moral Problems, p.74。
依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
13
And so they tell
us that …order
of the universe’
Aristotle，《Eudemian Ethics》 1216 a 11
作者／來源
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS，作者：不詳，本作品轉載自：
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAristotle_Altemps_Inv8575.jpg，瀏覽日期：2012/12/31。
依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
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13
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「要是沒有音樂，
生命會是一場錯
誤。」
Nietzsche，《Götzen-Dämmerung》（Twilight of The Idols、偶像的黃昏） October 15, 1844 –
August 25, 1900，由王榮麟老師節譯。
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15
If we are to
make … whose life
is in question.
Louis P. Pojman，Life and death: a reader in moral problems, Philosophy Series，Wadsworth Pub. Co.,
1999，p.75。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
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Kant reinterpreted
the idea of...never
merely as means.
Louis P. Pojman，Life and death: grappling with the moral dilemmas of our time, Philosophy Series，
Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1992，p.22。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
19
Kant’s insight that
the locus of …
likely develop into
a rational child
Louis P. Pojman，Life and death: grappling with the moral dilemmas of our time, Philosophy Series，
Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1992，p.23。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
20
In contemplation of
experiments….
approximately 150
Robert J. Stainton, Samantha Brennan，Philosophy and Death: Introductory Readings，Broadview Press,
2009，p.359，。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
21
After the women
were re…humans
were reprehensible.
Louis P. Pojman，Life and death: grappling with the moral dilemmas of our time, Philosophy Series，
Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1992，p.25。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
22
If what is said about
the … and so forth)
should be promoted.
Louis P. Pojman，Life and death: grappling with the moral dilemmas of our time, Philosophy Series，
Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1992，p.26。依據著作權法第46、52、65條合理使用。
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