-
12456
单元
Love and logic: The story of fallacy
爱情与逻辑:谬误的故事
I had my first date with Polly after I
made the trade with my roommate Rob. That year
every
guy on campus had a leather
jacket, and Rob couldn't stand the idea of being
the only football
player who didn't, so
he made a pact that he'd give me his girl in
exchange for my jacket. He
wasn't the
brightest guy. Polly wasn't too shrewd, either.
p>
在我和室友罗伯的交易成功之后,我和波莉有了第一次约会。那一年校园里每个人都有件皮夹
克,而罗伯
是校足球队员中唯一一个没有皮夹克的,他一想到这个就受不了,于是他和我
达成了一项协议,用他的女
友换取我的夹克。他可不那么聪明,而他的女友波莉也不太精
明。
But she was
pretty,
well-off
, didn't
dye
her hair strange colors
or wear too much
makeup
.
She had the right background to be the
girlfriend of a dogged, brilliant lawyer. If I
could show
the
elite
law firms I applied to
that I had a
radiant
, well-
spoken
counterpart
by my
side, I
just might edge past the
competition.
但她漂亮而且富有,也没有把头发染成奇怪的颜色或是化很
浓的妆。她拥有合适的家庭背景,足以胜任一
名坚忍而睿智的律师的女友。如果我能够让
我所申请的顶尖律师事务所看到我身边伴随着一位光彩照人、
谈吐优雅的另一半,我就很
有可能在竞聘中以微弱优势获胜。
she
was
already.
I
could
dispense
her
enough
pearls
of
wisdom
to
make
her
< br>“
光彩照人
”
,她已经是了。而
我也能施予她足够多的
“
智慧之珠
”<
/p>
,让她变得
“
谈吐优雅
< br>”
。
After a
banner
day out, I drove until we were
situated
under a big old oak
tree on a hill off
the
expressway
. What I
had in mind was a little eccentric. I
thought the
venue
with a
perfect view of the
luminous
city would lighten
the mood. We stayed in the car, and I turned
down the
stereo
and took my foot off the brake
pedal
.
she asked.
在一起外出度过了美好的一天之后,我驱车来到了高速公路旁一座小山上一棵古老的大橡树下。我的想法
有些怪异。而这个地方能够俯瞰灯火灿烂的城区,我觉得它会使人的心情变轻松。我们呆在车子
里,我调
低了音响并把脚从刹车上挪开。
“
我们要谈些什么?
”
她问道。
“
逻辑学。
”
“
好酷啊,
”
她一边
嚼着口香糖一边说。
and some of them are well
known. First let's look at the fallacy Dicto Simpl
iciter.
“
逻辑学的原理,
”<
/p>
我说道,
“
即清晰思考的主要原则。逻辑
上出现的问题会歪曲事实,其中有些还很普遍。
我们先来看看一种叫做
< br>?
绝对判断
?
的逻辑谬误。
p>
”
“
好啊,<
/p>
”
她表示同意。
Simpliciter
means
an
unqualified
generalization.
For
example:
Exercise
is
good.
Therefore, everybody should exercise.
p>
“?
绝对判断
?
是
指在证据不足的情况下所作出的推断。比方说:运动是有益的,所以每个人都应该运动。
She nodded in agreement.
她点头表示赞同。
I could see she was stumped.
have, say, heart disease or extreme
obesity, exercise is bad, not good. Therefore, you
must
say exercise is good for most peop
le.
我看得出她没弄明白。
“
波莉,
”
我解释说,
“
这个推断太过简单化了。如果你有心脏病或者超级肥胖症什么
的,运动就变得有害而不
是有益。所以你应该说,运动对大多数人来说是有益的。
”
is
Hasty
Generalization.
Self-explanatory,
right?
Listen
carefully:
You
can't
speak
French. Rob can't speak French. Looks
like nobody at this school can speak French.
“
接下来是
?
草率结论
p>
?
。这似乎不言自明,对吧?仔细听好了:你不会说法语,罗伯也不
会说法语,那么这
所学校里好像是没有人会说法语。
”
“
是吗?
”
波莉吃惊地说。
“<
/p>
没有人吗?
”
support such a conclusion.
p>
“
这也是一种逻辑谬误,
”
我说,
“
这一结论太草率了,因为能够支持这一结论的
例证太少了。
”
She seemed to have a good time. I could
safely say my plan was underway. I took her home
and set a date for another
conversation.
她似乎学得很开心,而我也可以放心地说我的计划正在稳
步推进中。我把她送回家,并且定下了下一次约
会交谈的日子。
Seated
under
the
oak
the
next
evening
I
said,
first
fallacy
tonight
is
called
Ad
Misericordiam.
第二天晚上,坐在那棵橡树下,我说:<
/p>
“
今天晚上我们要谈的第一个逻辑谬误叫
?
文不对题
?
。
”
She nodded
with delight.
她高兴地点了点头。
closely,
I
said.
man
applies
for
a
job.
When
the
boss
asks
him
what
his
qualifications are, he says he has six
children to feed.
“
听好了,
”
我说,
“
有个人去申请工
作,当老板问他有什么应聘资格时,他说他有六个孩子要抚养。
”
“
哇,
这太可怕了,太可怕了,
”
她哽咽着轻声说到。
it?s
awful,
I
agreed,
it's
no
argument.
The
man
never
answered
the
boss's
question. Instead he appealed to the
boss's sympathy - Ad Misericordiam.
“
对,是挺可怕的,
”
我表示赞同地说,
“
但这不是理由。这个人根本没有回答老板的问题,而只是在博取老<
/p>
板的同情,这就是
?
文不对题
?
。
”
She blinked, still trying
hard to keep back her
tears.
她眨着眼睛,仍在竭力地忍住眼泪。
Next,
I
said
carefully,
will
discuss
False
Analogy.
An
example,
students
should
be
allowed
to look at their textbooks during exams, because
surgeons have X-rays to guide
them
during surgery.
“
接下来
< br>”
,我小心地说,
“
我们来讨论
?
错误类比
?
。举个例子:学生考试时应该允许看课本,因为外科医生
在做手术时可以看
X
光片。
”
“
我喜欢这个主意,
< br>”
她说。
a test to see how much they
have learned, but students are. The situations are
altogether
different. You can't make an
analogy between them.
“
波莉,
”
我抱怨道,
“
别打
岔,这一推论是错误的。医生们不是在参加考试以检查他们学到了多少,而学生
却是。他
们的情况完全不同,你不能将他们作类比。
”
“
我仍然认为这是一个好主意,
”
波莉说。
p>
With
five
nights
of
diligent
work,
I
actually
made
a
logician
out
of
Polly.
She
was
an
analytical
thinker at last. The time had come for the
conversion
of our
relationship from
academic to romantic.
经过五个夜晚的辛勤努力,我竟然真的将波莉打造成了一个逻辑行家,她总算能够分析思
考了。现在应该
是时候让我们的关系从学术向浪漫发展了。
“
波莉,<
/p>
”
当我们又一次坐在那棵橡树下的时候我对她说,
“
今晚我们不讨论逻辑谬误了。
”
“
哦
?
”
她回答说,有一点失望。
Favoring her with a grin, I
said,
pretty well. We make a pretty
good couple.
我赞许地对她笑了笑,
说:
“
我们在一起已经度过了五个晚上,
相互之间挺
合得来,
我们是蛮相配的一对。
”
premature, don't
you think?
“
草率结论,
”
波莉伶俐地说,
“
或者是按一般人的说
法,这个结论有些不成熟,你不这样认为吗?
”
'I laughed with amusement.
She'd learned her lessons well, far surpassing my
expectations.
you don't have
to eat a whole cake to know it's good.
我
被逗得笑了起来,她功课还真学得不错,大大超过了我的预期。
“
亲爱的,
”
我开口说,同时宽容地拍了
拍她的手,
“
五次约会已经够多了,毕竟你不需要吃掉整个蛋
糕才知道它是不是好吃。
”
a cake. You're a boy.
“
错误类比,
”
波莉立即回应
。
“
你的前提是约会就如同吃东西。可你不是蛋糕,你是个男孩
。
”
I
laughed with somewhat less amusement, hiding my
dread that she'd learned her lessons
too
well.A
few
more
false
steps
would
be
my
doom.
I
decided
to
change
tactics
and
try
flattery
instead.
我又笑了笑,不过不觉得那么有趣了,同时还不能表露出我害怕她学
得太好了。再错几步我可就无法挽回
了。我决定改变策略,转而尝试奉承她的办法。
p>
“
波莉,我爱你。请答应做我的女朋友,没有你我什么也不是。
”
“
< br>文不对题,
”
她说。
certainly
can
discern
a
fallacy
when
you
see
it,
I
said,
my
hopes
starting
to
crumble.
you learn in school
don't have anything to do with real life.
“
你还真是能在遇到逻辑谬误时一一辨别它们了,
”
我说,心里的希望已经开始动摇。
“
不过不要
对它们太死
板,我是说这都是些学术的东西。你知道,学校里学的东西和实际生活根本没
有什么联系。
”
< br>
“
绝对判断,
”
她说道,
“
而且,你自己教的东西应该自己身体力行。
”
I
leaped to my feet, my temper flaring up.
我一下跳了起来,怒火中烧,
“
你到底愿不愿意做我的女朋
友?
”
<
/p>
“
我不愿意,
”
她答道。
“
为什么?
”
我追问道
.
“
我对另一位求爱者更感兴趣
――
罗伯和我重归于好了。
p>
”
With
great effort, I said calmly,
ingenious
student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an
assured at Rob,a
muscular idiot,a guy
who
?
ll never where his next
meal is coming you give me one
good
reason why you should be with
him?
”
我极力地保持着平静,说
道:
“
你怎么会甩了我而选择罗伯?看看我,一个聪明过人的学
生,一个不同凡响
的学者,一个前途无量的人。再看看罗伯,一个肌肉发达的蠢材,一个
有了上顿没下顿的家伙。你是否能
给我一个充足的理由,为什么要选择跟他?
”
”
Wow,
what
presumption!
I
?
ll
put
it
in
a
way
someone
as
brilliant
as
you
can
understan
d,
”
retorted Polly,her voice
dripping with sarcasm.
””
Full
disclosure
-I like Rob in
leather.I told him to say yes to you so
he should have your jacket!
”
“
p>
喔,这是什么假设啊!为了让像你这样聪明的人能够明白,我这么说吧,
”
波莉反驳道,声音里充满了讽
刺,
“
事情的真相是
——
我喜欢罗伯穿皮
衣。是我让他同意你们的协议的,这样他就能拥有你的夹克!
”
Unit 2
The
confusing pursuit of beauty
令人困惑的对美的追求
If you're a man, at some point a woman
will ask you how she looks.
如果你是一位男士,肯定
在某个时候会有女士问你她看起来怎么样。
You must be careful how you answer this
question. The best technique is to form an honest
yet sensitive response, then promptly
excuse yourself for some kind of emergency. Trust
me,
this is the easiest way out. No
amount of rehearsal will help you come up with the
right
answer.
对于如何应对这个问题,你一定
得小心。最好的对策就是给一个诚实但又谨慎的回答,然后借口有急事马
上脱身。相信我
,这是最简单的方法。对于她的这一问题,无论你事先练习多少次,都不会找到正确答案。
The problem is that men
do not think of their looks in the same way women
do. Most men
form an opinion of
themselves in seventh grade and stick to it for
the rest of their lives. Some
men think
they're irresistibly desirable, and they refuse to
change this opinion even when
they grow
bald and their faces visibly wrinkle as they age.
其原因是,男性和女性对外表的看法截然不同。大多数男性对自己外表的评价在七年级时
就形成了,而且
终生不变。有些男性认为自己有不可抗拒的魅力,即使随着年龄的增长,
他们头发掉光了,脸上布满皱纹,
他们仍然拒绝改变这种看法。
Most
men,
I
believe,
are
not
arrogant
about
their
looks.
If
the
transient
thought
passes
through their minds
at all, they like to think of themselves as
average-looking. Being average
doesn't
bother them; average is fine. They don't affix
much value to their looks, or think of
them in terms of aesthetics. Their
primary form of beauty care is to shave
themselves, which
is
essentially
the
same
care
they
give
to
their
lawns.
If,
at
the
end
of
his
four-minute
allotment of time for grooming, a man
has managed to wipe most of the shaving cream out
of the strands of his hair and isn't
bleeding too badly, he feels he's done all he can.
我相信,大多数男性都不会对自己的相貌感到过分自傲。如果他们偶尔想到自己外表的话
,他们愿意认为
自己样貌中等。长相普通不会使他们有任何烦恼,因为普通就已经是很好
了。男性不是特别注重自己的外
貌,也不会从美学的角度去审视自己。他们的打扮方式主
要就是刮刮胡子,就像打理自家草坪一样。对于
一位男性来说,如果能花四分钟刮刮胡子
,结束之后再把粘到头发上的剃须膏擦净,又没有出血太厉害,
他就觉得自己已经尽心尽
力了。
Women do not
look at themselves this way. If I had to guess
what most women think about
their
appearance, it would be:
her perception
of herself is eclipsed by the beauty industry. She
has trouble thinking I'm
beautiful, She
magnifies the smallest imperfections in her body
and imagines them as glaring
flaws the
whole world will notice and ridicule.
女
性可不是这样看待自己的。如果非要我猜测大多数女性对自己的相貌是如何评价的话,那肯定是:
“
还不
够好。
”
一位女士,无论她看起来多么吸引人,她对自己的看法总是由于受美容业的影响而蒙着一层阴影。
p>
要她认为
“
我很漂亮
”
是一件难事。
她把身体上的极小的不完美之处加以放大,<
/p>
并且幻想这些缺点十分明显,
以至于全世界的人都会注意到并且嘲
笑她。
Why do women
consider their looks so deficient? This chronic
insecurity isn't inborn, but
created
through
the
interaction
of
many
complex
psychological
and
societal
factors,
beginning
with
the
dolls
we
give
them
as
children.
Girls
grow
up
playing
with
dolls
proportioned so that, if they were
human, they would be seven feet tall and weigh 61
pounds,
with tiny thighs and a large
upper body. This is an absurd standard to live up
to, especially
when you consider the
size of the doll's waist, a relative measurement
physically impossible
for a living
human to achieve. Contrast this absurd standard
with that presented to little boys
with
their
figures
Most
of
the
toys
that
young
boys
have
played
with
were
weird-looking, like the
one called Buzz-Off that was part human, part
flying insect. This guy
was not a
looker, but he was still extremely self-confident.
You could not imagine him saying
to the
others,
为什么女性会把自己的外貌想得这么差呢?这种长期的不安全感并不是
与生倶来的,而是由许多复杂的心
理和社会因素的相互作用造成的,从小时候大人们给她
们买洋娃娃时就开始了。女孩成长过程中摆弄的洋
娃娃,如果按照身材比例还原为真人大
小的话,就会是
7
英尺高,
61
英磅重,大腿纤细,上
身丰满。要
达到这样的标准是很荒唐的,尤其是当我们想想那种洋娃娃的腰围尺寸,就知
道其相对尺寸对任何一个活
人来说都是不可企及的。与女孩玩具的这种荒唐标准相比,小
男孩们得到的
“
动作玩偶
”
却是完全不同的模
样。大多数男孩的玩具都样貌古怪,例如那个叫作
“
蜜蜂侠
”
的玩偶,
一半像人,一半像会飞的昆虫。这个
玩偶尽管样子不好看,但仍然非常自信。你肯定无法
想象他会问别人说:
“
这个配饰的紫罗兰色和这件外套
配不配呢?
”
But women grow up thinking they need to
look like Barbie dolls or girls on magazine
covers,
which for most women is
impossible. Nonetheless, the multibillion-dollar
beauty industry,
complete with its own
aisle in the grocery store, is devoted to constant
warfare on female
self-esteem,
convincing
women
that
they
must
buy
all
the
newest
moisturizing
creams,
bronzing powders and
appliances that promise to
saw an Oprah
Show in which supermodel Cindy Crawford dispensed
makeup tips to the studio
audience.
Cindy
had
all
these
middle-aged
women
apply
clay
masks
and
other
the guidelines, like
applying products via the tips of their fingers to
protect elasticity. All the
women
dutifully did this, even though it was obvious to
any rational observer that, no matter
how carefully they applied these
products, they would never have Cindy Crawford's
face or
complexion.
然而,女性在成长
过程中却认为自己应该长得像芭比娃娃或杂志的封面女郎那样,这对大多数女性来说是
不
可能的。尽管如此,产值达几十亿美元的美容业,在超市化妆品销售专区的配合下,总是在不停地攻击
着女性的自尊,
使其相信自己只有购买最新的保湿面霜、
< br>古铜散粉,
以及各种美容器具,
才能
“
激发和恢复
”
肌肤活力。我曾经
看过一期《奥普拉脱口秀》,在节目中,超级名模辛迪
?
克劳馥
和演播室里的观众分享了
自己的化妆秘诀。辛迪要求这些中年妇女在脸上敷上黏土面膜和
其他去皱产品;她还强调一定要遵守这些
方法,例如:往脸上涂抹这些产品时,要用指尖
,这样可以保护皮肤的弹性。所有这些妇女都非常忠实地
按照辛迪说的做了。可是对任何
一个理智的旁观者来说,无论她们如何认真地使用这些产品,她们都不可
能拥有辛迪那样
的面容或肤色。
I'm not
saying that men are superior. I'm just saying that
you're not going to get a group of
middle-aged men to plaster cosmetics to
themselves under the instruction of Brad Pitt in
hopes of looking more like him. Men
don't face the same societal focus purely on
physical
beauty,
and
they're
encouraged
to
reach
out
to
other
characteristics
to
promote
their
self-esteem. They might say to Brad:
pretty boy?
我并不是说男性优于女性。
我的意思是你不可能让一群中年男子在布拉德
?
皮
特的指导下把化妆品敷到自己
脸上,期望自己能看起来更像布拉德。与女性不同,男性的
外貌美不是社会所关注的唯一焦点。人们会鼓
励男性借助其他特征来提升自尊。
他们也许会对布拉德说:
“
是吗?那么帅哥,<
/p>
你对草坪维护又知道多少?
”
Of
course
women
argue
that
they
become
obsessed
with
appearance
as
a
reaction
to
pressure from men. The truth is that
most men think beauty is more than just lipstick
and
perfume and take no notice of these
extra details. I have never once, in more than 40
years
of listening to men talk about
women, heard a man say,
most
men,
little
things
like
fingernails
are
all
homogeneous
anyway,
and
one
woman's
flawless pink polish
is exactly as invisible as another's bare nails. <
/p>
当然,女性会争辩说她们对外表的热衷追求是出于对来自男性的压力的一种反应。而事实是
,大多数男性
认为美丽不仅仅来自于口红和香水,而且他们也不会去注意这些额外的细节
。四十多年来,我在听男性谈
论女性时,从来没有一次听到过哪位男性这样说:
“
她的指甲真漂亮啊!
”
对大多数男性来说,像指甲这样
小的东西看起来都一样,无论一个女士的指甲是用粉色
指甲油涂得完美无瑕,还是光光的毫无修饰,男性
都一概视而不见。
By
participating
in
this
system
of
extreme
conformity,
women
are
actually
opening
themselves up to the scrutiny of other
women, the only ones qualified to judge their
efforts.
What is the real benefit of
working this hard to appease men who don't notice
when it only
exposes women to
prosecution from other women?
女性参与这种极端的
从众行为,实际上是把自己置于其他女性的审视之下,因为只有那些女性才有资格评
价她
们所付出的努力。但是,如此费力地去取悦男性而他们却根本不会注意,同时又只是招致其他女性的
指责,这样做究竟有什么好处呢?
Anyway, to get back to my original
point: If you're a man, and a woman asks you how
she
looks, you can't say she looks bad
without receiving immediate and well-deserved
outrage.
But you also can't shower her
with empty compliments about how her shoes
complement her
dress nicely because
she'll know you're lying. She has spent countless
hours worrying about
the differences
between her looks and Cindy Crawford's. Also,she
suspects that you're not
qualified to
voice a subjective opinion on anybody's
appearance. This may be because you
have shaving cream in your hair and
inside the folds of your ears.
不管怎样,言归正
传:如果你是一位男性,当有女士问你她看起来怎么样时,你千万不能说她看起来很糟
糕
,那样肯定会使她立刻迁怒于你,这也是你咎由自取。但是,你也不能慷慨地大放空洞之词,赞美她的
鞋子和裙子是多么相配,因为她知道你是在说谎。她已经花费了无数个小时发愁自己的容貌不能和辛 迪
?
克劳馥的一样。而且,也许因为你的头发和耳廓上粘着剃须
膏,她会怀疑你根本没有资格对任何人的外表
给出主观评价。
Unit 4
Achieving
sustainable environmentalism
实现可持续性发展的环保主义
Environmental sensitivity is now as
required an attitude in polite society as is, say,
belief in
democracy
or
disapproval
of
plastic
surgery.
But
now
that
everyone
from
Ted
Turner
to
George
H. W. Bush has claimed love for Mother Earth, how
are we to choose among the
dozens
of
conflicting
proposals,
regulations
and
laws
advanced
by
congressmen
and
constituents
alike
in
the
name
of
the
environment?
Clearly,
not
everything
with
an
environmental claim is worth doing. How
do we segregate the best options and consolidate
our varying interests into a single,
sound policy?
在上流社会,对环境的敏感就如同信仰民主、反对整容一
样,是一种不可或缺的态度。然而,既然从泰德
?
特纳到乔治<
/p>
?W.H.
布什,每个人都声称自己热爱地球母亲,那么,在由议
员、选民之类的人以环境名义而
提出的众多的相互矛盾的提案、规章和法规中,我们又该
如何做出选择呢?显而易见,并不是每一项冠以
环境保护名义的事情都值得去做。我们怎
样才能分离出最佳选择,并且把我们各自不同的兴趣统一在同一
个合理的政策当中呢?<
/p>
There is a
simple way. First, differentiate between
environmental luxuries and environmental
necessities. Luxuries are those things
that would be nice to have if costless.
Necessities are
those
things
we
must
have
regardless.
Call
this
distinction
the
definitive
rule
of
sane
environmentalism, which stipulates that
combating ecological change that directly
threatens
the health and safety of
people is an environmental necessity. All else is
luxury.
有一种简便的方法。首先要区分什么是环境奢侈品,什么是环境必需品
。奢侈品是指那些无需人类付出代
价就能拥有的给人美好感受的东西。必需品则是指那些
无论付出什么代价,都一定要去拥有的东西。这一
区分原则可以被称为理性环保主义的至
高原则。它规定,对那些直接威胁人类健康与安全的生态变化采取
应对措施是环境保护的
必需品,而其他则都属于奢侈品。
For
example,
preserving
the
atmosphere
-
stopping
ozone
depletion
and
the
greenhouse
effect - is an
environmental necessity. Recently, scientists
reported that ozone damage is far
worse
than previously thought. Ozone depletion has a
correlation not only with skin cancer
and eye problems, it also destroys the
ocean's ecology, the beginning of the food chain
atop
which we humans sit.
例如
,保护大气层
——
阻止臭氧损耗及控制温室效应
——
是环境保护的必需品。近来,科学家报告说臭氧
层
遭受破坏的程度远比我们先前认为的要严重得多。臭氧损耗不仅与皮肤癌及眼疾有关,而且它还会破坏
海洋生态。而海洋生态是食物链的起点,人类则位于该食物链的顶端。
The possible thermal
consequences of the greenhouse effect are far
deadlier: melting ice
caps, flooded
coastlines, disrupted climate, dry plains and,
ultimately, empty breadbaskets.
The
American Midwest feeds people at all corners of
the atlas. With the planetary climate
changes, are we prepared to see Iowa
take on New Mexico's desert climate, or Siberia
take on
Iowa's moderate climate?
温室效应所可能引发的热效应是非常具有毁灭性的:冰川融化、海岸线被淹没、气候遭受破坏、平原干
涸,
最终食物消失殆尽。美国中西部地区的粮食供养着全世界。随着全球气候的变化,我
们难道准备看到衣阿
华州变成新墨西哥州的沙漠气候,而西伯利亚变成衣阿华州的温和气
候吗?
Ozone
depletion
and
the
greenhouse
effect
are
human
disasters,
and
they
are
urgent
because
they
directly
threaten
humanity
and
are
not
easily
reversible.
A
sane
environmentalism, the
only kind of environmentalism that will strike a
chord with the general
public,
begins
by
openly
declaring
that
nature
is
here
to
serve
human
beings.
A
sane
environmentalism is entirely a human
focused regime: It calls upon humanity to preserve
nature, but merely within the
parameters of self-survival.
臭氧损耗和温室效应是
人类的灾难,而且是需要紧急处理的灾难,因为它们直接威胁到人类,且后果很难
扭转。
理性环保主义
——
唯一能够引起公众共鸣的环保主张
——
首先公开声明,自然是服务于人类的。理
性环
保主义是一种完全以人类为中心的思想。它号召人类保护自然,但是是在人类自我生存得到保证的前
提之下。
Of
course, this human focus runs against the grain of
a contemporary environmentalism that
indulges in overt earth worship. Some
people even allege that the earth is a living
organism.
This
kind
of
environmentalism
likes
to
consider
itself
spiritual.
It
is
nothing
more
than
sentimental. It takes, for example, a
highly selective view of the kindness of nature,
one that
is incompatible with the
reality of natural disasters. My nature worship
stops with the twister
that came
through Kansas or the dreadful rains in Bangladesh
that eradicated whole villages
and left
millions homeless.
当然,
这种以人类为
中心的主张与当下盛行的环保主义是格格不入的,
后者已经沉溺于对地球的公然崇拜。<
/p>
有的人甚至声称地球是一个活的生物体。这种环保主义喜欢把自己看作是神圣的,其实它只
是感情用事而
已。比如,在自然是否友善的问题上,当下的环保主义采取了高度选择性的
片面的观点,而这种观点与自
然造成的灾难这一现实是不相协调的。当龙卷风肆虐堪萨斯
州,当瓢泼大雨袭击孟加拉国,毁灭了整座整
座的村庄,使几百万人失去家园的时候,我
对自然的崇拜便停止了。
A
non-sentimental environmentalism is one founded on
Protagoras's idea that
measure
of
all
things.
In
establishing
the
sovereignty
of
man,
such
a
principle
helps
us
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