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公正课\N迈克尔·桑德尔教授主讲第三讲 《给生命标价》
上节课 我们讨论了\Last time, we argued about
女王诉达德利和斯蒂芬斯案\the case of Queen versus Dudley and Stevens,
即救生艇的案例\the lifeboat case,
海上食人惨案\the case of cannibalism at sea.
带着对救生艇上发生事件的讨论\And with the arguments about the lifeboat in mind,
即对达德利和斯蒂芬斯行为赞同与否的讨论\the arguments for and against what Dudley and Stephens did in mind,
让我们再回归\let's turn back to the philosophy,
边沁 1748年生于英格兰\Bentham was born in England in 1748.
12岁 进入牛津大学\At the age of 12, he went to Oxford.
15岁 入读法学院\At 15, he went to law school.
19岁取得律师资格\He was admitted to the Bar at age 19
但从没当过律师\but he never practiced law.
而是将毕生精力献给了法学和道德哲学\Instead, he devoted his life to jurisprudence and moral philosophy.
上节课 我们开始\Last time, we began to
思考边沁的功利主义\consider Bentham's version of utilitarianism.
他的主要观点简单明确 就是\The main idea is simply stated and it's this:
道德的最高准则\The highest principle of morality,
无论是个人道德还是政治道德福特汽车\whether personal or political morality,
都是最大化公共福利 或曰集体幸福感\is to maximize the general welfare, or the collective happiness,
或者说权衡苦乐 将幸福最大化\or the overall balance of pleasure over pain;
一句话 功利最大化\in a phrase, maximize utility.
边沁是这样论证这一原则的\Bentham arrives at this principle by the following line of reasoning:
我们都受到痛苦和快乐的支配\We're all governed by pain and pleasure,
苦乐是我们至高无上的主宰\they are our sovereign masters,
因此任何道德体系都应考虑到它们\and so any moral system has to take account of them.
最好怎样考虑呢 通过最大化\How best to take account? By maximizing.
从而引出"为最多的人谋求最大的幸福"这一原则\And this leads to the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number.
我们到底该最大化什么呢\What exactly should we maximize?
边沁说 应最大化幸福\Bentham tells us happiness,
或更精确来说 最大化功利\or more precisely, utility
功利最大化原则 不只针对个人\maximizing utility as a principle not only for individuals
也适用于共同体及立法者\but also for communities and for legislators.
边沁问 到底什么是共同体\"What, after all, is a community?" Bentham asks.
共同体 是其成员的集合\It's the sum of the individuals who comprise it.
所以在制定最优政策时\And that's why in deciding the best policy,
制定法律时 决定何谓公正时\in deciding what the law should be, in deciding what's jus
t,
公民和立法者应扪心自问这个问题\citizens and legislators should ask themselves the question
正确的选择应该是\the right thing to do is the one
减去苦难后 幸福最大化的那一个\that maximizes the balance of happiness over suffering.
这就是所谓功利最大化\That's what it means to maximize utility.
今天 我想听听\Now, today, I want to see
你们是否赞同这点\whether you agree or disagree with it,
功利主义的逻辑\and it often goes, this utilitarian logic,
通常被称作成本效益分析\under the name of cost-benefit analysis,
其做法包括 作出估价\And what it involves is placing a value,
通常是估计出金额 来代表功利\usually a dollar value, to stand for utility
即分别列出成本 和各项收益的金额\on the costs and the benefits of various proposals.
最近 捷克共和国\Recently, in the Czech Republic,
有一个增加香烟消费税的提案\there was a proposal to increase the excise tax on smoking.
烟草公司 菲利普·莫里斯公司\Philip Morris, the tobacco company,
在捷克共和国的生意做得很大\does huge business in the Czech Republic.
他们资助了一项研究\They commissioned a study,
分析结果显示\and what their cost-benefit analysis found was
让捷克人民吸烟 能让政府获利\the government gains by having Czech citizens smoke.
那政府如何获利呢\Now, how do they gain?
它确实会对捷克政府的\It's true that there are negative effects
公共财政产生负效应\to the public finance of the Czech government
因为吸烟造成的疾病\because there are increased health care costs
会增加医疗支出\for people who develop smoking-related diseases.
但另一方面 也有正效应\On the other hand, there were positive effects
它们被记在账目的另一侧\and those were added up on the other side of the ledger.
正效应主要来自\The positive effects included, for the most part,
销售香烟为政府带来的\various tax revenues that the government derives
各项税收\from the sale of cigarette products,
但还包括\but it also included
人们早逝为政府节省的医疗支出\health care savings to the government when people die early,
免去的养老金\pension savings...
政府不需要继续支付养老金\you don't have to pay pensions for as long
还省去了老年人的住房开支\and also, savings in housing costs for the elderly.
当把总成本 和各项收益分别加总\And when all of the costs and benefits were added up,
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