ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Damon Horowitz - Philosopher, entrepreneur
Damon Horowitz explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities.

Why you should listen

Damon Horowitz is a philosophy professor and serial entrepreneur. He recently joined Google as In-House Philosopher / Director of Engineering, heading development of several initiatives involving social and search. He came to Google from Aardvark, the social search engine, where he was co-founder and CTO, overseeing product development and research strategy. Prior to Aardvark, Horowitz built several companies around applications of intelligent language processing. He co-founded Perspecta (acquired by Excite), was lead architect for Novation Biosciences (acquired by Agilent), and co-founded NewsDB (now Daylife).

Horowitz teaches courses in philosophy, cognitive science, and computer science at several institutions, including Stanford, NYU, University of Pennsylvania and San Quentin State Prison.

Get more information on the Prison University Project >>

More profile about the speaker
Damon Horowitz | Speaker | TED.com
TED2011

Damon Horowitz: Philosophy in prison

達蒙·霍洛維茨:監獄中的哲學

Filmed:
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達蒙·霍洛維茨在“監獄大學計劃”中教授哲學,給圣昆廷州立監獄的監友帶來大學水平唧課程。喺依個簡短而強大唧演講中,佢講述咗一個關於對與錯唧故仔,同埋依個話題有幾快就可以触動到人。
- Philosopher, entrepreneur
Damon Horowitz explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
Meet滿足 Tony托尼. He's my student學生.
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依位喺東尼,佢喺我唧學生。
00:17
He's about my age年齡,
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佢同我差唔多大,
00:19
and he's in San Quentin昆汀 State狀態 Prison監獄.
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喺圣昆廷州立監獄唧監友。
00:22
When Tony托尼 was 16 years old,
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喺佢16歲唧時候,
00:25
one day, one moment時刻,
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有一日突然間,事情就咁發生:
00:28
"It was mom's亞媽 gun.
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”支槍喺媽媽唧。
00:30
Just flash閃光 it, scare the guy. He's a punk朋克.
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我開頭諗住求其開一槍,嚇下個飛仔。
00:32
He took some money; we'll我哋就 take his money. That'll咁會 teach him.
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佢搶咗我哋唧錢,我就搶佢唧錢,教訓下佢。
00:34
Then last minute分鐘, I'm thinking思維, 'Can't"不能 do this. This is wrong.'
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到最後,我就諗:‘唔得,我唔可以咁做。’
00:37
My buddy夥計 says, 'C'mon"c" 來, let's do this.'
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我朋友就話:‘快啲啦,快啲開始啦。’
00:39
I say, 'Let's"畀我哋 do this.'"
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我就話:‘好啦。’”
00:44
And those three words的話, Tony's托尼的 going to remember記得,
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就喺依兩個字,東尼永遠都會記住,
00:46
because the next thing he knows, he hears聽到 the pop流行.
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因為接落嚟佢見到唧,就喺警察,
00:48
There's the punk朋克 on the ground地面, puddle水坑 of blood.
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個飛仔訓喺地上,訓喺血入邊。
00:50
And that's felony重罪 murder謀殺 --
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佢犯咗謀殺罪-25年到終身監禁
00:52
25 to life, parole假釋 at 50 if you're lucky好彩呀,
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如果好彩唧話,50年後會得到假釋,
00:54
and Tony's托尼的 not feeling感覺 very lucky好彩呀.
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不過東尼就唔喺咁好彩了。
00:57
So when we meet滿足 in my philosophy哲學 class in his prison監獄
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當我哋喺監獄唧哲學課見面唧時候,
01:00
and I say, "In this class, we will discuss討論 the foundations基礎 of ethics倫理,"
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我話:“依堂課我哋要討論唧喺道德唧基礎,”
01:04
Tony托尼 interrupts中斷 me.
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東尼就打斷我:
01:06
"What are you going to teach me about right and wrong?
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“你憑咩教我對同錯啊?
01:08
I know what is wrong. I have done wrong.
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我知咩喺錯唧。我做過錯事。
01:11
I am told every day,
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每一日每個我見到唧每一個人,
01:13
by every face塊面 I see, every wall I face塊面, that I am wrong.
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我見到唧每一面墻,都話我知我就喺一個錯誤。
01:16
If I ever get out of here, there will always be a mark馬克 by my name名字.
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只要一日唔離開依度,我就一直都會咩住依個名號。
01:19
I'm a convict罪犯; I am branded品牌 'wrong"錯.'
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我喺一個囚犯;我就喺‘錯誤’。
01:21
What are you going to tell me about right and wrong?"
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所以你憑咩話我知咩喺對同錯啊?”
01:24
So I say to Tony托尼,
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我就同東尼講:
01:27
"Sorry, but it's worse更糟 than you think.
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“唔好意思,不過個問題比你想像中要難。
01:30
You think you know right and wrong?
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你覺得你知道咩喺對同錯?
01:32
Then can you tell me what wrong is?
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咁你可唔可以話我知咩喺錯?
01:34
No, don't just give me an example例子.
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你唔可以齋同我舉例,
01:36
I want to know about wrongness反省 itself本身, the idea想法 of wrong.
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我想知道錯誤唧本質喺乜嘢,
01:39
What is that idea想法?
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錯誤唧理念,喺一個點唧理念?
01:41
What makes使 something wrong?
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喺乜嘢令一樣嘢變成錯唧?
01:43
How do we know that it's wrong? Maybe you and I disagree反對.
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我哋點知一樣嘢喺錯唧?或者你同我唧諗法會唔一樣,
01:46
Maybe one of us is wrong about the wrong.
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或者我哋兩個之中有一個唧諗法喺錯唧。
01:48
Maybe it's you, maybe it's me -- but we're not here to trade貿易 opinions意見;
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可能喺你,可能喺我,但喺我哋唔喺嚟交換思想唧;
01:50
everyone's個個 got an opinion意見.
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個個人都有佢哋自己唧諗法,
01:52
We are here for knowledge知識.
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我哋喺度唧目的喺學習知識,
01:54
Our enemy敵人 is thoughtlessness輕率. This is philosophy哲學."
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我哋唧敵人喺輕率。依啲就喺哲學。”
01:58
And something changes變化 for Tony托尼.
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然後東尼就開始有啲改變了。
02:03
"Could be I'm wrong. I'm tired of being wrong.
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“可能我唧諗法喺錯唧,我已經厭倦咗一直都喺錯唧,
02:06
I want to know what is wrong.
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我想知咩喺錯誤,
02:08
I want to know what I know."
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我想瞭解多啲我知道唧嘢。”
02:10
What Tony托尼 sees看到 in that moment時刻 is the project項目 of philosophy哲學,
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喺過一刻,東尼見到唧就喺哲學計劃,
02:13
the project項目 that begins初時 in wonder --
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一個以奇跡為開端唧計劃--
02:15
what Kant康德 called "admiration欽佩 and awe敬畏
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康德稱之為“頭頂唧星空
02:17
at the starry星空 sky天空 above以上 and the moral道德 law法律 within."
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同心中唧道德法則,喚起我哋唧讚歎同敬畏。”
02:20
What can creatures生物 like us know of such things?
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作為大地生物之一,我哋又點知道依啲嘢唧呢?
02:22
It is the project項目 that always takes us back to the condition條件 of existence存在 --
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就喺依個計劃,一直提醒我哋生存唧條件--
02:25
what Heidegger海德格尔 called "the always already there."
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海德格爾稱之為“存在唧意義”。
02:28
It is the project項目 of questioning質疑 what we believe and why we believe it --
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就喺依個計劃,一直質疑我哋唧信念同佢哋唧原因--
02:31
what Socrates苏格拉底 called "the examined檢查 life."
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蘇格拉底稱之為“受考驗唧生活”。
02:33
Socrates苏格拉底, a man wise明智 enough to know that he knows nothing.
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蘇格拉底,一個聰明到瞭解自己無知唧男人,
02:36
Socrates苏格拉底 died in prison監獄,
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佢喺監獄中去世,
02:39
his philosophy哲學 intact完整.
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不過佢唧哲學得意留存。
02:42
So Tony托尼 starts初時 doing his homework作業.
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東尼開始做佢唧功課,
02:44
He learns學習 his whys原因 and wherefores來龍去脈, his causes原因 and correlations相關性,
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學習原因、結果同關係,
02:46
his logic邏輯, his fallacies謬誤.
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學習邏輯同謬論,
02:48
Turns輪流 out, Tony's托尼的 got the philosophy哲學 muscle肌肉.
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最後,佢喺哲學方面變得好專業。
02:50
His body身體 is in prison監獄, but his mind介意 is free自由.
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雖然佢個人被困喺監獄,但喺佢唧思想卻好自由。
02:52
Tony托尼 learns學習 about the ontologicallyontologically promiscuous混雜,
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東尼仲學識本體論混雜,
02:54
the epistemologically認識論上 anxious焦慮,
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認識論焦慮,
02:56
the ethically道德 dubious可疑, the metaphysically形而上學 ridiculous荒謬.
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倫理性質疑,同埋形而上學既謬論。
02:59
That's Plato柏拉图, Descartes笛卡爾, Nietzsche尼采
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依啲分別喺柏拉圖、笛卡兒、尼采、
03:01
and Bill條例草案 Clinton克林頓.
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同克林頓唧哲學。
03:03
So when he gives me his final最後 paper,
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然後佢最後交咗佢篇論文,
03:06
in which he argues認為 that the categorical分類 imperative必須
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寫唧喺定言令色
03:08
is perhaps或者 too uncompromising毫不妥協
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聽落對於我哋日常生活唧矛盾嚟講
03:10
to deal交易 with the conflict衝突 that affects影響 our everyday每日
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有啲太嚴肅,
03:12
and challenges挑戰 me to tell him
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同時依個話題都條件我要話佢知,
03:14
whether係唔係 therefore因此 we are condemned譴責 to moral道德 failure,
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如果我哋犯道德錯誤,系咪就會受到譴責,
03:16
I say, "I don't know.
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我講佢知:“我唔知個答案,
03:18
Let us think about that."
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不如我哋一齊諗下。”
03:20
Because in that moment時刻, there's no mark馬克 by Tony's托尼的 name名字;
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喺果一刻,東尼無任何所謂唧身份,
03:22
it's just the two of us standing there.
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我同佢只喺兩個人,
03:24
It is not professor教授 and convict罪犯,
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唔喺教授同囚犯,
03:26
it is just two minds頭腦 ready準備 to do philosophy哲學.
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只喺兩個準備要討論哲學唧人。
03:28
And I say to Tony托尼,
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然後我就同東尼講:
03:30
"Let's do this."
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“快啲開始啦!”
03:33
Thank you.
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多謝
03:35
(Applause掌聲)
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(掌聲)
Translated by Xun Lin
Reviewed by Ann Lee

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Damon Horowitz - Philosopher, entrepreneur
Damon Horowitz explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities.

Why you should listen

Damon Horowitz is a philosophy professor and serial entrepreneur. He recently joined Google as In-House Philosopher / Director of Engineering, heading development of several initiatives involving social and search. He came to Google from Aardvark, the social search engine, where he was co-founder and CTO, overseeing product development and research strategy. Prior to Aardvark, Horowitz built several companies around applications of intelligent language processing. He co-founded Perspecta (acquired by Excite), was lead architect for Novation Biosciences (acquired by Agilent), and co-founded NewsDB (now Daylife).

Horowitz teaches courses in philosophy, cognitive science, and computer science at several institutions, including Stanford, NYU, University of Pennsylvania and San Quentin State Prison.

Get more information on the Prison University Project >>

More profile about the speaker
Damon Horowitz | Speaker | TED.com