TED2011
Damon Horowitz: Philosophy in prison
Damon Horowitz: Filosofi i fængsel
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Damon Horowitz underviser i filosofi igennem Prison University Projektet, der bringer høj-niveau klasser til indsatte i San Quentin Statsfængsel. I dette kraftfulde korte foredrag, fortæller han historien om et møde med rigtigt og forkert der hurtigt bliver personligt.
Damon Horowitz - Philosopher, entrepreneur
Damon Horowitz explores what is possible at the boundaries of technology and the humanities. Full bio
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 Tony. He's my student.
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Mød Tony. Han er min elev.
00:17
He's about my age,
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Han er på omtrent min alder,
00:19
and he's in San Quentin State Prison.
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og han er indsat i San Quentin Statsfængsel.
00:22
When Tony was 16 years old,
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Da Tony var 16 år gammel,
00:25
one day, one moment,
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en dag, et øjeblik,
00:28
"It was mom's gun.
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"Det var mors pistol.
00:30
Just flash it, scare the guy. He's a punk.
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Vis den hurtigt, skræm fyren. Han er lille skid.
00:32
He took some money; we'll take his money. That'll teach him.
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Han tog nogle penge; vi tager hans penge. Så kan han lære det.
00:34
Then last minute, I'm thinking, 'Can't do this. This is wrong.'
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Så i det sidste minut tænker jeg, 'Jeg kan ikke gøre det her. Det er forkert.'
00:37
My buddy says, 'C'mon, let's do this.'
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Min kammerat siger, 'Kom nu, lad os gøre det.'
00:39
I say, 'Let's do this.'"
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Jeg siger, 'Lad os gøre det'"
00:44
And those three words, Tony's going to remember,
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Og de ord kommer Tony til at huske,
00:46
because the next thing he knows, he hears the pop.
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for før han ved af det, hører han poppet.
00:48
There's the punk on the ground, puddle of blood.
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Der ligger den lille skid på jorden, en pøl af blod.
00:50
And that's felony murder --
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Og det er mord --
00:52
25 to life, parole at 50 if you're lucky,
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25 til livstid, prøveløsladelse ved 50, hvis du er heldig,
00:54
and Tony's not feeling very lucky.
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og Tony føler sig ikke særlig heldig.
00:57
So when we meet in my philosophy class in his prison
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Så da vi mødes i min filosofiklasse i hans fængsel
01:00
and I say, "In this class, we will discuss the foundations of ethics,"
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og jeg siger, "I denne klasse, skal vi diskutere det fundamentale ved etik,"
01:04
Tony interrupts me.
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afbryder Tony mig.
01:06
"What are you going to teach me about right and wrong?
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"Hvad vil du lære mig om rigtigt og forkert?
01:08
I know what is wrong. I have done wrong.
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Jeg ved hvad der er forkert. Jeg har gjort det forkerte.
01:11
I am told every day,
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Og jeg får at vide hver dag,
01:13
by every face I see, every wall I face, that I am wrong.
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af hvert ansigt jeg ser, hver mur jeg møder, at jeg er forkert.
01:16
If I ever get out of here, there will always be a mark by my name.
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Hvis jeg nogensinde kommer ud herfra, vil der altid være et mærke ved mit navn.
01:19
I'm a convict; I am branded 'wrong.'
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Jeg er straffefange; jeg er brændemærket 'forkert.'
01:21
What are you going to tell me about right and wrong?"
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Hvad vil du fortælle mig om rigtigt og forkert?"
01:24
So I say to Tony,
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Så jeg siger til Tony,
01:27
"Sorry, but it's worse than you think.
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"Beklager, men det er værre end du tror.
01:30
You think you know right and wrong?
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Du tror du kender rigtigt og forkert?
01:32
Then can you tell me what wrong is?
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Kan du så fortælle mig hvad forkert er?
01:34
No, don't just give me an example.
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Nej, lad være med bare at give mig et eksempel.
01:36
I want to know about wrongness itself, the idea of wrong.
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Jeg vil vide noget om forkerthed i sig selv, ideen om det forkerte.
01:39
What is that idea?
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Hvad er det for en ide?
01:41
What makes something wrong?
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Hvad gør noget forkert?
01:43
How do we know that it's wrong? Maybe you and I disagree.
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Hvordan ved vi, at det er forkert? Måske er du og jeg uenige.
01:46
Maybe one of us is wrong about the wrong.
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Måske er en af os forkert på den omkring forkertheden
01:48
Maybe it's you, maybe it's me -- but we're not here to trade opinions;
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Måske er det dig, måske er det mig -- men vi er ikke kommet for at dele meninger;
01:50
everyone's got an opinion.
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alle har en mening.
01:52
We are here for knowledge.
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Vi er her for viden.
01:54
Our enemy is thoughtlessness. This is philosophy."
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Vores fjende er tankeløshed. Dette er filosofi."
01:58
And something changes for Tony.
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Og noget ændres for Tony.
02:03
"Could be I'm wrong. I'm tired of being wrong.
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"Kan være jeg tager fejl. Jeg er træt af at tage fejl.
02:06
I want to know what is wrong.
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Jeg vil vide hvad der er forkert.
02:08
I want to know what I know."
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Jeg vil vide, hvad jeg ved."
02:10
What Tony sees in that moment is the project of philosophy,
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Det Tony ser i det øjeblik, er filosofiens projekt,
02:13
the project that begins in wonder --
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projektet der begynder i undren --
02:15
what Kant called "admiration and awe
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hvad Kant kaldte "beundring og ærefrygt
02:17
at the starry sky above and the moral law within."
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over stjernehimlen over, og moralloven indeni."
02:20
What can creatures like us know of such things?
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Hvad kan væsner som os kende til sådanne ting?
02:22
It is the project that always takes us back to the condition of existence --
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Det er projektet der fører os tilbage til betingelserne for eksistens --
02:25
what Heidegger called "the always already there."
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hvad Heidegger kaldte "det altid allerede værende."
02:28
It is the project of questioning what we believe and why we believe it --
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Det er projektet der stiller spørgsmål ved hvad vi tror og hvorfor vi tror det --
02:31
what Socrates called "the examined life."
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hvad Sokrates kaldte "det undersøgte liv."
02:33
Socrates, a man wise enough to know that he knows nothing.
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Sokrates, en mand vis nok til at vide, at han intet ved.
02:36
Socrates died in prison,
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Sokrates døde i fængsel,
02:39
his philosophy intact.
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med sin filosofi intakt.
02:42
So Tony starts doing his homework.
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Så Tony begynder at lave sit hjemmearbejde.
02:44
He learns his whys and wherefores, his causes and correlations,
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Han lærer sine hvorfor og sine hvilken hensigt, sine årsager og sammenhænge,
02:46
his logic, his fallacies.
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sin logik, sine fejlslutninger.
02:48
Turns out, Tony's got the philosophy muscle.
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Det viser sig, at Tony har den filosofiske muskel.
02:50
His body is in prison, but his mind is free.
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Hans krop er i fængsel, men hans sind er frit.
02:52
Tony learns about the ontologically promiscuous,
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Tony lærer om det ontologisk promiskuøse,
02:54
the epistemologically anxious,
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det epistemologisk ængstelige,
02:56
the ethically dubious, the metaphysically ridiculous.
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det etisk tvivlsomme, det metafysisk latterlige.
02:59
That's Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche
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Det er Platon, Descartes, Nietzsche
03:01
and Bill Clinton.
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og Bill Clinton
03:03
So when he gives me his final paper,
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Så når han giver mig sin sidste afhandling,
03:06
in which he argues that the categorical imperative
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hvori han argumenterer for, at det kategoriske imperativ
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is perhaps too uncompromising
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måske er for kompromisløst
03:10
to deal with the conflict that affects our everyday
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til at kunne håndtere de konflikter, der påvirker vores hverdag
03:12
and challenges me to tell him
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og udfordrer mig til at fortælle ham
03:14
whether therefore we are condemned to moral failure,
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om vi derfor er dømte til moralsk fiasko,
03:16
I say, "I don't know.
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så siger jeg, "det ved jeg ikke.
03:18
Let us think about that."
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Lad os tænke over det."
03:20
Because in that moment, there's no mark by Tony's name;
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For i det øjeblik er der intet mærke ved Tonys navn;
03:22
it's just the two of us standing there.
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det er bare os to der står der.
03:24
It is not professor and convict,
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Det er ikke professor og indsat,
03:26
it is just two minds ready to do philosophy.
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det er bare to sind, klar til at bedrive filosofi.
03:28
And I say to Tony,
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Og så siger jeg til Tony,
03:30
"Let's do this."
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"Lad os gøre det."
03:33
Thank you.
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Tak skal I have.
03:35
(Applause)
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(Bifald)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Damon Horowitz - Philosopher, entrepreneurDamon 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 >>
Damon Horowitz | Speaker | TED.com