TED2011
Damon Horowitz: Philosophy in prison
Damon Horowitz: Filosofi i fengsel
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Damon Horowitz underviser i filosofi gjennom fengselsuniversitet-prosjektet, og gir kurs på høyskolenivå til de innsatte ved San Quentin statsfengsel. I denne kraftfulle korte talen forteller han historien om et møte med rett og galt, som fort blir personlig.
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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Hils på Tony. Han er min student.
00:17
He's about my age,
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Han er på min alder,
00:19
and he's in San Quentin State Prison.
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og han er innsatt i San Quentin statsfengsel.
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 øyeblikk,
00:28
"It was mom's gun.
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"Det var mammas pistol.
00:30
Just flash it, scare the guy. He's a punk.
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Bare vise den, skremme han litt. Han er en veiking.
00:32
He took some money; we'll take his money. That'll teach him.
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Han tok litt penger; vi tar pengene hans. Da får han en lekse.
00:34
Then last minute, I'm thinking, 'Can't do this. This is wrong.'
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Da, i siste øyeblikk, tenker jeg, "Kan ikke gjøre det her. Dette er galt."
00:37
My buddy says, 'C'mon, let's do this.'
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Kompisen min sier, "Kom igjen, la oss gjøre det."
00:39
I say, 'Let's do this.'"
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Jeg sier, "La oss gjøre det."
00:44
And those three words, Tony's going to remember,
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Og de fire ordene, kommer Tony til å huske,
00:46
because the next thing he knows, he hears the pop.
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fordi, før han vet ordet av det, hører han smellet.
00:48
There's the punk on the ground, puddle of blood.
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Der ligger veikingen på bakken, en pøl av blod.
00:50
And that's felony murder --
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Og det er forsettlig drap --
00:52
25 to life, parole at 50 if you're lucky,
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25 år til livstid, ute på prøve når du fyller 50, hvis du er heldig
00:54
and Tony's not feeling very lucky.
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og Tony føler seg ikke veldig heldig.
00:57
So when we meet in my philosophy class in his prison
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Så, når vi møtes i filosofi-timen min, i hans fengsel,
01:00
and I say, "In this class, we will discuss the foundations of ethics,"
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og jeg sier, "I denne timen skal vi diskutere etikkens grunnlag,"
01:04
Tony interrupts me.
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avbryter Tony meg.
01:06
"What are you going to teach me about right and wrong?
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"Hva kan du lære meg om rett og feil?
01:08
I know what is wrong. I have done wrong.
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Jeg vet hva som er feil. Jeg har gjort feil.
01:11
I am told every day,
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Jeg blir minnet på det hver dag,
01:13
by every face I see, every wall I face, that I am wrong.
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av hvert ansikt jeg ser, hver vegg jeg møter, at jeg tar feil.
01:16
If I ever get out of here, there will always be a mark by my name.
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Hvis jeg noen gang kommer ut herfra, vil det alltid være en merkelapp ved navnet mitt.
01:19
I'm a convict; I am branded 'wrong.'
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Jeg er en fange; Jeg er merket "feil."
01:21
What are you going to tell me about right and wrong?"
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Hva skal du fortelle meg om rett og feil?"
01:24
So I say to Tony,
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Da sier jeg til Tony,
01:27
"Sorry, but it's worse than you think.
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"Beklager, men det er verre enn du tror.
01:30
You think you know right and wrong?
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Du tror du kan rett og feil?
01:32
Then can you tell me what wrong is?
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Fortell meg da, hva feil er?
01:34
No, don't just give me an example.
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Nei, ikke bare gi meg et eksempel.
01:36
I want to know about wrongness itself, the idea of wrong.
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Jeg vil vite om feilhet i seg selv, ideen om feil.
01:39
What is that idea?
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Hva er den ideen?
01:41
What makes something wrong?
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Hva er det som gjør noe til feil?
01:43
How do we know that it's wrong? Maybe you and I disagree.
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Hvordan vet vi at det er feil? Kanskje du og jeg er uenige.
01:46
Maybe one of us is wrong about the wrong.
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Kanskje en av oss tar feil om hva feil er.
01:48
Maybe it's you, maybe it's me -- but we're not here to trade opinions;
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Kanskje er det du, kanskje er det meg -- men vi er ikke her i dag for å utveksle 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 kunnskap.
01:54
Our enemy is thoughtlessness. This is philosophy."
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Fienden vår er ubetenksomhet. Dette er filosofi."
01:58
And something changes for Tony.
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Da forandrer noe seg for Tony.
02:03
"Could be I'm wrong. I'm tired of being wrong.
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"Kan hende jeg tar feil. Jeg er lei av å ta feil.
02:06
I want to know what is wrong.
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Jeg vil vite hva som er feil.
02:08
I want to know what I know."
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Jeg vil vite det jeg vet."
02:10
What Tony sees in that moment is the project of philosophy,
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Det Tony ser i det øyeblikket er filosofiens prosjekt.
02:13
the project that begins in wonder --
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prosjektet som startet med undring --
02:15
what Kant called "admiration and awe
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det Kant kalte "beundring og ærefrykt
02:17
at the starry sky above and the moral law within."
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for den stjernefylte himmelen der oppe og den moralske lov i det indre."
02:20
What can creatures like us know of such things?
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Hva kan skapninger som oss vite om slike ting?
02:22
It is the project that always takes us back to the condition of existence --
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Det er prosjektet som alltid tar oss tilbake til eksistenstilstanden --
02:25
what Heidegger called "the always already there."
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det Heidegger kalte "det bestandige som allerede er der."
02:28
It is the project of questioning what we believe and why we believe it --
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Det er prosjektet om å stille spørsmål ved det vi tror, og hvorfor vi tror det --
02:31
what Socrates called "the examined life."
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det Sokrates kalte " det undersøkte liv."
02:33
Socrates, a man wise enough to know that he knows nothing.
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Sokrates, en mann klok nok til å vite at han ikke visste noe.
02:36
Socrates died in prison,
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Sokrates døde i fengsel,
02:39
his philosophy intact.
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med sin filosofi inntakt.
02:42
So Tony starts doing his homework.
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Da begynner Tony å gjøre leksene sine.
02:44
He learns his whys and wherefores, his causes and correlations,
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Han finner ut av sine hvorfor og hvordan, sine motiver og korrelasjoner,
02:46
his logic, his fallacies.
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sin logikk, sine feilslutninger.
02:48
Turns out, Tony's got the philosophy muscle.
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Det viser seg at Tony har filosofimuskelen.
02:50
His body is in prison, but his mind is free.
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Kroppen hans er i fengsel, men sinnet hans er fritt.
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 epistemologiske engstende,
02:56
the ethically dubious, the metaphysically ridiculous.
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det etisk tvilende, 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 gir meg sin siste oppgave,
03:06
in which he argues that the categorical imperative
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hvor han argumenterer for at det kategorisk imperative
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is perhaps too uncompromising
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kanskje er for kompromissløst
03:10
to deal with the conflict that affects our everyday
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til å kunne håndtere konfliktene som påvirker hverdagen vår,
03:12
and challenges me to tell him
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og utfordrer meg til å fortelle ham
03:14
whether therefore we are condemned to moral failure,
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om vi derfor er dømt til moralsk fiasko,
03:16
I say, "I don't know.
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sier jeg, "jeg vet ikke.
03:18
Let us think about that."
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La oss tenke litt på det."
03:20
Because in that moment, there's no mark by Tony's name;
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Fordi, i det øyeblikket er det ikke noen merkelapp ved Tonys navn;
03:22
it's just the two of us standing there.
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det er bare oss to som står der.
03:24
It is not professor and convict,
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Det er ikke professor og fange,
03:26
it is just two minds ready to do philosophy.
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det er bare to sinn som er klar for å filosofere.
03:28
And I say to Tony,
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Så sier jeg til Tony.
03:30
"Let's do this."
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"La oss gjøre det."
03:33
Thank you.
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Tusen takk.
03:35
(Applause)
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(Applaus)
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