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TeresaBejan_2018S-_举止客气有礼是虚伪的吗？_
This talk contains mature language Viewer discretion is advised [本演说内容含有成人用语, 观者请自行斟着。]
mature:v.成熟; adj.明白事理的; discretion:n.自由裁量权;谨慎;判断力;判定;考虑周到; advised:adj.考虑过的; v.劝告; (advise的过去分词和过去式)
Let's get this out of the way. 我们就直说吧。
I'm here because I wrote a book about civility , and because that book came out right around the 2016 American presidential election, 我来这里,因为我写了一本 关于举止要有礼貌的书, 因为那本书推出的时间 刚好是 2016 年 美国总统大选前后,
civility:n.礼貌;礼仪;端庄; presidential:adj.总统的;首长的;统辖的;
I started getting lots of invitations to come and talk about civility and why we need more of it in American politics . 我开始接到许多演说邀请, 去谈有礼貌的举止, 也去谈为什么美国政坛 需要更多礼貌。
invitations:n.邀请;获得邀请;请帖;(invitation的复数) politics:n.政治;钩心斗角;政治观点;v.(贬)从事政治活动;(politic的第三人称单数)
So great. 好棒。
The only problem was that I had written that book about civility because I was convinced that civility is ... 唯一的问题是,我之所以 会写那本关于举止礼貌的书, 是因为我深信,举止有礼是……
convinced:adj.坚信; v.使确信; (convince的过去分词和过去式)
bullshit . 狗屁。
bullshit:v.胡说,哄骗;n.胡说;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Now, that may sound like a highly uncivil thing to say, and lucky for you, and for my publisher , 这样说可能听起来还蛮粗鲁的, 你们很幸运, 我的出版商也很幸运,
highly:adv.高度地;非常;非常赞许地; uncivil:adj.不文明的;粗野的;失礼的; publisher:n.出版者,出版商;发行人;
I did eventually come to change my mind. 因为我最后还是改变心意了。
eventually:adv.最后,终于;
In the course of writing that book and studying the long history of civility and religious tolerance in the 17th century, 在写那本书的过程中, 以及在研究十七世纪 礼貌和宗教包容间的漫长历史时,
In the course of:在…过程中;在…期间; religious:adj.宗教的;虔诚的;严谨的;修道的;n.修道士;尼姑; tolerance:n.公差;耐量;宽容;容忍;
I came to discover that there is a virtue of civility, and far from being bullshit, it's actually absolutely essential , especially for tolerant societies, 我渐渐发现举止有礼是有优点的, 而且完全不是狗屁, 它其实非常重要, 特别是对于包容的社会, 像我们这样的社会,
virtue:n.美德;优点;贞操;功效; absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; essential:n.要点;要素;实质;必需品;adj.完全必要的;必不可少的;极其重要的;本质的; especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分; tolerant:adj.宽容的;容忍的;有耐药力的;
so societies like this one, that promise not only to protect diversity but also the heated and sometimes even hateful disagreements that that diversity inspires . 不仅承诺要保护多样性, 还要保护激昂甚至带着仇恨的歧见, 这些歧见因多样性而来。
diversity:n.差异(性):多样性:多样化: hateful:adj.可憎的;可恨的;可恶的; inspires:激励;赋予灵感(inspire的第三人称单数);
You see, the thing about disagreement is that there is a reason that " disagreeable " is a synonym for " unpleasant ." 歧见有一项特点, 那就是,「不合意」 和「不愉快」是同义词是有理由的。
disagreeable:adj.不愉快的;厌恶的;不为人喜的;难相处的;脾气坏的; synonym:n.同义词;同义字; unpleasant:adj.令人不快的;不舒服的;不客气的
As the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes pointed out all the way back in 1642, that's because the mere act of disagreement is offensive . 英国哲学家汤玛斯·霍布斯指出, 回溯到 1642 年, 「不同意」这件行为本身就是冒犯。
philosopher:n.哲学家;深思的人;善于思考的人; mere:adj.仅仅的;只不过的;n.小湖;池塘; offensive:n.进攻;攻势;攻击;侵犯;adj.冒犯的;得罪人的;无礼的;
And Hobbes is still right. It works like this: so, if you and I disagree, and I'm right, because I always am, how am I to make sense of the fact that you are so very, very wrong? 霍布斯仍然是对的, 它的运作方式如下: 所以,如果你和我有歧见, 而我是对的,因为我永远是对的, 我要如何理解你错得 非常非常离谱的这个事实？
make sense of:搞清…的意思;
It couldn't possibly be that you've just come to a different conclusion in good faith ? 难道不可能你是出于善意 而得出不同的结论吗？ 不可能,你一定是在盘算什么,
conclusion:n.结论;结局;推论; faith:n.信心;信任;宗教信仰;
No, you must be up to something, you must be stupid, bigoted , interested. 不可能,你一定是在盘算什么, 你一定很笨、很顽固、有利害关系。
bigoted:adj.顽固的;心地狭窄的;盲从的;
Maybe you're insane . 也许你疯了。
insane:adj.疯狂的;精神病的;极愚蠢的;
And the same goes the other way. Right? 对方也会有同样的想法。对吧？
So the mere fact of your disagreeing with me is implicitly an insult not only to my views, but to my intelligence , too. 所以,光是你和我有歧见的这个事实, 不只意味着你在侮辱我的观点, 也是在侮辱我的智慧。
disagreeing:n.不同意;v.不同意(disagree的现在分词); implicitly:adv.含蓄地;暗中地; insult:v.侮辱;辱骂;损害;n.侮辱;凌辱;无礼; intelligence:n.智力;智慧;才智;(尤指关于敌国的)情报;
And things only get worse when the disagreements at stake are the ones that we somehow consider to be fundamental , whether to our worldviews or to our identities . 情况只会更糟,如果这些歧见 刚好是我们都认为是 很根本的议题上, 不论是和我们的世界观 或身分认同有关。
stake:n.桩,棍子;赌注;火刑;奖金;v.资助,支持;系…于桩上;把…押下打赌; somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地; fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的; identities:n.身份;本身;本体;特征;同一性;相同;(identity的复数)
You know the kinds of disagreement I mean. 你们知道我指的是哪些歧见。
One doesn't discuss religion or politics or increasingly , the politics of popular culture, at the dinner table , because these are the disagreements, these are the things that people really, seriously disagree about, and they define themselves against their opponents in the controversy . 我们不会在共进晚餐时 讨论宗教、政治, 也越来越多人不愿意谈 流行文化的政治, 因为这些都会有争论, 这些都是大家真的 会产生严重歧见的议题, 而他们在争议中一定会以 自己的看法来反驳他们的对手。
increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; dinner table:n.餐桌;同一桌进餐; define:v.定义;使明确;规定; opponents:n.对手(opponent的复数形式); controversy:n.争论;论战;辩论;
But of course those fundamental disagreements are precisely the ones that tolerant societies like the United States propose to tolerate , which perhaps explains why, historically , at least, 但,当然,那些根本上的歧见 正是包容的社会——如美国—— 提议要包容的歧见, 这可能就说明了为什么, 至少在历史上,
United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) propose:v.建议;提议;求婚;打算; tolerate:v.容忍;忍受;容许;包容; historically:adv.历史上地;从历史观点上说;
tolerant societies haven't been the happy-clappy communities of difference that you sometimes hear about. 包容的社会一直都不是 你有时候会听说的 那种快乐和谐的差异团体。
communities:n.社区;社会;团体;共有(community的复数)
No, they tend to be places where people have to hold their noses and rub along together despite their mutual contempt . 不,这些往往是 人们必须试图忽略的地方, 尽管他们互相轻视彼此, 仍然勉强相处。
rub along:勉强相处; despite:prep.尽管,不管;n.轻视;憎恨;侮辱; mutual:adj.共同的;相互的,彼此的; contempt:n.轻视,蔑视;耻辱;
That's what I learned from studying religious tolerance in early modern England and America. 这是我在研究早期现代英国 与美国的宗教包容时所学到的。
And I also learned that the virtue that makes that un-murderous coexistence , if you will, possible, is the virtue of civility, because civility makes our disagreements tolerable 我还学到,有一种美德 可以让「非谋杀式」的共存 ——你可以这么说——成为可能。 那就是客气有礼的美德。 因为客气有礼让我们的歧见 变成可宽容的,
coexistence:n.共存;和平共处;并立; tolerable:adj.可以的;可容忍的;
so that we can share a life together even if we don't share a faith -- religious, political or otherwise. 所以我们可以共同生存, 宗教、政治,或其他。
Still, I couldn't help but notice that when most people talk about civility today -- and boy, do they talk about civility a lot -- they seem to have something else in mind. 我仍然忍不住会注意到 现今,大部分的人在谈礼貌时—— 他们可真是常常在谈礼貌—— 他们脑中似乎有其他的想法。
So if civility is the virtue that makes it possible to tolerate disagreement so that we can actually engage with our opponents, talking about civility seems to be mainly a strategy of disengagement . 所以,如果客气有礼这种美德 能让包容歧见成为可能, 使我们能真正和我们的对手接触, 那么,「谈论」客气有礼 似乎主要是一种脱离的策略。
mainly:adv.大多;大部分;主要地;首要地; strategy:n.策略;行动计划;部署;战略; disengagement:n.脱离;分开;
It's a little bit like threatening to take your ball and go home when the game isn't going your way. 它有一点像是 在比赛时不如你预期时, 你就威胁要把球拿走,回家不玩了。
Because the funny thing about incivility is that it's always the sin of our opponents. 因为,粗鲁失礼有一个有趣的特点, 就是它永远都是我们对手的罪过。
incivility:n.无礼貌;
It's funny. 这很好笑。
When it comes to our own bad behavior, well, we seem to develop sudden-onset amnesia , or we can always justify it as an appropriate response to the latest outrage from our opponents. 当说到我们自己的不良行为, 我们的健忘症似乎就会突然发作, 或我们总是找到正当理由, 说这是对于我们对手 最近一次恶行的妥当回应。
sudden-onset:n.病突然发作; amnesia:n.健忘症,[内科]记忆缺失; justify:v.证明合法;整理版面;替…辩护; appropriate:adj.适当的;恰当的;v.占用,拨出; response:n.响应;反应;回答; outrage:n.愤怒,愤慨;暴行;侮辱;vt.凌辱,强奸;对…施暴行;激起愤怒;
So, "How can I be civil to someone who is set out to destroy everything I stand for? 所以,「如果一个人打算 要摧毁我所支持的一切, 我怎么可能对他有礼貌？
And by the way , they started it." 顺便一提,是他起头的。」
by the way:顺便说一下;
It's all terrifically convenient . 这实在太方便了。
terrifically:adv.极端地;可怕地;非常地; convenient:adj.实用的;便利的;方便的;
Also convenient is the fact that most of today's big civility talkers tend to be quite vague and fuzzy when it comes to what they think civility actually entails . 还有一种也很方便的辩解, 在谈到他们认为有礼貌 到底需要怎么做时, 几乎都说得相当模糊不清。
talkers:n.说话…的人;爱说话的人;(talker的复数) vague:adj.模糊的;含糊的;不明确的;暧昧的; fuzzy:adj.模糊的;失真的;有绒毛的; entails:vt.使需要,必需;承担;遗传给;蕴含;n.引起;需要;继承;
We're told that civility is simply a synonym for respect, for good manners, for politeness , but at the same time , it's clear that to accuse someone of incivility is much, much worse than calling them impolite, 我们听到的是, 客气有礼就是尊重、 有教养、礼貌的同义词, 但同时,很显然, 指控一个人很粗鲁, 比骂他没礼貌要更糟许多,
politeness:n.有礼貌;优雅; at the same time:同时;另一方面;与此同时; accuse:v.控告;谴责;控诉;
because to be uncivil is to be potentially intolerable in a way that merely being rude isn't. 因为,粗鲁失礼就表示 有可能会无法忍受, 而且不是鲁莾的那种无法忍受。
potentially:adv.可能地,潜在地; intolerable:adj.无法忍受的;难耐的; merely:adv.仅仅,只不过;只是;
So to call someone uncivil, to accuse them of incivility, is a way of communicating that they are somehow beyond the pale , that they're not worth engaging with at all. 所以,若说一个人不文明, 指控他很失礼粗鲁, 在传达的讯息就是, 完全不值得和他们接触。
beyond the pale:越轨;在…范围之外;出格; engaging:adj.有趣的; v.吸引住(注意力、兴趣); (engage的现在分词)
So here's the thing: civility isn't bullshit, it's precious because it's the virtue that makes fundamental disagreement not only possible but even sometimes occasionally productive . 所以,重点就是: 客气有礼并不是狗屁, 它很珍贵,因为这种美德 不但能够让根本的歧见可以存在, 偶尔还能让歧见变得很有生产力。
precious:adj.宝贵的;珍贵的;矫揉造作的; occasionally:adv.偶尔;有时候;偶然; productive:adj.能生产的;生产的,生产性的;多产的;富有成效的;
It's precious, but it's also really, really difficult. 它很珍贵,但要做到也非常非常困难。
Civility talk, on the other hand , well, that's really easy, really easy, and it also is almost always complete bullshit, which makes things slightly awkward for me as I continue to talk to you about civility. 另一方面,「谈论」有礼, 那就非常容易, 非常容易, 而且几乎完全都是狗屁, 这就让我有点尴尬, 因为我还在继续和你们「谈」礼貌。
on the other hand:另一方面; slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; awkward:adj.尴尬的;笨拙的;棘手的;不合适的;
(Laughter) （笑声）
Anyway, we tend to forget it, but politicians and intellectuals have been warning us for decades now that the United States is facing a crisis of civility, 总之,我们常忘记一件事, 政客和知识分子数十年来 一直警告我们, 那就是:美国正在面临礼貌的危机。
politicians:n.政治家;(蔑)政客;(美)政治贩;(politician的复数) intellectuals:n.[劳经]知识分子(intellectual的复数); crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的;
and they've tended to blame that crisis on technological developments, on things like cable TV, talk radio , social media . 而他们把这危机怪罪于科技发展, 怪罪于有线电视、谈话性广播节目、
technological:adj.技术[工程](上)的;因工艺技术高度发展而引起的; cable:n.电缆; v.打电报; (用锚链,缆索等)系住; talk radio:n.电台听众热线节目; media:n.媒体;媒质(medium的复数);血管中层;浊塞音;中脉;
But any historian will tell you that there never was a golden age of disagreement, let alone good feelings, not in American politics. 但,任何历史学家都会告诉你, 歧见从来就没有过黄金时代, 更不用说好感了, 在美国政治圈绝对没有。
golden age:n.鼎盛时期; let alone:更不必说;听任;不打扰;
In my book, though, I argue that the first modern crisis of civility actually began about 500 years ago, when a certain professor of theology named Martin Luther 不过,在我的书中, 我主张礼貌的第一次现代危机 其实始于大约五百年前。 那时,有位神学教授马丁·路德
theology:n.神学;宗教体系;
took advantage of a recent advancement in communications technology , the printing press , to call the Pope the Antichrist , and thus inadvertently launch the Protestant Reformation . 利用当代发展的沟通技术, 也就是印刷媒体, 来宣称教皇是反对基督者, 因此,不经意地造成了宗教改革。
advancement:n.前进,进步;提升; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; printing press:n.印刷机; Pope:n.教皇,罗马教皇;权威,大师; Antichrist:n.反对基督者;基督的敌人; inadvertently:adj.非故意地,无心地; launch:v.发射(导弹,火箭等); n.发射; Protestant:adj.抗议的;持异议的;n.抗议者;持异议者; Reformation:n.革新;改善;
So think of the press, if you will, as the Twitter of the 16th century, and Martin Luther as the original troll . 所以,你们可以把新闻报刊 想像成十六世纪的推特, 而马丁路德就是网路酸民的始祖。
original:n.原件;原作;原物;原型;adj.原始的;最初的;独创的;新颖的; troll:n.山精,巨怪;v.曳绳钓(鱼);拖钓;搜查;
And I'm not exaggerating here. 我并没有誇张。
exaggerating:v.夸张;夸大;言过其实(exaggerate的现在分词)
He once declared himself unable to pray without at the same time cursing his " anti-Christian ," i.e. Catholic , opponents. 他曾经声称他自己无法祷告, 因为他同时也咒骂 他的「反基督徒」对手, 即:天主教徒。
cursing:v.诅咒;咒骂;在心里诅咒;(curse的现在分词) anti-Christian:反对基督教(或基督教徒)的;摒弃(或反)基督的; Catholic:adj.天主教的;宽宏大量的;n.天主教徒;罗马天主教;
And of course, those Catholic opponents clutched their pearls and called for civility then, too, but all the while, they gave as good as they got with traditional slurs like " heretic ," 当然,那些天主教对手 马上进入防御状态, 也大声疾呼着礼貌, 但最终,他们丢出来的, 和他们得到的没什么两样, 都是传统的诋毁,如「异教徒」,
clutched:抓住;抓紧(clutch的过去式和过去分词); pearls:n.珍珠;像珍珠之物;(pearl的复数) traditional:传统的,惯例的, slurs:vt.忽视; vi.含糊地发音; n.污点; heretic:n.异教徒,异端者;adj.异端的;异教的;
and, worst of all, "Protestant," 还有最糟糕的,「新教徒」。
which began in the 16th century as an insult. 这个词从十六世纪开始, 就成了侮辱。
The thing about civility talk, then as now, was that you could call out your opponent for going low, and then take advantage of the moral high ground to go as low or lower, because calling for civility sets up the speaker 至于关于礼貌的谈话, 当时和现在一样, 就是你可以大声喊说 接着以充满道德的高姿态, 来采取低级或更低级的手段, 因为先打出礼貌牌, 就能让说话的人
take advantage of:利用; moral:n.寓意;品行;教益;adj.道德的;道义上的;道德上的;品行端正的; high ground:n.有利条件;
as a model of decorum while implicitly, subtly stigmatizing anyone with the temerity to disagree as uncivil. 成为端庄的模范,而在不知不觉中 把任何有种不同意的人 诬蔑成无礼的人。
decorum:n.礼仪;礼貌;端正;恪守礼仪; subtly:adv.精细地;巧妙地;敏锐地; stigmatizing:vt.诬蔑;玷污;给…打上烙印; temerity:n.鲁莽,冒失;蛮勇;
And so civility talk in the 17th century becomes a really effective way for members of the religious establishment to silence, suppress , exclude dissenters outside of the established church, especially when they spoke out against the status quo . 所以,在十七世纪,「谈论」礼貌 就成了一种很有效的方式, 让教会团体的成员 可以堵住教会外反对者的嘴巴, 打压、排挤他们, 在他们出声反对现状时更是有效。
effective:adj.有效的,起作用的;实际的,实在的;给人深刻印象; establishment:n.大型组织;企业;旅馆;权威人士;建立; suppress:vt.抑制;镇压;废止; exclude:v.不包括;不放在考虑之列;防止…进入;阻止…参加; dissenters:n.反对者(dissenter的复数形式); established:adj.已确立的;著名的;v.建立;创立;设立;(establish的过去分词和过去式) status quo:n.现状;原来的状况;
So Anglican ministers could lecture atheists on the offensiveness of their discourse . 这样,英国国教的牧师 就可以教训无神论者, 说他们的言论有多么冒犯人;
ministers:n.部长,大臣; v.辅助; (minister的第三人称单数和复数) lecture:n.演讲;讲座;讲课;谴责;v.开讲座;讲授;讲课;指责;告诫 atheists:n.无神论者; discourse:n.论述;谈话;演讲;vi.演说;谈论;讲述;vt.说出;演奏出;
Everyone could complain about the Quakers for refusing to doff and don their hats or their " uncouth " practice of shaking hands. 大家都可以抱怨贵格会教徒 拒绝举帽致意、再戴上他们的帽子, 或是他们「没教养」的握手做法。
complain:v.投诉;发牢骚;诉说; Quakers:n.贵格会;贵格会信徒(Quaker的复数); doff:v.脱(衣,帽等);丢弃,废除;落纱; uncouth:adj.笨拙的;粗野的;不舒适的;陌生的;
But those accusations of incivility pretty soon became pretexts for persecution . 但说他们无礼的那些指控, 很快就变成了迫害的藉口。
accusations:n.控告;起诉;告发;谴责;(accusation的复数) pretexts:n.借口;托辞;vt.以…为借口; persecution:n.迫害;烦扰;
So far, so familiar , right? 目前,听起来都很熟悉,对吧？
familiar:adj.熟悉的;常见的;亲近的;n.常客;密友;
We see that strategy again and again . 我们一而再、再而三地 看到这种策略。
again and again:adv.再三地,反复地;
It's used to silence civil rights protesters in the 20th century. 在二十世纪,它被用来 让民权抗议者闭嘴。
civil rights:na.公民权; protesters:n.(公开)抗议者,反对者;(protester的复数)
And I think it explains why partisans on both sides of the aisle keep reaching for this, frankly, antiquated , early modern language of civility precisely when they want to communicate that certain people and certain views are beyond the pale, but they want to save themselves the trouble of actually making an argument. 我想这也解释了为什么 两党双方的死硬派支持者 都不断想要采用这种 坦白说已经过时的 近代早期对礼貌的措词, 而且都是在他们想要传达 某些人及某些观点 是社会所不容, 却不想提出自己的论点的时候, 因为这样就能省去自己的麻烦。
partisans:n.游击队员(partisan的复数形式); aisle:n.通道,走道;侧廊; antiquated:adj.过时的; v.废弃,使变旧(过时,复古); (antiquate的过去分词和过去式) modern language:n.现代语言(尤指在学校里教授的欧洲语言);
So no wonder skeptics like me tend to roll our eyes when the calls for conversational virtue begin, because instead of healing our social and political divisions , it seems like so much civility talk is actually making the problem worse. 也难怪当有人开始 呼吁要谈美德的时候, 像我这样的怀疑论者会翻白眼, 因为我们的社会、政治分裂 并没有因此被解决, 谈这么多礼貌, 似乎还让问题变得更糟糕。
skeptics:n.疑论者,怀疑主义者(skeptic的复数形式); conversational:adj.对话的;健谈的; healing:n.康复; adj.痊愈中的; v.(使)康复,复原; (heal的现在分词) divisions:n.分开;分隔;分配;除(法);不和;差异;(division的复数)
It's saving us the trouble of actually speaking to each other, allowing us to speak past each other or at each other while signaling our superior virtue and letting the audience know which side we're on. 这让我们省下了与对方交谈的麻烦, 而是让我们超越对方来说话, 或即使对着对方说话, 也示意出我们高人一等的美德, 并让观众知道我们是站在哪一边的。
signaling:n.发信号;打信号; superior:n.上级;上司;adj.(在品质上)更好的;占优势的;更胜一筹的;
And given this, I think one might be forgiven, as I did, for assuming that because so much civility talk is bullshit, well then, the virtue of civility must be bullshit, too. 在这样的前提下, 我想大家能原谅我, 我假设既然有这么多 关于礼貌的言谈都是狗屁, 那么礼貌这种美德一定也是狗屁。
assuming:conj.假设…为真; adj.傲慢的; v.假定; (assume的现在分词)
But here, again, I think a little historical perspective goes a long way. 但同样的,我想, 小小的历史观点也能成就大事。
perspective:n.观点;远景;透视图;adj.透视的;
Because remember, the same early modern crisis of civility that launched the Reformation also gave birth to tolerant societies, places like Rhode Island, Pennsylvania , and indeed, eventually the United States, 因为,别忘了,正是礼貌 这种早期现代危机 造成了宗教改革, 也因此诞生了包容的社会, 以及宾州、罗德岛州这些殖民地, 最终产生了美国。
launched:v.发射;发起;开展;开始;(launch的过去式和过去分词) Rhode:n.罗德岛; Pennsylvania:n.宾夕法尼亚州(美国州名);
places that at least aspired to protect disagreement as well as diversity, and what made that possible was the virtue of civility. 这些地方至少都受到鼓舞, 而去保护歧见 以及多样性, 因为礼貌这项美德, 才让这一切能实现。
aspired:v.向往;热望(aspire的过去分词); as well as:也;和…一样;不但…而且;
What made disagreement tolerable, what it made it possible for us to share a life, even when we didn't share a faith, was a virtue, but one, I think, that is perhaps less aspirational and a lot more confrontational 歧见之所以能够被包容, 我们之所以能在 没有共同信念的情况下 仍然共同生活在一起, 究其因就是一种美德, 但,我认为这种美德可能 比较不是志同道合的, 比较是对抗性的,
aspirational:adj.有雄心壮志的;(生活形态等)梦寐以求的;n.成功指南;处世自助手册; confrontational:adj.对抗的;对抗性的;
than the one that people who talk about civility a lot today tend to have in mind. 不像现今总是在 「谈论」礼貌的那些人 心中所想的那种美德。
So I like to call that virtue "mere civility." 所以,我想把那种美德 称为「仅仅客气」。
You may know it as the virtue that allows us to get through our relations with an ex-spouse , or a bad neighbor, not to mention a member of the other party. 你们可能知道这种美德, 让我们能度过 和前配偶的感情关系, 或和恶邻居的关系, 更不用说和另一党成员的关系了。
ex-spouse:前配偶;已离职人员; not to mention:更不必说;不必提及;
Because to be merely civil is to meet a low bar grudgingly , and that, again, makes sense, because civility is a virtue that's meant to help us disagree, and as Hobbes told us all those centuries ago, disagreeable means unpleasant for a reason. 因为,仅仅表现出客气, 其实是勉强超过低标而已, 同样的,那也合理, 因为客气有礼是一种本当用来 协助我们表示歧见的美德, 正如数百年前霍布斯所言, 不同意的形容词「不合意」 表示「不愉快」是有理由的。
grudgingly:adv.勉强地;不情愿地;
But if it isn't bullshit, what exactly is civility or mere civility? 但,若不是狗屁,
What does it require? 它需要什么？
Well, to start, it is not and cannot be the same thing as being respectful or polite, because we need civility precisely when we're dealing with those people that we find it the most difficult, or maybe even impossible, to respect. 首先,它不会也不可能会 等同于尊重或是有礼貌, 因为我们需要客气的时刻, 就是当我们要去处理 那些我们实在很难, 或甚至不可能去尊重的人时。
respectful:adj.恭敬的;有礼貌的;
Similarly , being civil can't be the same as being nice, because being nice means not telling people what you really think about them or their wrong, wrong views. 同样的,表现客气 也不等同于对人好, 因为对人好意味着不要告诉别人 也不能说他们错了, 或是他们的看法很不对。
Similarly:adv.同样地;类似于;
No, being civil means speaking your mind, but to your opponent's face, not behind her back. 不,举止客气有礼意味着 要说出你的心思, 但要当着你的对手的面说出来, 而不是在他们的背后说。
Being merely civil means not pulling our punches , but at the same time, it means maybe not landing all those punches all at once, because the point of mere civility 仅仅客气的意思是不要有所保留, 但同时,也意味着 不要一次就倾全力进攻, 因为仅仅客气的重点,
punches:v.用拳猛击(punch的第三人称单数形式); n.一拳(punch的复数);
is to allow us to disagree, to disagree fundamentally , but to do so without denying or destroying the possibility of a common life tomorrow with the people that we think are standing in our way today. 是要让我们能够从根本上表示歧见, 但这么做时,不能否认或摧毁 在明天共同生活的可能性。
fundamentally:adv.从根本上;基础地;重要地 denying:v.否认;否定;拒绝承认;拒绝给予;(deny的现在分词)
And in that sense, I think civility is actually closely related to another virtue, the virtue of courage. 就那个层面来说,我认为客气其实 和另一种美德密切相关, 即勇气的美德。
So mere civility is having the courage to make yourself disagreeable, and to stay that way, but to do so while staying in the room and staying present to your opponents. 仅仅客气就是要有勇气 且保持那样子, 但这么做时,还要能 和你的对手共处一室, 而且要真正处在当下。
And it also means that, sometimes, calling bullshit on people's civility talk is really the only civil thing to do. 那也意味着,有时, 说别人在谈客气是狗屁, 是唯一有礼貌的做法。
At least that's what I think. 至少我是这么认为的。
But look, if I've learned anything from studying the long history of religious tolerance in the 17th century, it's this: if you're talking about civility as a way to avoid an argument, to isolate yourself in the more agreeable company of the like-minded who already agree with you, 但,如果我在研究十七世纪 宗教包容的漫长历史时 有学到什么的话,那就是: 如果你谈论举止有礼的目的 是要避免争论, 在本来就和你有共识的 人群当中孤立自己,
isolate:v.孤立; n.[微]分离菌; like-minded:adj.志趣相投的;具有相似意向或目的的;
if you find yourself never actually speaking to anyone who really, truly, fundamentally disagrees with you, well, you're doing civility wrong. 如果你发现你从来不会和 任何从根本上 就和你有歧见的人说话, 嗯,那你表现礼貌的方式就错了。
disagrees:v.不同意;有分歧;不符;不一致;(disagree的第三人称单数)
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）