? ? by ? ?Elizebath
In a June Philosophy Symposium discussionof Nietzsche’s “On the Genealogy of Morality,” our mentor put forward thequestion of what morality meant to each of us. Some participants held thatmorality was like a limit of people’s behaviors that can serve to prevent peoplefrom doing bad things, such as murdering one another. This answer reallysurprised me, for my own opinion of the meaning of morality was very different.
My father greatly contributed to myunderstanding of personal morality. In my memory, he had never been absent fromhis work without asking for leave under any circumstances. The time when myfather came back from his 7-month training for the national military parade, hewent right back to work the next day, without a single day of rest. At the gate,he told me, “My girl, you should always remember that we’re doing what we aredoing now, whether it is working or studying, because we are the ones who choseit. We should always take charge of our own choices. So there is no reason forme to be away from my job since I am back now.” My father’s full enthusiasm forhis work influenced my belief in personal responsibility. Consequently, I hadalways regarded morality as an inner promotion for people to put efforts intopursuing what they think is important, and into being responsible to others.
But as I was quite surprised to hearmorality defined in the participants’ way, I was no longer that sure about myprevious understanding. Their explanation provided an entirely new perspective,making me hesitant about my previous firm belief.
Frustrated to question myself but eager tobetter understand my peers’ thinking, I started to imagine how the world wouldbe if filled with people whose senses of morality only serve as mere limits oftheir behaviors. I found that it would be an orderly world, for the advantage.But it might also be slightly negative because people would merely get rid ofcommitting bad actions instead of offering to do good things. On the otherhand, where morality functions in the way I supposed may be a more positivesociety, with people following their sense of morality to devote themselves tothe world.
Just like I felt like I was doing a prettygreat thing every time I volunteered at the welfare house, the action would notbring me any tangible benefits at all. But according to my sense of moralityor, let’s say, personal responsibility, I can gain lots of satisfaction bytaking care of the lonely elder, patiently listening to their stories andbringing them warmth, which I think are meaningful things. The satisfaction Igained from this experience was absolutely similar to the one my father hopedme to learn to cultivate toward my future job - a promotion beyond any kind ofcompulsive regulations that teaches us how to be responsible to both ourselvesand others and will therefore turn us into better selves.
At the end of this discussion, we of coursehadn’t got a unanimous opinion of what morality means, but I enjoyed thediscussion greatly. I realized how exciting and beneficial it would be todiscuss an idea with people who had such drastically different opinions from me- in the process of listening to others’ opinions, I got to know many ideas Ihad never approached before. In this way, I finally cultivated a strongerbelief in my personal understanding of morality after thinking carefully aboutthe differences between various ideas. In the meantime, I opened my eyes to howmuch opinions can vary on such a fundamental question. I have grown morereceptive and tolerant to different opinions, and will continue to learn fromdiverse voices.
在六月的一場哲學(xué)會(huì)飲沙龍討論會(huì)（一種由柏拉圖的《會(huì)印篇》引申出來的圓桌會(huì)議討論形式）上飘弧，我們討論的主題是尼采所著《論道德的譜系》。
導(dǎo)師向我們提出了一個(gè)問題砚著，對(duì)我們來說道德意味著什么次伶。
有的與會(huì)者認(rèn)為道德實(shí)質(zhì)上是一種對(duì)人們行為的約束，可以阻止人們做壞事——比如謀殺稽穆。
這個(gè)回答讓我感到驚訝冠王，因?yàn)閷?duì)我來說道德的意義遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不止于此。
我的父親對(duì)我關(guān)于個(gè)人道德的認(rèn)知的形成影響很大舌镶。
在我的記憶中柱彻，他從未在沒有專門請(qǐng)假的情況下脫離崗位。參加完九三閱兵的長達(dá)七個(gè)月的高強(qiáng)度訓(xùn)練之后餐胀，他在回家后的第二天就立刻返回了工作崗位哟楷，沒有給自己放哪怕一天的假。
在家門口否灾，他是這樣跟我說的：“女兒吓蘑，你要永遠(yuǎn)記著，我們?cè)谕瓿晌覀冋谧龅氖路爻澹徽撌枪ぷ鬟€是學(xué)習(xí)磨镶，只因?yàn)樽龀鲞@個(gè)選擇的人是我們自己。所以健提，既然我現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)回來了琳猫，我就沒有理由不繼續(xù)投入我在這里的工作∷奖裕”
爸爸對(duì)于他的工作全心的熱情深深地影響了我對(duì)于個(gè)人責(zé)任的體會(huì)脐嫂。因此统刮，我一直認(rèn)為個(gè)人的道德是一種人們內(nèi)心的驅(qū)動(dòng)力，驅(qū)動(dòng)人們努力追求他們所認(rèn)為重要的東西账千，也驅(qū)動(dòng)人們對(duì)他人負(fù)責(zé)侥蒙。
然而，當(dāng)我第一次聽到道德在別的與會(huì)者口中被定義成他們的認(rèn)知匀奏，我的內(nèi)心受到了很大的震撼鞭衩。我不再像我原來那樣對(duì)自己的看法感到如此確信了。他們的解釋為我提供了一個(gè)全新的視角娃善，也讓我對(duì)原本深信不疑的想法感到猶疑论衍。
要對(duì)一個(gè)自己已經(jīng)堅(jiān)持了很久的、根深蒂固的概念提出質(zhì)疑無疑是很令人沮喪的聚磺，但想要更好的理解我的伙伴的想法卻更為強(qiáng)烈坯台。
我開始思考這樣的一個(gè)世界會(huì)是怎么樣的：它被一些道德對(duì)其只是約束行為的工具的人填滿。
我發(fā)現(xiàn)那大概會(huì)是一個(gè)有秩序的世界——如果我們要從它的優(yōu)點(diǎn)來看瘫寝。
但是蜒蕾，它也很可能是一個(gè)有點(diǎn)消極的世界。
因?yàn)槿藗兛赡軙?huì)避免犯錯(cuò)焕阿、避免做壞事滥搭，而不是努力去做好事。另一方面捣鲸，一個(gè)道德以我所認(rèn)可的形式影響人們的社會(huì)會(huì)是一個(gè)更加積極的社會(huì)，在那里人們會(huì)跟從道德的指引向世界奉獻(xiàn)自己闽坡。
正如我每次在福利院當(dāng)志愿者的時(shí)候栽惶，都會(huì)覺得自己是在做一件很棒的事情。這個(gè)行為可能并不會(huì)給我?guī)砣魏慰吹靡娂残帷⒚弥膶?shí)質(zhì)性利益外厂。但是根據(jù)我的個(gè)人道德對(duì)我來說的意義，或者讓我們說代承，個(gè)人責(zé)任感汁蝶，我可以從我在福利院做的事情中收獲巨大的滿足感。
照顧那些孤單的老人论悴，耐心地傾聽他們的故事掖棉，帶給他們溫暖泽台，這些都是在我看來非常有意義的事情螃成。我從這些經(jīng)歷中獲取的滿足感折联，與我父親希望我能夠?qū)ξ磥淼墓ぷ髋c生活培養(yǎng)的熱情是非常相似的——這就是一種超越任何強(qiáng)制性制度的浑彰，能夠教會(huì)我們?nèi)绾螌?duì)我們自己以及身邊的其他人負(fù)責(zé)任友瘤、并因此能夠?qū)⑽覀冏兂筛玫娜说钠祷祝瑑?nèi)心的驅(qū)動(dòng)力空盼。
在這場討論會(huì)的最后衰抑，我們當(dāng)然沒能就道德到底是什么來得出一個(gè)一致通過的答案，但我非常享受這次討論香伴。
我認(rèn)識(shí)到了跟那些與我持有完全不同意見的人討論是一件多么令人激動(dòng)慰枕、并使人獲益匪淺的事情——在傾聽他們的觀點(diǎn)時(shí)，我得以了解一些我以前從未接觸過的想法即纲。以此種方式具帮，在經(jīng)過認(rèn)真比較不同觀點(diǎn)的區(qū)別后，我最終對(duì)于道德——這樣一個(gè)宏觀的崇裁、籠統(tǒng)的概念——的個(gè)人理解到達(dá)了更深的層次匕坯，也更加堅(jiān)信自己始終堅(jiān)持的看法。
同時(shí)拔稳，對(duì)于如此基礎(chǔ)的問題的不同回答之間的區(qū)別之大也讓我大開眼界葛峻。
在這樣一場精彩的討論會(huì)中，我變得對(duì)于不同看法的接受能力更強(qiáng)巴比、也更有包容心了术奖。從今以后，我也會(huì)繼續(xù)努力地從不同的聲音中學(xué)習(xí)轻绞、成長采记。
作者簡介：
Elizebath：敏兒故事的女兒，2016年被美國八所名校錄取政勃，現(xiàn)就讀于美國某校唧龄。此文寫于作者17歲，當(dāng)時(shí)就讀國內(nèi)高中奸远。
