公眾人物畢業(yè)演講第16期:邁克爾·彭博哈佛大學(xué)2014畢業(yè)典禮演講(8)

I'm sure all of today's graduates have read

我敢肯定 今天畢業(yè)的學(xué)生肯定都讀過(guò)

John Stuart Mill's On Liberty

約翰.斯圖爾特.密爾的《論自由》

But just let me read a short passage from it

請(qǐng)?jiān)试S我將其中的一小段讀給大家聽(tīng)

"The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of anopinion is

"強(qiáng)迫別人不能發(fā)表意見(jiàn)的邪惡"

that it is robbing the human race

"乃是對(duì)整個(gè)人類(lèi)的掠奪"

posterity as well as the existing generation

"對(duì)后代和當(dāng)代人類(lèi)的掠奪"

those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it"

"對(duì)不同意于那個(gè)意見(jiàn)的人掠奪更多"

He continued: "If the opinion is right

他繼續(xù)道 "假如那意見(jiàn)是對(duì)的"

they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth

"那么他們是被剝奪了以錯(cuò)誤換真理的機(jī)會(huì)"

if wrong

"假如那意見(jiàn)是錯(cuò)的"

they lose, what is almost as great a benefit

"那么他們是失掉了一個(gè)差不多同樣大的利益"

the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth

"那就是從真理與錯(cuò)誤沖突中產(chǎn)生出來(lái)的對(duì)于真理的"

produced by its collision with error"

"更加清楚的認(rèn)識(shí)和更加生動(dòng)的印象"

Mill would have been horrified to learn of university students

密爾如果知道大學(xué)學(xué)生強(qiáng)迫別人不發(fā)表意見(jiàn)

silencing the opinions of others

肯定會(huì)痛心疾首

He would have been even more horrified that faculty members

密爾如果知道連教職團(tuán)隊(duì)都通常成為

were often part of the commencement censorship campaigns

畢業(yè)演講審查活動(dòng)的一部分 肯定會(huì)更痛心疾首

For tenured professors

如果是終身教職教授

to silence speakers whose views they disagree with

強(qiáng)迫觀點(diǎn)同自己不一致的發(fā)言者不發(fā)表言論

is the height of hypocrisy

那就真是莫大的諷刺了

especially when these protests happen in the northeast

特別是發(fā)生在東北的那些抗議

a bastion of self-professed liberal tolerance

自稱(chēng)的自由寬容顯得尤為偽善

Now I'm glad to say that

不過(guò)我很高興的是

Harvard has not caved in to these commencement censorship challenges

哈佛沒(méi)有陷入這些畢業(yè)典禮審查之中

If it had, Colorado State Senator Michael Johnston

否則的話(huà) 科羅拉多州參議員邁克爾?約翰斯頓

would not have had the chance to address the Education School yesterday

昨天就沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)在教育學(xué)院發(fā)表演講了

Some students called on the administration to rescind the invitation to Johnston

不少學(xué)生號(hào)召管理層撤回對(duì)約翰斯頓的邀請(qǐng)

because they opposed some of his education policies

因?yàn)樗麄兎磳?duì)他的一些教育政策

But to their great credit, President Faust and Dean Ryan stood firm

不過(guò) 佛斯特校長(zhǎng)和賴(lài)安院長(zhǎng)都非常鑒定

As Dean Ryan wrote to students

賴(lài)安院長(zhǎng)寫(xiě)信給這些學(xué)生說(shuō)

"I have encountered many people of good faith

"我碰到過(guò)很多懷有良好愿望的人"

who share my basic goals

"他們都有相同的目標(biāo)"

but disagree with my views when it comes to the question of

"只是同我在教育如何改善的問(wèn)題上"

how best to improve education

"觀點(diǎn)存在分歧"

In my view

"在我看來(lái)"

those differences should be explored, debated, challenged, and questioned

"這些分歧應(yīng)當(dāng)經(jīng)過(guò)探討和辯論 受到挑戰(zhàn)和質(zhì)疑"

But they should also be respected and indeed, celebrated"

"同時(shí)也應(yīng)受到尊敬和慶賀"

He could not have been more correct

他完全是正確的

and he could not have provided a more valuable final lesson to the class of 2014

他以自身言行為2014屆畢業(yè)生上了最為寶貴的最后一課