在《意見有三種》一文中(1),Stokes教授(或先生)以「疫苗注射」為例,討論一個人的「意見」是否有被「尊重」的必要。這篇文章的內容強調「公共論述」的觀點,也支持本欄的主題。所以我摘譯幾段文字,謹供參考。
1. “… You are not entitled to your opinion. You are only entitled to what you can argue for.”
你/妳的意見未必值得被尊重。只有你/妳能提出言之成理「論點」的意見,才值得被尊重。
2. … but philosophy teachers owe it to our students to teach them how to construct and defend an argument – and to recognize when a belief has become indefensible.
一位哲學講師的責任在教導學生如何建立與支持一個「論點」,以及有能力了解一個已無法再被理性者接受的信念。
3. The problem with “I’m entitled to my opinion” is that, all too often, it’s used to shelter beliefs that should have been abandoned.
「我的意見應該被尊重。」這句話的問題:它往往被拿來狡辯一個早就應該被放棄的信念。
4. Plato distinguished between opinion or common belief (doxa) and certain knowledge, and that’s still a workable distinction today: unlike “1+1=2” or “there are no square circles,” an opinion has a degree of subjectivity and uncertainty to it. But “opinion” ranges from tastes or preferences, through views about questions that concern most people such as prudence or politics, to views grounded in technical expertise, such as legal or scientific opinions.
柏拉圖區分「意見」或「流行看法」與「確定知識」;這個定義在當下仍然適用。不同於「1+1=2」或「世上沒有正方形的圓圈」這兩個陳述,「意見」具有某種程度的「主觀性」和「不確定性」。但是,我們通常稱為「意見」的說法有三種不同的類別:
a. 品味或偏好;
b. 關於大多數人都在意的「議題」的「看法」,例如正常的生活起居方式和政治;
c. 基於專業知識的「觀點」,例如法律或學術見解。
5. … The problem is that sometimes we implicitly seem to take opinions of the second and even the third sort to be unarguable in the way questions of taste are.
問題在於:我們常常把以上第二類和甚至於第三類的「看法」與「見解」,看成是和無法論證的品味或偏好性質相同的議題。
6. This response confuses not having your views taken seriously with not being allowed to hold or express those views at all – or to borrow a phrase from Andrew Brown, it “confuses losing an argument with losing the right to argue.”
「我的意見應該被尊重。」這句話混淆了以下兩點:
1) 你/妳的意見是否值得被嚴肅的討論;與
2) 你/妳是否被允許擁有或表達你/妳的意見(所謂的「言論自由」 -- 卜凱)。
借用Andrew Brown的說法,它混淆了「你講不贏對方。」與「對方不准你講話。」(也就是我說的:「因此,一個人不能拿『寬容』或『言論自由』的概念來做為胡說八道的遮羞布或保護傘。」 -- 卜凱)
附註:
1. No, You're Not Entitled to Your Opinion – P. Stokes, http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2012/10/09/no_youre_not_entitled_to_your_opinion_106384.html
https://city.udn.com/2976/4878909?tpno=0&cate_no=0
Patrick Stokes is a lecturer in philosophy at Deakin University.
本文於 修改第 6 次