跟讀練習: 3 philosophy classics that are better than self-help books - 通過影片學習英語口語
選擇練習模式
每種模式都會開啟全屏練習室。
116 句
如果句子過短或過長，請點選 Edit 進行調整。
1
The most common question I get asked is what books would I recommend to anybody interested in philosophy?
我最常被問到的一個問題是，對於對哲學感興趣的人，我會推薦哪些書？
2
And the second most common question I get asked is what is the point of philosophy?
我被問到的第二常見的問題是，哲學到底有什麼用？
3
And so to kill two birds with one video, here is my answer.
所以，我用一條影片一舉兩得，這就是我的答案。
4
So I might annoy some philosophers by saying this, but I've always thought that the best thing about philosophy is when it acts as a kind of therapy.
這麼說可能會惹惱一些哲學家，但我一直認為哲學最棒的地方，就是它能起到一種治療的作用。
5
I think that philosophy is best when it helps us understand ourselves, our relationships, and gives us the tools by which to make better decisions.
我認為，最有價值的哲學應當能幫助我們認識自我、理解人際關係，併為我們提供做出更明智決策的方法。
6
I have a love -hate relationship with the self -help industry.
我對自助產業的態度愛恨交織。
7
I often write a lot of self -help stuff and I've read a great many books about it as well.
我經常寫很多自我提升類的內容，也讀過大量相關的書籍。
8
And some self -help books can be original and they can be fresh, but I've always found that the bulk of it is just philosophy in a set of new clothes.
有些自助類書籍可能有獨到見解、內容新穎，但我一直覺得大部分這類書都只是換了新包裝的老套哲學。
9
It's Aristotle in a podcast form, it's Lao Tzu giving a TED talk.
這就像是亞里士多德開了播客，老子做了一場TED演講。
10
There is nothing wrong with this because big ideas wrapped in big words almost always take a lot of chewing.
這一點並無不妥，因為用宏大詞彙包裝的宏大思想往往都需要反覆咀嚼才能理解。
11
For example, I used to teach Friedrich Nietzsche to 16 year olds.
舉個例子，我以前給16歲的學生講授弗里德里希·尼采的思想。
12
Often they really took to him and so I told them to go away and read a book.
他們往往很喜歡他，所以我就讓他們走開，去看書。
13
I told them to read on the genealogy of morals but they didn't love him then.
我讓他們去讀《論道德的譜系》，但那時候他們還不喜歡他。
14
Philosophy is one of the most important disciplines in the world.
哲學是世界上最重要的學科之一。
15
It can change lives and it can define them but it's often difficult.
它能改變人生，也能定義人生，但這個過程往往充滿艱辛。
16
So it makes sense that millionaires are made by explaining or condensing complex philosophical ideas for a modern ear.
因此，有人靠為當代人闡釋或提煉複雜的哲學思想成為百萬富翁，也就不足為奇了。
17
But the problem is that any time you simplify you lose a bit of nuance
但問題在於，每當你進行簡化時，都會丟失一些細微的差別。
18
and if you simplify it again you lose a bit of meaning.
要是再簡化一次，就會損失一些原意。
19
When you simplify a thing so many times it becomes so diluted and dumbed down that it becomes worthless.
當你把一件事過度簡化到一定程度時，它就會變得空洞乏味、失去意義，最終變得毫無價值。
20
So here for you are three examples where I think that philosophy is at its richest at its source.
以下是我認為哲學在其源頭處最為豐富的三個例子。
21
Here are three books worth more than a bookshop full of self -help manuals.
這三本書的價值，勝過一整家書店的自助類書籍。
22
First is Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics.
首先是亞里士多德的《尼各馬可倫理學》。
23
One of the hallmarks of genius is to not be thought of as a genius.
天才的一個特徵，就是不被人們當成天才。
24
It's to create something so obvious and clear and straightforward that when you first meet it, it feels as if you knew the argument long before you read it.
它的目的是創造出一種極其淺顯、清晰、直白的內容，讓你第一次接觸到它時，會覺得自己早在讀到這個論點之前就已經理解它了。
25
An inventor, for example, will become rich thanks to billions of people saying, I cannot believe that anybody hasn't thought of this before.
舉個例子，一位發明家會變得富有，因為數十億人都會說：我簡直不敢相信之前居然沒人想到過這個。
26
And likewise, a novelist, a writer, or an artist will create something so immersive that you often won't see the effort in the planning, the execution, and the edits.
同樣地，小說家、作家或藝術家創作出的作品極具沉浸感，你往往看不到他們在策劃、執行和修改過程中付出的努力。
27
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is a genius piece of work, because you do not see the genius behind it.
亞里士多德的《尼各馬可倫理學》是一部天才之作，因為你看不到它背後的天才之處。
28
When I first read Aristotle as a student, I read it like I would any book or article, and I was swept away by the argument.
我學生時代第一次讀亞里士多德的著作時，和讀其他書籍文章沒什麼兩樣，完全被他的論證吸引住了。
29
Everything he said just seemed so obvious.
他剛才說的話看起來都太顯而易見了。
30
It felt as if I was being pulled along a path and I could imagine no other route forwards.
我感覺自己彷彿被推著沿著一條路往前走，完全想像不出還有別的前進方向。
31
I drew wisdom from his ideas and I followed his conclusions, but I felt as if there was something greater, far greater, lurking beneath the surface.
我從他的觀點中汲取了智慧，也認同他的結論，但總覺得表象之下潛藏著某種更宏大、遠比這一切更為深邃的東西。
32
Because Aristotle's work is so well crafted, this was not a rushed work of an all -nighter marching to the drum of an angry editor.
亞里士多德的作品構思極為精妙，這絕非是他為了應付怒氣衝衝的編輯而通宵趕工出來的倉促之作。
33
As the philosopher Michael Pakaluck put it,
正如哲學家邁克爾·帕卡盧克所言，
34
So what's Aristotle's book about?
那亞里士多德的這本書是講什麼的？
35
Well, the ethics in his book is an older version of how we use that word today.
嗯，他書中所說的倫理學，是我們今天使用這個詞時的一個較早的版本。
36
Today, ethics means right and wrong.
如今，倫理意味著是非對錯。
37
It's pretty much synonymous with morality.
它幾乎等同於道德。
38
But in ancient Greece, ethics was more about a way of life.
但在古希臘，倫理學更多是關於一種生活方式。
39
It was how you behaved and your entire character.
是你的行為舉止和整個人的品格。
40
So Aristotle's book is literally a guidebook or an argument about how to behave as a human being.
因此，亞里士多德的著作實際上是一本指導手冊，或者說是關於人應當如何行事的論述。
41
It's about how to live well, how to be virtuous, and most importantly of all, how to be happy.
它關乎如何好好生活、如何擁有美德，而最重要的是，如何獲得幸福。
42
Because the book starts with the question, what is the ultimate purpose in life? and Aristotle believes it's eudaimonia or profound and existential happiness.
因為這本書開篇就提出了一個問題：人生的終極目的是什麼？亞里士多德認為這個答案就是幸福，也就是深刻而具有存在意義的幸福感。
43
And so the entire book is a manual about how to be happy.
所以整本書就是一本教人如何獲得幸福的指南。
44
It's the work of decades of philosophical study and debate from one of history's greatest minds and it says, okay, if happiness is the destination,
這是歷史上最偉大的思想家之一數十年哲學研究與辯論的成果，它表明，好吧，如果幸福是終點，
45
how can we get to there?
我們怎麼去那裡？
46
And the path Aristotle leads us on is an act of genius.
亞里士多德為我們指引的道路堪稱天才之舉。
47
You'll think you've heard it before and it will change how you view life.
你會覺得這些道理似曾相識，但它會徹底改變你看待人生的方式。
48
So yes, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is my first choice.
所以沒錯，亞里士多德的《尼各馬可倫理學》是我的首選。
49
Second is Essays by Michel de Montaigne.
第二部是米歇爾·德·蒙田的《隨筆集》。
50
There are only a handful of people in history who you can say literally started an entire genre.
歷史上能真正開創出一整個流派的人屈指可數。
51
You could say that Mary Shelley with science fiction, Jane Austen with romance novels, and J .R .R.
可以說瑪麗·雪萊開創了科幻小說，簡·奧斯汀奠定了言情小說的基礎，而J.R.R.
52
Tolkien with modern fantasy.
托爾金與現代奇幻文學。
53
And the 16th century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne is widely considered to be the father of the essay.
16世紀法國哲學家米歇爾·德·蒙田被廣泛認為是散文體裁的奠基人。
54
Today, essays are everywhere.
如今，散文無處不在。
55
Almost all long -form non -fiction you read online comes in essay form.
你在網上讀到的幾乎所有長篇非虛構作品都是以散文形式呈現的。
56
And while there is no way to easily define a literary essay,
雖然我們很難給文學隨筆下一個簡單明確的定義，
57
you could broadly say it's where you explore a theme in a philosophical style while weaving in autobiographical details and fascinating asides.
大致來說，你可以這樣理解：它是以哲學思辨的方式探討某個主題，同時融入個人自傳式的細節與引人入勝的旁支論述。
58
And Montaigne was one of the first to do it.
蒙田是最早這樣做的人之一。
59
Essay in 16th century France literally meant a trial, and the idea was that Montaigne's essays would be where he takes a trial, a question, an issue, a problem,
在16世紀的法國，“隨筆”一詞的字面意思是“嘗試”，其核心理念是蒙田的隨筆就是他對一個試驗、一個疑問、一個議題、一個問題進行探索的地方。
60
and then he'd pen his reflections on the topic.
然後他會寫下自己對這個話題的思考。
61
Of course the art of the essay comes in the degree of reflection and the style in which it's written.
當然，散文的藝術就體現在其思想深度與行文風格之中。
62
A good essay requires wit, erudition and relatability.
一篇優秀的散文需要兼具機趣、學識與共情力。
63
And there are two reasons why Montaigne's essays are such a great example of the self -help genre.
蒙田的隨筆之所以能成為自助類作品的傑出典範，有兩方面原因。
64
The first is that Montaigne is quite literally taking us through his solutions to common problems.
首先，蒙田實實在在地向我們闡述了他對常見問題的解決思路。
65
Here we have a hugely intelligent human being talking about topics
這裡我們看到一位極具智慧的人正在談論各種話題。
66
that are just as relevant today as they were 400 years ago.
這些觀點在今天依然和400年前一樣具有現實意義。
67
For example, he talks about feeling lazy, dealing with liars and the best way to apologise.
比如，他談到了犯懶的感覺、應對騙子的方法，以及道歉的最佳方式。
68
He explains the joys of solitude but the dangers of loneliness.
他闡述了獨處的樂趣，也點明瞭孤獨的危險。
69
He even gives advice on how to get a good night's sleep.
他甚至還會給出如何睡個好覺的建議。
70
Montaigne explores over a hundred topics with only a few being limited to his time and to his place.
蒙田探討了一百多個主題，其中只有少數幾個受限於他所處的時代和地域。
71
This relatability is also what makes the essay so helpful
這種共鳴感也正是這篇文章極具參考價值的原因。
72
because reading Montaigne's reflections is like stretching back in time
閱讀蒙田的隨筆，就彷彿跨越了時間的長河。
73
and finding somebody with just as many quirks and quandaries as we have now.
找到一個和我們一樣有著同樣多小怪癖與困惑的人。
74
Montaigne doesn't seem to present himself in an especially noble or faultless way.
蒙田似乎並沒有以特別高尚或完美的方式來展現自己。
75
He is happy to let it all kind of hang out.
他很樂意把所有事情都攤開來說。
76
And so when we read his essays we see a complex whole, a flawed character, but always genial, witty and likeable.
因此，當我們閱讀他的隨筆時，我們看到的是一個複雜的整體，一個有缺點的人物，但始終和藹可親、機智風趣、討人喜歡。
77
Montaigne might be saying something trivial as when he says, when I play with my cat who knows whether she is amusing me or whether I am amusing her.
蒙田或許是在說一件微不足道的小事，就像他說的：當我和我的貓玩耍時，誰知道是她在逗我開心，還是我在逗她開心。
78
Or it could be something poignant and profound as in his essay on the death of his best friend.
又或者，它可能像他那篇關於摯友離世的隨筆一樣，飽含深切的悲慟與深刻的哲思。
79
But he always comes across as human, as human as you and me.
但他給人的感覺總是很真實，和你我一樣有血有肉。
80
The philosopher and writer James Baldwin once put it perfectly when he said, you think that your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world,
哲學家兼作家詹姆斯·鮑德溫曾說得極為貼切，他說，你以為自己的痛苦和心碎在世界歷史上是前所未有的，
81
but then you read.
但之後你讀了。
82
It was books that taught me that the things
是書籍讓我明白，那些事物
83
that tormented me the most were the very things
最讓我備受折磨的恰恰是那些事情
84
that connected me with all of the people who were alive and who had ever been alive.
讓我與所有在世以及曾在世的人產生了聯結。
85
That's what I get when I read Montaigne.
86
Third, the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.
87
There are some people who are quite reluctant to call books like the Tao Te Ching philosophy at all.
88
They argue that philosophy is a narrowly defined discipline that involves premises, conclusions and grounding all of your argument in this rational discussion.
89
And so if we define philosophy like that then yes the Tao Te Ching is very much not philosophy.
90
Because the Tao Te Ching is very different from both Aristotle and Montaigne.
91
In fact it's different from almost all academic work written in the Western tradition.
92
It's a collection of aphorisms and pithy nuggets that are so vague it's hard to even make sense of them at times.
93
Not only do they refuse to give you any straight answers whatsoever
94
but they make you question whether there can be any straight answers to be found at all.
95
But the reason it's important for self -development is
96
because books like the Tao Te Ching appeal to an element of the human condition in a way
97
that more rational texts simply cannot.
98
In many ways, the Tao Te Ching is closer to poetry than philosophy, but in the way that poetry can also be deeply philosophical.
99
Taoist students reading the Tao Te Ching would sometimes spend months reading a single line from Lao Tzu's work.
100
They would meditate on what the words revealed, often sharing their interpretations,
101
and many copies of the Tao Te Ching handed down to us are crammed with centuries worth of margelania.
102
The Tao Te Ching gives us two key insights.
103
The first is to accept that some things are beyond our comprehension and likely will remain beyond our comprehension forever.
104
There are mystical forces and answers that cannot be labeled, but which are no less important for it.
105
Whether you prefer to call that the Tao, fate, the unconscious, socio -economic forces, the will, god or whatever, the central idea is the same.
106
Some things exist and cannot be named.
107
The second is what the Tao Te Ching is about.
108
It's about listening to these nameless forces.
109
It's about following the river of your life, waterfalls and rapids too if it comes to that.
110
Blaise Pascal once wrote that the heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.
111
I quote Pascal because listen to your heart is a bit too saccharine and cliched even for me.
112
I do not know entirely what the Tao Te Ching is about.
113
Some of it does appear to be paradoxical nonsense.
114
I don't think anybody can entirely make sense of large portions of it but the experience of reading the Tao Te Ching, of reading any of these books in this list come to think of it,
115
is an act of meditative mindfulness in itself.
116
Because sometimes the best thing about philosophy is not the ideas themselves, but the process of considering them.
同頻道
C1118
Arguments for God: The Fine Tuning Argument
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C152
Shakespeare: Hamlet
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C17
The “Nietzsche Thesis”: Why we don’t really care about truth
British AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
C19
Why you should "steel man" other people
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C110
Some brains are built for philosophy. Is yours?
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C15
The day you died (and didn't notice)
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C120
Why you can't quit social media (and the Romans knew it)
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B26
One of the cruellest things to tell any child
British AccentTeensDaily ConversationHigh School Students
C17
Every monster you fear is really you
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
The 4 moments that will change your life
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C110
“But you did it first!”: A defense of the whataboutism
British AccentIELTS PrepTOEFL PrepUniversity Students
FOR YOU
推薦影片
C15
70 句
What True Love Really Is
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
172 句
9 Stoic Rules For A Better Life (From Marcus Aurelius)
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
77 句
PHILOSOPHY - Plato
British AccentDaily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
154 句
Jordan Peterson On Importance Of Reading
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
271 句
Secret to a Stress-Free Mind (Lao Tzu + Psychology)
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
98 句
Self Educated Polymaths Will Win In The Digital Age
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
212 句
Self-Help: What Went Wrong?
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
201 句
The Freedom of Loneliness
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
259 句
Talk Back: Why Arguing With Yourself Can Help You Flourish
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
85 句
AI Will End Philosophy, Physicist Claims
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
本課的詞彙與口語要點
這節 C1 級別的口語課以影片“3 philosophy classics that are better than self-help books”為素材。 影片中反覆出現的詞有：Tao, essay, philosophy, Ching, Montaigne。 這段影片共有 116 個句子、1792 個單詞可供跟讀。 講話部分時長為 10:14。 說話人語速自然，每分鐘約 175 個詞，接近日常對話。 只有 80% 的單詞屬於英語最常用的 3,000 詞，詞彙難度較高。
影片中的重點詞彙
影片中最難的 15 個單詞，附發音和釋義：
| 單詞 | 發音 | 釋義 |
|---|---|---|
| philosopher 名詞 | /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/ | 哲學家 /哲學家 |
| simplify 動詞 | /ˈsɪmplɪfaɪ/ | 簡化 /簡化 |
| comprehension 名詞 | /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/ | 理解, 瞭解 /瞭解 |
| behave 動詞 | /bɪˈheɪv/ | 為人 /為人 |
| rational 形容詞 | /ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəl/ | 合理的, 理性的 |
| aphorism 名詞 | /ˈæfəˌɹɪzəm/ | 格言 |
| bookshop 名詞 | 書店 /書店, 書局 /書局 | |
| dilute 動詞 | /daɪˈljuːt/ | 稀釋 /稀釋 |
| erudition 名詞 | /ˌɛɹʊˈdɪʃən/ | 博學 /博學, 學識 /學識 |
| existential 形容詞 | /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃl̩/ | 存在性, 有關存在的 /有關存在的 |
| fascinate 動詞 | /ˈfæsɪneɪt/ | 誘惑 /誘惑, 迷住 |
| faultless 形容詞 | 無錯誤的 /無錯誤的, 無缺點的 /無缺點的 | |
| genealogy 名詞 | /ˌd͡ʒiniˈɑlədʒi/ | 血統 /血統 |
| hallmark 名詞 | /ˈhɔlmɑɹk/ | 標誌 /標誌, 特徵 /特徵 |
| heartbreak 名詞 | /ˈhɑɹt.bɹeɪk/ | 破心 |
影片中出現的短語動詞
| 單詞 | 釋義 |
|---|---|
| go away 動詞 | 離開 /離開, 走 |
影片中的語法
說話人最常用的結構，並附上影片中的原話：
| 結構 | 影片中的用法 |
|---|---|
| 被動語態 be + 過去分詞 — 強調發生了什麼，而不是誰做的 | are made · be thought · was swept |
| 現在完成時 have/has + 過去分詞 — 過去發生但與現在仍有關聯的事 | I've always thought · I've read · I've always found |
| 定語從句 who / which + 從句 — 補充說明人或事物 | people who were · people who are |
需要注意的發音
說話人用了 11 次縮略和弱讀形式，例如 I've, didn't, doesn't。請按聽到的簡短形式來說。
- “sh” 和 “zh” 音: comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/, rational /ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəl/, erudition /ˌɛɹʊˈdɪʃən/, existential /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃl̩/, unconscious /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəs/
- 長單詞——注意重音位置: philosopher /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/, philosophical /ˌfɪl.əˈsɑ.fɪ.kl̩/, aphorism /ˈæfəˌɹɪzəm/, autobiographical /ˌɑtoʊˌbaɪəˈɡɹæfəkəl/, erudition /ˌɛɹʊˈdɪʃən/
中文母語者容易讀錯的音：
- /v/ — 不要讀成 /w/，上齒輕觸下唇: behave /bɪˈheɪv/, immersive /ɪˈmɜːɹ.sɪv/, meditative /ˈmɛdɪˌteɪtɪv/, virtuous /ˈvɝt͡ʃuəs/, weave /wiːv/
- 詞尾子音 — 要讀清楚，後面不要加母音: amuse /əˈmjuːz/, profound /pɹəˈfaʊnd/, behave /bɪˈheɪv/, condense /kənˈdɛns/, dilute /daɪˈljuːt/
- /r/ 和 /l/ 的區別: rational /ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəl/, autobiographical /ˌɑtoʊˌbaɪəˈɡɹæfəkəl/, hallmark /ˈhɔlmɑɹk/, paradoxical /ˌpɛɹəˈdɑːksɪkəl/, narrowly /ˈnæɹoʊli/
如何用這段影片練習
- 先完整聽一遍影片，不要開口，記下不認識的單詞。
- 先用 0.75 倍速逐句跟讀，熟練之後再回到正常速度。
- 錄下自己的聲音並與原聲對比，特別注意 philosopher, simplify, comprehension 這類單詞。
什麼是跟讀法？
跟讀法 (Shadowing) 是一種有科學依據的語言學習技巧，最初開發用於專業口譯員的培訓，並由多語言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。這個方法簡單而強大：您在聽英語母語原聲的同時立即大聲重複——就像是一個延遲1-2秒緊跟說話者的影子。與被動聽力或語法練習不同，跟讀法強迫您的大腦和口腔肌肉同時處理並模模擬實的講話模式。研究表明它能顯著提高發音準確性，語調，節奏，連讀，聽力理解和口語流利度——使其成為雅思口語備考和真實英語交流最有效的方法之一。