跟读练习: 3 philosophy classics that are better than self-help books - 通过视频学习英语口语
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116 句
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1
The most common question I get asked is what books would I recommend to anybody interested in philosophy?
我最常被问到的一个问题是，对于对哲学感兴趣的人，我会推荐哪些书？
2
And the second most common question I get asked is what is the point of philosophy?
我被问到的第二常见的问题是，哲学到底有什么用？
3
And so to kill two birds with one video, here is my answer.
所以，我用一条视频一举两得，这就是我的答案。
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.
这么说可能会惹恼一些哲学家，但我一直认为哲学最棒的地方，就是它能起到一种治疗的作用。
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.
我认为，最有价值的哲学应当能帮助我们认识自我、理解人际关系，并为我们提供做出更明智决策的方法。
6
I have a love -hate relationship with the self -help industry.
我对自助产业的态度爱恨交织。
7
I often write a lot of self -help stuff and I've read a great many books about it as well.
我经常写很多自我提升类的内容，也读过大量相关的书籍。
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.
有些自助类书籍可能有独到见解、内容新颖，但我一直觉得大部分这类书都只是换了新包装的老套哲学。
9
It's Aristotle in a podcast form, it's Lao Tzu giving a TED talk.
这就像是亚里士多德开了播客，老子做了一场TED演讲。
10
There is nothing wrong with this because big ideas wrapped in big words almost always take a lot of chewing.
这一点并无不妥，因为用宏大词汇包装的宏大思想往往都需要反复咀嚼才能理解。
11
For example, I used to teach Friedrich Nietzsche to 16 year olds.
举个例子，我以前给16岁的学生讲授弗里德里希·尼采的思想。
12
Often they really took to him and so I told them to go away and read a book.
他们往往很喜欢他，所以我就让他们走开，去看书。
13
I told them to read on the genealogy of morals but they didn't love him then.
我让他们去读《论道德的谱系》，但那时候他们还不喜欢他。
14
Philosophy is one of the most important disciplines in the world.
哲学是世界上最重要的学科之一。
15
It can change lives and it can define them but it's often difficult.
它能改变人生，也能定义人生，但这个过程往往充满艰辛。
16
So it makes sense that millionaires are made by explaining or condensing complex philosophical ideas for a modern ear.
因此，有人靠为当代人阐释或提炼复杂的哲学思想成为百万富翁，也就不足为奇了。
17
But the problem is that any time you simplify you lose a bit of nuance
但问题在于，每当你进行简化时，都会丢失一些细微的差别。
18
and if you simplify it again you lose a bit of meaning.
要是再简化一次，就会损失一些原意。
19
When you simplify a thing so many times it becomes so diluted and dumbed down that it becomes worthless.
当你把一件事过度简化到一定程度时，它就会变得空洞乏味、失去意义，最终变得毫无价值。
20
So here for you are three examples where I think that philosophy is at its richest at its source.
以下是我认为哲学在其源头处最为丰富的三个例子。
21
Here are three books worth more than a bookshop full of self -help manuals.
这三本书的价值，胜过一整家书店的自助类书籍。
22
First is Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics.
首先是亚里士多德的《尼各马可伦理学》。
23
One of the hallmarks of genius is to not be thought of as a genius.
天才的一个特征，就是不被人们当成天才。
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.
它的目的是创造出一种极其浅显、清晰、直白的内容，让你第一次接触到它时，会觉得自己早在读到这个论点之前就已经理解它了。
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.
举个例子，一位发明家会变得富有，因为数十亿人都会说：我简直不敢相信之前居然没人想到过这个。
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.
同样地，小说家、作家或艺术家创作出的作品极具沉浸感，你往往看不到他们在策划、执行和修改过程中付出的努力。
27
Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is a genius piece of work, because you do not see the genius behind it.
亚里士多德的《尼各马可伦理学》是一部天才之作，因为你看不到它背后的天才之处。
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.
我学生时代第一次读亚里士多德的著作时，和读其他书籍文章没什么两样，完全被他的论证吸引住了。
29
Everything he said just seemed so obvious.
他刚才说的话看起来都太显而易见了。
30
It felt as if I was being pulled along a path and I could imagine no other route forwards.
我感觉自己仿佛被推着沿着一条路往前走，完全想象不出还有别的前进方向。
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.
我从他的观点中汲取了智慧，也认同他的结论，但总觉得表象之下潜藏着某种更宏大、远比这一切更为深邃的东西。
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.
亚里士多德的作品构思极为精妙，这绝非是他为了应付怒气冲冲的编辑而通宵赶工出来的仓促之作。
33
As the philosopher Michael Pakaluck put it,
正如哲学家迈克尔·帕卡卢克所言，
34
So what's Aristotle's book about?
那亚里士多德的这本书是讲什么的？
35
Well, the ethics in his book is an older version of how we use that word today.
嗯，他书中所说的伦理学，是我们今天使用这个词时的一个较早的版本。
36
Today, ethics means right and wrong.
如今，伦理意味着是非对错。
37
It's pretty much synonymous with morality.
它几乎等同于道德。
38
But in ancient Greece, ethics was more about a way of life.
但在古希腊，伦理学更多是关于一种生活方式。
39
It was how you behaved and your entire character.
是你的行为举止和整个人的品格。
40
So Aristotle's book is literally a guidebook or an argument about how to behave as a human being.
因此，亚里士多德的著作实际上是一本指导手册，或者说是关于人应当如何行事的论述。
41
It's about how to live well, how to be virtuous, and most importantly of all, how to be happy.
它关乎如何好好生活、如何拥有美德，而最重要的是，如何获得幸福。
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.
因为这本书开篇就提出了一个问题：人生的终极目的是什么？亚里士多德认为这个答案就是幸福，也就是深刻而具有存在意义的幸福感。
43
And so the entire book is a manual about how to be happy.
所以整本书就是一本教人如何获得幸福的指南。
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,
这是历史上最伟大的思想家之一数十年哲学研究与辩论的成果，它表明，好吧，如果幸福是终点，
45
how can we get to there?
我们怎么去那里？
46
And the path Aristotle leads us on is an act of genius.
亚里士多德为我们指引的道路堪称天才之举。
47
You'll think you've heard it before and it will change how you view life.
你会觉得这些道理似曾相识，但它会彻底改变你看待人生的方式。
48
So yes, Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics is my first choice.
所以没错，亚里士多德的《尼各马可伦理学》是我的首选。
49
Second is Essays by Michel de Montaigne.
第二部是米歇尔·德·蒙田的《随笔集》。
50
There are only a handful of people in history who you can say literally started an entire genre.
历史上能真正开创出一整个流派的人屈指可数。
51
You could say that Mary Shelley with science fiction, Jane Austen with romance novels, and J .R .R.
可以说玛丽·雪莱开创了科幻小说，简·奥斯汀奠定了言情小说的基础，而J.R.R.
52
Tolkien with modern fantasy.
托尔金与现代奇幻文学。
53
And the 16th century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne is widely considered to be the father of the essay.
16世纪法国哲学家米歇尔·德·蒙田被广泛认为是散文体裁的奠基人。
54
Today, essays are everywhere.
如今，散文无处不在。
55
Almost all long -form non -fiction you read online comes in essay form.
你在网上读到的几乎所有长篇非虚构作品都是以散文形式呈现的。
56
And while there is no way to easily define a literary essay,
虽然我们很难给文学随笔下一个简单明确的定义，
57
you could broadly say it's where you explore a theme in a philosophical style while weaving in autobiographical details and fascinating asides.
大致来说，你可以这样理解：它是以哲学思辨的方式探讨某个主题，同时融入个人自传式的细节与引人入胜的旁支论述。
58
And Montaigne was one of the first to do it.
蒙田是最早这样做的人之一。
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世纪的法国，“随笔”一词的字面意思是“尝试”，其核心理念是蒙田的随笔就是他对一个试验、一个疑问、一个议题、一个问题进行探索的地方。
60
and then he'd pen his reflections on the topic.
然后他会写下自己对这个话题的思考。
61
Of course the art of the essay comes in the degree of reflection and the style in which it's written.
当然，散文的艺术就体现在其思想深度与行文风格之中。
62
A good essay requires wit, erudition and relatability.
一篇优秀的散文需要兼具机趣、学识与共情力。
63
And there are two reasons why Montaigne's essays are such a great example of the self -help genre.
蒙田的随笔之所以能成为自助类作品的杰出典范，有两方面原因。
64
The first is that Montaigne is quite literally taking us through his solutions to common problems.
首先，蒙田实实在在地向我们阐述了他对常见问题的解决思路。
65
Here we have a hugely intelligent human being talking about topics
这里我们看到一位极具智慧的人正在谈论各种话题。
66
that are just as relevant today as they were 400 years ago.
这些观点在今天依然和400年前一样具有现实意义。
67
For example, he talks about feeling lazy, dealing with liars and the best way to apologise.
比如，他谈到了犯懒的感觉、应对骗子的方法，以及道歉的最佳方式。
68
He explains the joys of solitude but the dangers of loneliness.
他阐述了独处的乐趣，也点明了孤独的危险。
69
He even gives advice on how to get a good night's sleep.
他甚至还会给出如何睡个好觉的建议。
70
Montaigne explores over a hundred topics with only a few being limited to his time and to his place.
蒙田探讨了一百多个主题，其中只有少数几个受限于他所处的时代和地域。
71
This relatability is also what makes the essay so helpful
这种共鸣感也正是这篇文章极具参考价值的原因。
72
because reading Montaigne's reflections is like stretching back in time
阅读蒙田的随笔，就仿佛跨越了时间的长河。
73
and finding somebody with just as many quirks and quandaries as we have now.
找到一个和我们一样有着同样多小怪癖与困惑的人。
74
Montaigne doesn't seem to present himself in an especially noble or faultless way.
蒙田似乎并没有以特别高尚或完美的方式来展现自己。
75
He is happy to let it all kind of hang out.
他很乐意把所有事情都摊开来说。
76
And so when we read his essays we see a complex whole, a flawed character, but always genial, witty and likeable.
因此，当我们阅读他的随笔时，我们看到的是一个复杂的整体，一个有缺点的人物，但始终和蔼可亲、机智风趣、讨人喜欢。
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.
蒙田或许是在说一件微不足道的小事，就像他说的：当我和我的猫玩耍时，谁知道是她在逗我开心，还是我在逗她开心。
78
Or it could be something poignant and profound as in his essay on the death of his best friend.
又或者，它可能像他那篇关于挚友离世的随笔一样，饱含深切的悲恸与深刻的哲思。
79
But he always comes across as human, as human as you and me.
但他给人的感觉总是很真实，和你我一样有血有肉。
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,
哲学家兼作家詹姆斯·鲍德温曾说得极为贴切，他说，你以为自己的痛苦和心碎在世界历史上是前所未有的，
81
but then you read.
但之后你读了。
82
It was books that taught me that the things
是书籍让我明白，那些事物
83
that tormented me the most were the very things
最让我备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.
让我与所有在世以及曾在世的人产生了联结。
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.
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本课的词汇与口语要点
这节 C1 级别的口语课以视频“3 philosophy classics that are better than self-help books”为素材。 视频中反复出现的词有：Tao, essay, philosophy, Ching, Montaigne。 这段视频共有 116 个句子、1792 个单词可供跟读。 讲话部分时长为 10:14。 说话人语速自然，每分钟约 175 个词，接近日常对话。 只有 80% 的单词属于英语最常用的 3,000 词，词汇难度较高。
视频中的重点词汇
视频中最难的 15 个单词，附发音和释义：
| 单词 | 发音 | 释义 |
|---|---|---|
| philosopher 名词 | /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/ | 哲學家 /哲学家 |
| simplify 动词 | /ˈsɪmplɪfaɪ/ | 簡化 /简化 |
| comprehension 名词 | /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/ | 理解, 瞭解 /了解 |
| behave 动词 | /bɪˈheɪv/ | 為人 /为人 |
| rational 形容词 | /ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəl/ | 合理的, 理性的 |
| aphorism 名词 | /ˈæfəˌɹɪzəm/ | 格言 |
| bookshop 名词 | 書店 /书店, 書局 /书局 | |
| dilute 动词 | /daɪˈljuːt/ | 稀釋 /稀释 |
| erudition 名词 | /ˌɛɹʊˈdɪʃən/ | 博學 /博学, 學識 /学识 |
| existential 形容词 | /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃl̩/ | 存在性, 有關存在的 /有关存在的 |
| fascinate 动词 | /ˈfæsɪneɪt/ | 誘惑 /诱惑, 迷住 |
| faultless 形容词 | 無錯誤的 /无错误的, 無缺點的 /无缺点的 | |
| genealogy 名词 | /ˌd͡ʒiniˈɑlədʒi/ | 血統 /血统 |
| hallmark 名词 | /ˈhɔlmɑɹk/ | 標誌 /标志, 特徵 /特征 |
| heartbreak 名词 | /ˈhɑɹt.bɹeɪk/ | 破心 |
视频中出现的短语动词
| 单词 | 释义 |
|---|---|
| go away 动词 | 離開 /离开, 走 |
视频中的语法
说话人最常用的结构，并附上视频中的原话：
| 结构 | 视频中的用法 |
|---|---|
| 被动语态 be + 过去分词 — 强调发生了什么，而不是谁做的 | are made · be thought · was swept |
| 现在完成时 have/has + 过去分词 — 过去发生但与现在仍有关联的事 | I've always thought · I've read · I've always found |
| 定语从句 who / which + 从句 — 补充说明人或事物 | people who were · people who are |
需要注意的发音
说话人用了 11 次缩略和弱读形式，例如 I've, didn't, doesn't。请按听到的简短形式来说。
- “sh” 和 “zh” 音: comprehension /ˌkɑmpɹɪˈhɛnʃn̩/, rational /ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəl/, erudition /ˌɛɹʊˈdɪʃən/, existential /ˌɛɡzɪˈstɛnʃl̩/, unconscious /ˌʌnˈkɑnʃəs/
- 长单词——注意重音位置: philosopher /fəˈlɑsəfɚ/, philosophical /ˌfɪl.əˈsɑ.fɪ.kl̩/, aphorism /ˈæfəˌɹɪzəm/, autobiographical /ˌɑtoʊˌbaɪəˈɡɹæfəkəl/, erudition /ˌɛɹʊˈdɪʃən/
中文母语者容易读错的音：
- /v/ — 不要读成 /w/，上齿轻触下唇: behave /bɪˈheɪv/, immersive /ɪˈmɜːɹ.sɪv/, meditative /ˈmɛdɪˌteɪtɪv/, virtuous /ˈvɝt͡ʃuəs/, weave /wiːv/
- 词尾辅音 — 要读清楚，后面不要加元音: amuse /əˈmjuːz/, profound /pɹəˈfaʊnd/, behave /bɪˈheɪv/, condense /kənˈdɛns/, dilute /daɪˈljuːt/
- /r/ 和 /l/ 的区别: rational /ˈɹæʃ(ə)nəl/, autobiographical /ˌɑtoʊˌbaɪəˈɡɹæfəkəl/, hallmark /ˈhɔlmɑɹk/, paradoxical /ˌpɛɹəˈdɑːksɪkəl/, narrowly /ˈnæɹoʊli/
如何用这段视频练习
- 先完整听一遍视频，不要开口，记下不认识的单词。
- 先用 0.75 倍速逐句跟读，熟练之后再回到正常速度。
- 录下自己的声音并与原声对比，特别注意 philosopher, simplify, comprehension 这类单词。
什么是跟读法？
跟读法 (Shadowing) 是一种有科学依据的语言学习技巧，最初开发用于专业口译员的培训，并由多语言者Alexander Arguelles博士普及。这个方法简单而强大：您在听英语母语原声的同时立即大声重复——就像是一个延迟1-2秒紧跟说话者的影子。与被动听力或语法练习不同，跟读法强迫您的大脑和口腔肌肉同时处理并模仿真实的讲话模式。研究表明它能显着提高发音准确性，语调，节奏，连读，听力理解和口语流利度——使其成为雅思口语备考和真实英语交流最有效的方法之一。