In the kitchen at a friend's party, you're in the midst of a profound moral conundrum.
在朋友聚会的厨房里，你正处于一个深刻的道德难题之中。
Famous philosophers whisper advice in your ear.
著名哲学家在你耳边低声建议。
Utilitarian John Stuart Mill tells you that one should always strive to bring about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
功利主义者约翰·斯图尔特·米尔告诉你，一个人应该始终努力为最多的人带来最大的幸福。
Aristotle reminds you of the importance of the virtues of generosity and justice.
亚里斯多德提醒您慷慨和正义美德的重要性。
But Thomas Hobbes points out that "of all voluntary acts, the object is to every man his own good." In other words,
但托马斯·霍布斯指出，“在所有自愿行为中，目标是为了每个人自己的利益。“换句话说，
human beings are inherently selfish anyway.
无论如何，人类本质上都是自私的。
So why shouldn't you take the last cupcake for yourself?
那么为什么你不应该自己拿走最后一个纸杯蛋糕呢？
This is actually one of philosophy's oldest questions.
这实际上是哲学最古老的问题之一。
Not your cupcake dilemma— the question of whether or not human beings are inherently selfish.
不是你的纸杯蛋糕困境--人类是否天生自私的问题。
The idea that humans only act out of self-interest is known as psychological egoism,
认为人类只出于自身利益行事的想法被称为心理利己主义，
and there aren't many philosophers who endorse this extreme stance.
而且没有多少哲学家支持这种极端立场。
There's simply too much evidence of humans sacrificing their self-interest, and sometimes their very lives, for the sake of others.
有太多证据表明，人类为了他人而牺牲自己的利益，有时甚至自己的生命。
And studies by psychologists have shown that even very young children demonstrate helpful behavior despite there being nothing in it for themselves.
心理学家的研究表明，即使是非常小的孩子，也会表现出有益的行为，尽管这对他们自己没有任何好处。
However, the idea that all humans have a deep selfish streak is something many more philosophers would agree with.
然而，更多哲学家会同意所有人类都有深深的自私倾向。
German philosopher Immanuel Kant noted that while we often seem to act for the sake of others,
德国哲学家伊曼纽尔·康德指出，虽然我们似乎经常为了他人而行事，
it's impossible to be sure we're not truly motivated by "a secret impulse of self-love." For example,
不可能确定我们是否真正受到“自爱的秘密冲动”的驱使。“例如，
maybe when people make large donations to charity,
也许当人们向慈善机构捐款大量时，
they're actually more interested in looking good or benefiting from tax breaks than helping others.
他们实际上更感兴趣的是看起来好看或从税收减免中受益，而不是帮助他人。
It's worth noting that not all philosophers think self-love is always a bad thing.
值得注意的是，并非所有哲学家都认为自爱总是一件坏事。
French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau identified two kinds of self-love.
法国哲学家让-雅克·卢梭指出了两种自爱。
He believed "Amour de soi," our basic need for self-preservation, is natural and essential.
他相信“自爱”，即我们自我保护的基本需求，是自然而必要的。
But he identified "amour propre," our toxic desire for recognition and social status, as the cause of many unjust disparities.
但他认为“自尊心”，即我们对认可和社会地位的有毒渴望，是许多不公正差异的原因。
In a similar vein, Aristotle argued that humans are social beings who can only flourish when we seek the good of others as well as ourselves.
同样，亚里斯多德认为，人类是社会生物，只有当我们既为他人也为自己谋取利益时，人类才能蓬勃发展。
By this logic, true self-love requires us to work against our selfish tendencies.
根据这个逻辑，真正的自爱需要我们努力对抗自己的自私倾向。
For many philosophers, this is where the real problem lies— how do we overcome our selfishness?
对于许多哲学家来说，这才是真正的问题所在--我们如何克服自私？
Some, like Kant, have argued that our sense of moral duty is what helps us rise above our narrow self-interest.
康德等一些人认为，我们的道德责任感帮助我们超越狭隘的自身利益。
Others, like Rousseau and Adam Smith, contend that emotions like pity and sympathy are what allow us to consider the needs of others.
其他人，如卢梭和亚当·斯密，则认为怜悯和同情等情感使我们能够考虑他人的需求。
But 20th century philosopher-novelist Iris Murdoch believed the only true solution to human selfishness was love.
但20世纪哲学家兼小说家艾丽丝·默多克认为，解决人类自私问题的唯一真正方法是爱。
Or at least, a certain kind of love.
或者至少是某种爱。
For Murdoch, selfishness isn't about trivial things like taking the last cupcake.
对于默多克来说，自私并不是拿走最后一个纸杯蛋糕这样的小事。
It's about seeing the world in a way that casts yourself as a star, and everyone else as secondary characters.
这是关于以一种将自己塑造成明星的方式看待世界，而将其他人塑造成次要角色。
To explain this, Murdoch tells the story of a discontented mother-in-law.
为了解释这一点，默多克讲述了一位心怀不满的婆婆的故事。
While the mother is always polite, she secretly feels her son made a mistake marrying his "vulgar" and "tiresomely juvenile" wife.
虽然这位母亲总是很有礼貌，但她暗自觉得儿子嫁给他“粗俗”、“令人厌倦的幼稚”的妻子是一个错误。
To Murdoch, this mother is the picture of selfishness.
对于默多克来说，这位母亲就是自私的写照。
By centering her own jealousy and insecurity, she's reducing the nuanced reality of her daughter-in-law to a caricature.
通过将自己的嫉妒和不安全感集中在一起，她将儿媳的微妙现实简化为漫画。
But with some conscious effort, Murdoch believes the mother can learn to see her daughter in law as she truly is— not vulgar or juvenile,
但默多克相信，通过一些有意识的努力，母亲可以学会看到她的儿媳的本来面目--而不是粗俗或幼稚，
but refreshingly straightforward and delightfully youthful.
但又令人耳目一新、直率、令人愉快的年轻。
To be clear, this doesn't mean the mother should simply don rose-colored glasses.
需要明确的是，这并不意味着母亲应该简单地戴上玫瑰色眼镜。
Love, as Murdoch defines it, is "the extremely difficult realization that something other than oneself is real."
正如默多克所定义的那样，爱是“极其困难地认识到除了自己之外的东西是真实的。"
As challenging as this might be, Murdoch believes we can all reach this realization by cultivating what she calls attention.
尽管这可能具有挑战性，但默多克相信我们都可以通过培养她所谓的注意力来实现这一认识。
Partially inspired by Buddhist meditation, this practice could include engaging with art, learning foreign languages,
这种做法部分受到佛教冥想的启发，可以包括参与艺术，学习外语，
or simply taking the time to observe the natural environment.
或者只是花时间观察自然环境。
What's important for Murdoch is that the behavior helps direct your attention beyond the self.
对默多克来说重要的是，这种行为有助于将你的注意力转移到自我之外。
Because only by practicing our ability to attend to the world around us can we learn to see it as it truly is.
因为只有通过练习我们关注周围世界的能力，我们才能学会看待它的本来面目。
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