TED演讲:达顿解释达尔文主义的美的理论(1)

Delighted to be here and to talk to you about a subject dear to my heart, which is beauty.

很高兴来到这里与大家探讨我至为关心的一个主题，那就是“美”。

I do the philosophy of art, aesthetics¹, actually, for a living.

我研究艺术与审美哲学，事实上，这是我的工作。

I try to figure out intellectually, philosophically², psychologically, what the experience of beauty is,

我想在理性，哲学以及心理学的层面上理解，“美”的体验究竟是什么，

what sensibly can be said about it and how people go off the rails in trying to understand it.

哪些感知是能被描述出来的以及人们在尝试理解它的过程中犯了什么错误。

Now this is an extremely complicated subject, in part because the things that we call beautiful are so different.

这是个很复杂的问题，部分原因是因为我们认为“美”的事物是如此的不同。

I mean just think of the sheer variety -- a baby's face, Berlioz's "Harold in Italy,"

想象下这高度的多元性婴儿的脸蛋，柏辽兹所作的“哈罗德在意大利”，

movies like "The Wizard of Oz" or the plays of Chekhov, a central California landscape,

像“绿野仙踪”这样的影片，或是契诃夫的戏剧，加利福尼亚中部的风景，

a Hokusai view of Mt. Fuji, "Der Rosenkavalier,"

北斋眼中的富士山，“玫瑰骑士”，

a stunning³ match-winning goal in a World Cup soccer match, Van Gogh's "Starry⁴ Night,"

世界杯足球赛中的一场漂亮的决胜赛，梵高的“星空”，

a Jane Austen novel, Fred Astaire dancing across the screen.

一部简·奥斯丁的小说，弗雷德·阿斯泰尔在舞台上起舞。

This brief list includes human beings, natural landforms, works of art and skilled human actions.

这一简单的列表中包含了人类自身，自然景观，艺术作品和专业活动。

An account that explains the presence of beauty in everything on this list is not going to be easy.

很难用一个解释就说清楚所有这些事物中所存在的“美”。

1 aesthetics   

n.(尤指艺术方面之)美学，审美学

参考例句：

• Sometimes, of course, our markings may be simply a matter of aesthetics. 当然，有时我们的标点符号也许只是个审美的问题。 来自名作英译部分
• The field of aesthetics presents an especially difficult problem to the historian. 美学领域向历史学家提出了一个格外困难的问题。

2 philosophically   

adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地

参考例句：

• He added philosophically that one should adapt oneself to the changed conditions. 他富于哲理地补充说，一个人应该适应变化了的情况。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Harry took his rejection philosophically. 哈里达观地看待自己被拒的事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

4 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。