C12T5P3What’s the purpose of gaining knowledge

C12Test 05-Passage 3:What’s the purpose of gaining knowledge?

A'I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any subject.' That

was the founder’s motto for Cornell University, and it seems an apt characterization of

the different university, also in the USA, where I currently teach philosophy. A student can

prepare for a career in resort management, engineering, interior design, accounting,

music, law enforcement, you name it. But what would the founders of these two

institutions have thought of a course called 'Arson for Profit'? I kid you not: we have it on

the books. Any undergraduates who have met the academic requirements can sign up for

the course in our program in 'fire science'.

生词：institution

n. 制度；建立；（社会或宗教等）公共机构；习俗

motto ['mɒtəʊ] n.

座右铭，格言；箴言

apt [æpt]adj. 恰当的；有…倾向的；灵敏的 be apt to do sth 1. to have a natural tendency to do

something倾向于做某事，易于做某事 2.

exactly right for a particular situation or purpose适当的，恰当的 ‘Love at first sight’ is a very apt description of how he felt when he saw her. 用“一见钟情”来形容他见到她时的感觉再恰当不过。 3. an apt pupil/student formal a student who is

quick to learn and understand 聪明的学生

resort management旅游胜地管理 度假管理

you name it [口语]凡是你想到的说好了；无奇不有；随你讲什么都行，任凭你说Become

obsessedwith learning everything you can find – new skills, approaches, ideas, you name it.

不断学习你所能到的一切——新的技能、方法、思想，一切凡是你能想到的

arson

['ɑːs(ə)n] n. 纵火；纵火罪

the crime of deliberately making something burn, especially a

building纵火（罪），放火（罪）

I kid you not我不骗你 我不是在跟你开玩笑

译文：“我会成立一个机构，在这儿任何人都可以在任何科目上得到指导。”这是康奈尔大学(Cornell

University)创始人的座右铭，它似乎是美国另一所大学的一个贴切的描述—这便是我目前在美国教授哲学的地方。学生可以在度假管理、工程、室内设计、会计、音乐、执法等方面进行学习。但是，这两家机构的创始人会否想到一门叫做“纵火获益”的课程吗?我不骗你，我们在书上有。任何满足（一定）学术要求的本科生都可以报名参加我们的“消防科学”课程。

段落大意：引入主题：Fire science/ arson for profit.

B Naturally, the course is intended for prospective arson investigators, who can learn all

the tricks of the trade for detecting whether a fire was deliberately set, discovering who

did it, and establishing a chain of evidence for effective prosecution in a court of law. But

wouldn’t this also be the perfect course for prospective arsonists to sign up for? My point

is not to criticize academic programs in fire science: they are highly welcome as part of the

increasing professionalization of this and many other occupations. However, it’s not

unknown for a firefighter to torch a building. This example suggests how dishonest and

illegal behavior, with the help of higher education, can creep into every aspect of public

and business life.

生词：

be intended for 打算为…所用；预定给…目的在于…用来 The

movie is intended for adults only.

这部电影只供成年人观看

prospective

n. 预期；展望adj. 未来的；预期的

prospective employee/candidate/buyer etc

1. someone who is likely to do a particular thing or achieve a particular position可能成为雇员的人/可能成功的候选人/潜在的客户等 2. likely to happen很可能发生的 the prospective costs

of providing pensions 提供养老金可能产生的成本 Prospective study前瞻性调查、远景调查

prospective earnings预期收益远景收益

trade n. 贸易，交易；行业；职业vt. 用…进行交换

prosecution

n. 起诉，检举；进行；经营 1.[C,U] when a charge is made against someone for

a crime, or when someone is judged for a crime in a court of law（被）刑事起诉a criminal

prosecution 刑事诉讼 2. the prosecution the lawyers who try to prove in a court of law that

someone is guilty of a crime〔刑事案件的〕检控方，控方•the chief witness for the prosecution 控方的主要证人

3.[U] formal when you do something that is your job〔职责的〕执行，履行•the

prosecution of her duties 履行她的职责

creep

n. 爬行；毛骨悚然的感觉；谄媚者vi. 爬行；蔓延；慢慢地移动；起鸡皮疙瘩 creep into

悄悄混进/开始发生于

译文：当然，这门课程是为未来的纵火调查人员准备的，他们可以学习这个职业的所有技巧—侦查是否故意纵火，发现纵火犯人，并在法庭上建立有效起诉的证据链。但这难道不是未来纵火犯的最佳选择吗?我的观点并不是批评”消防科学”这系列学术课程: 作为提升这个职业（其他别的职业也一样）越来越专业化的一部分（举措），它们是非常受欢迎的。然而，也不是没有发生过消防员纵火的案例。这个例子表明，在高等教育的帮助下，不诚实和非法的行为也会渗透到公共和商业生活的方方面面。

段落大意：

C I realized this anew when I was invited to speak before a class in marketing, which is

another of our degree programs. The regular instructor is a colleague who appreciates the

kind of ethical perspective I can bring as a philosopher. There are endless ways I could

have approached this assignment, but I took my cue from the title of the course:

‘Principles of Marketing '. It made me think to ask the students, ‘Is marketing principled?’

After all, a subject matter can have principled in the same of being ethical. Many of the

students immediately assumed that the answer to my question about marketing principles

was obviously it need not be done in a principled (=ethical ) fashion.

生词： anew

adv. 重新；再 Today you have the opportunity to begin anew. 今天的你有机会重新开始生活。

cue

n. 提示，暗示；线 vt. 给…暗示

译文：

当我被邀请在市场营销课(这是我们的另一个学位课程)上发言时，我再次意识到了这一点。常驻讲师是一个我视为哲学家的站在道德立场的一位同事。我有很多方法可以完成这项任务，但我从课程的标题——“营销原理”中获得了灵感。这让我想到问学生，“市场营销有原则吗?”毕竟，（任何）一个主题是可以在道德上有原则的。许多学生立刻认为，我关于营销原则的问题的答案显然是不需要以有原则的方式去做。

段落大意：

营销原理vs 伦理道德的思考；

D Is that obvious? I made the suggestion, which may sound downright crazy in light of

the evidence, that perhaps marketing is by definition principled. My inspiration for this

judgement is the philosopher Immanuel Kant, who argued that any body of knowledge

consists of an end (or purpose ) and a means.

生词： downright

adj. 明白的；直率的；显明的 adv. 完全，彻底；全然

in light of 根据；鉴于；从…观点

by definition 按照定义；当然地；明显地

译文：这很明显吗?我提出了这个建议—考虑到证据因素，这可能听起来非常疯狂--也许市场营销是有原则的。我对这一判断的启发是哲学家伊曼努尔·康德(Immanuel Kant)，他认为任何一种知识都是由目的和手段组成的。

段落大意： 作者提出一种建议—也许市场营销是有原则的。

E Let us apply both the terms ‘means’ and ‘end’ to marketing. The students have signed

up for a course in order to learn how to markert effectively. But to what end? There seem

to be two main attitudes toward that question. One is that the answer is obvious: the

purpose of marketing is to sell things and to make money. The other attitude is that the

purpose of marketing is irrelevant: Each person comes to the program and course with his

or her own plans, and these need not even concern the acquisition of marketing expertise

as such. My proposal , which I believe would also be Kant’s, is that neither of these

attitudes captures the significance of the end to the means for marketing. A field of

knowledge or a professional endeavor is defined by both the means and the end; hence

both deserve scrutiny. Students need to study both how to achieve X, and also what X

is .

生词： endeavor

n. 努力；尽力（等于endeavour）vi. 努力；尽力

scrutiny

n. 详细审查；监视；细看；Their activities have come under police scrutiny . 他们的活动受到警方的严密监视。

译文：让我们把“方法”和“目的”两项都应用于营销。学生们报名参加一门课程，目的是要学习如何有效地进行市场营销。但这样做的目的是什么呢? 对于这个问题，似乎有两种主要的态度。一是答案很明显:营销的目的是销售商品和赚钱。另一种态度是，营销的目的是无关紧要的:每个人都带着自己的计划参加一门课程的学习，而这些都不需要涉及到这种营销专业知识的获取。我的意见是--我认为也会是康德的--这两种态度都没有抓住结束营销手段的意义。知识的领域或专业的努力都是由手段和目的来界定的; 因此都值得推敲。学生需要学习如何实现X，也需要指导X是什么。

段落大意：对于学习目的的两种态度以及我的意见（学生需要学习如何实现X，也需要指导X是什么。）

F It is at this point that ‘Arson for Profit’ becomes supremely relevant. That course is

presumably all about means: how to detect and prosecute criminal activity. It is therefore

assumed that the end is good in an ethical sense. When I ask fire science students to

articulate the end, or purpose, of their field , they eventually generalize to something like,

‘The safety and welfare of society,’ which seems right. As we have seen, someone could

use the very same knowledge of means to achieve a much less noble end, such as

personal profit via destructive, dangerous, reckless activity. But we would not call that

firefighting. We have another term for it:arson. Similarly, if you employed the ‘principles of

marketing ‘ in an unprincipled way, you would not be doing marketing. We have another

term for it: fraud. Kant gives the example of a doctor and a poisoner, who use the

identical knowledge to achieve their divergent ends. We would say that one is practicing

medicine, the other, murder.

生词：

presumably

[prɪ'zjuːməblɪ]adv. 大概；推测起来；可假定

It’s raining, which presumably means that your football match will be cancelled. 下雨了，这可能意味着你们的足球比赛要取消。

presume [prɪ'zjuːm] to think that something is true, although you are not certain

料想，〔不肯定地〕认为•Each of you will make a speech, I presume? 我想你们每个人都会发言，是吗？•‘Are his parents still alive?’ ‘ I presume so .’ “他的父母都还健在吗？”“我想是吧。”

prosecute vt. 检举；贯彻；从事；依法进行vi. 起诉；告发；作检察官

to charge someone with a crime and try to show that they are guilty of it in a court of law

（刑事）起诉•Shoplifters will be prosecuted. 在商店行窃者将被起诉。

prosecute sb for (doing) sth •Buxton is being prosecuted for assault.由于袭击罪被起诉

identical

n. 完全相同的事物adj. 同一的；完全相同的

divergent adj. 相异的，分歧的；散开的

译文：

正是在这一点上，“利润的纵火”变得极其相关。这门课大概都是关于方法的：如何侦查和检举犯罪活动的。因此，人们认为，在伦理意义上，目的是好的。当我让消防科学的学生们阐明他们的领域的目的时，他们最终会概括为“社会的安全与福利”，这似乎是正确的。正如我们所看到的，有人可以用同样的方法去实现一个不那么高尚的目的，比如通过破坏性的、危险的、不计后果的活动来实现个人利益。 但我们不会称之为救火。我们还有一个词（来形容它）: 纵火。同样，如果你以一种无原则的方式使用“营销原理”，你就不是在做营销。我们有另一个术语来描述（这种行为）: 欺诈。康德给出了一个医生和一个投毒者的例子，他们使用相同的知识来达到他们的不同目的。我们会说一个是行医，另一个是谋杀。

段落大意： 对于没有原则的方式学习、基于不同目的知识应用，同样的知识内容产生结果是不一样的。