『新东方在线托福听力』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 28 Lec 1听力练习：According to the professor, what was Descartes’ purpose for using methodological doubt?原文题目答案解析，TPO/Official 28 Lec 1听力原文范文音频翻译。

托福TPO/Official 28 Lec 1听力原文According to the professor, what was Descartes’ purpose for using methodological doubt?-新东方托福官方网校手机版

Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a philosophy class.

教授：好的。那么，让我们继续我们的讨论……当哲学家们讨论到知识的基础时，他们指的并不是某些特定学科的信息来源。

Professor: Okay. So, uh, to continue our discussion… When philosophers talk about the basis of knowledge, they don't mean the source of information about any particular subject.

他们指的是我们是怎么知道我们现在所知道的信息的。

让我们从一个哲学视野观点开始——基础主义。

Let's start with one philosophical view—foundationalism.

基础主义指的是我们知识的主张，我们认为我们知道的东西，是需要有一个基础的。

Foundationalism is the view that our knowledge claims, what we think we know, that is, they need to have a base.

将知识想成一个房子，你需要一个扎实的根基去建立你的房子。

And think of knowledge as a house, you need a solid foundation on which to build your house.

如果你的基础很扎实，你的房子也会比较坚固。

And if you have a strong foundation, your house is more likely to be solid.

基础主义者认为这一点对于知识也是一样的。

Well, foundationalists think the same thing is true of knowledge.

如果对于知识的主张，你有一个坚实的基础，那么你知识的结构很有可能是非常坚固的、有效的、正确的。

If you have a solid base for your knowledge claims, then your knowledge structure is more likely to be strong, valid, true.

首先，你需要扎实基础的知识主张，然后你剩下的知识主张可以建立在这些之上。

First, you need some good foundational knowledge claims, and then the rest of the knowledge claims can be based on these.

现在，至于什么样的知识主张是基础的，那就是变得有趣的地方，事实上这个取决于你问的是哪一个哲学家。

Now, as to what kinds of knowledge claims are foundational, well, that's where this gets particularly interesting, and it sort of depends on which philosopher you ask.

Locke的看法主要是当人们生下来的时候，他们的思维就像是空的石板，我们生下来的时候并没有任何类型的知识。

Locke's viewpoint essentially was that when humans are born, their minds are like blank slates, that is, we don't have any kind of knowledge when we are born.

我们从我们的感官获得知识，味觉、嗅觉、视觉、听觉。

We get our knowledge from our senses, you know, taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing.

所以，当你作为一个婴儿第一次看到这个世界的时候，这就是我们知识的来源。

So, when we look at the world, first as babies and then as we grow, that's where our knowledge comes from.

我们的感知，我们的经验都为我们的知识打下了基础。

Our senses, our experiences serve as the foundation for our knowledge.

现在，为了看另一个不同的看法，让我们转向另一个哲学家——René Descartes。

Now, for a very different view, let's turn to another philosopher—René Dartes.

Descartes认为你必须要深入挖掘，从而获得基础。

Descartes thought that you have to go much deeper to find the foundations.

他认为的是我们的感知是不可以被信任的。

He believed that our senses are not to be trusted.

所以，他想找到更坚实的知识的基础。

So he wanted to find a more solid foundation for knowledge.

He began with what has come to be called methodological doubt.

Descartes认为所有的东西都应该被质疑，也就是，用质疑的眼光去接近它，并且当你不能找到任何一个错误的地方时，那个东西就可以作为其他所有知识主张的一个基础了。

And when we say methodological doubt, well … Descartes believed that everything should be questioned, that is, approached with doubt and that if you could find one thing that cannot be false, that one thing would serve as a foundation for all other knowledge claims.

所以，和John Locke不同，Descartes质疑从他感官获得的知识。

So unlike John Locke, Descartes doubts that knowledge comes to him from his senses.

他指出在某些时候，人们会被他们的感官所欺骗。

He points out that at some time or another, everyone has been deceived by their senses.

每个人都有感觉错误的时候——幻想，也可能是幻影。

We have all had experiences where our senses have been wrong—illusions, perhaps, mirages.

在炎热的夏天开车时，你可能会看到在马路上好像有微光水，而这个从科学角度看，只是一个幻影，由空气的热量造成的幻觉。

When driving in a car on a hot summer day, you may see what looks like shimmering water on the road, which, as science tells us, is really just a mirage, an illusion caused by the heating of the air.

我们的感觉是错误的，他们欺骗了我们。

Our senses are wrong, they've deceived us.

Descartes认为，既然我们的感觉可以欺骗我们，我们不应该将他们告诉我们的东西理所应当的认作为正确的。

And Descartes thinks that since our senses can deceive us, we ought not to take for granted that what they tell us is really true.

这是他方法论的之一的第一步。

That's the first step in his methodological doubt.

从那儿他想到，好的，我可以怀疑我的感觉，但是我可以质疑我坐在这间屋子吗？

From there he wonders, well, ok, I can doubt my senses, but can I doubt that I am sitting in this room?

真的可以认为我其实不在这儿么？

他很肯定我们大部分是知道我们是坐在房间里的。

He conceives that most of us would know that we are sitting in the room.

但是他说，那我可不可能只是在做梦呢？

But then he says, well, couldn't I just be dreaming?

他做过这样的梦，真实到他认为他醒着，但事实上他还在睡。

He's had dreams that were so real that he thought he was awake when in fact he was actually asleep.

要肯定你并没有在做梦是很难的。

It's really hard to be sure that you are not actually dreaming.

另一个我们不能总是相信我们的感觉的证据告诉我们。

Yet another proof for Descartes that we can't always trust what our senses are apparently telling us.

并且没有很好的方法去证明我们不在做梦。

And there's really no good way to prove that we are not.

所以，Descartes向我们展示，对于真实的常识性的画面，我们看到的世界的样子，我们不可以毫无疑问地认为它是正确的。

So the common sense picture of reality that the world really is the way it looks to us, Descartes shows that we cannot just assume this to be true beyond all doubt.

他通过幻觉和做梦来论证了这个观点。

And he does this by talking about illusions and also by arguing that we could be dreaming.

但是想一下这个，他说，当一个人在思考，质疑或者任何一种脑力活动时，一个人必须是存在的，对吧？

But consider this, he says, while one is thinking or doubting, or doing any of those sorts of mental activities, one has to exist, right?

去质疑我是否存在，你也必须存在才行！

To even think that I doubt that I exist, you have to exist!

那么Descartes至少发现了一个他可以肯定的事情。

And so what Descartes has done is find at least one thing that he can be certain of.

并且其他一些他告诉我们的知识可以建立在这个基础上。

And other knowledge he tells us can be based on that foundation.

What did Locke believe to be the most basic type of human knowledge?

According to the professor, what was Descartes’ purpose for using methodological doubt?

For Descartes, what was the significance of dreaming?

According to Descartes, what type of belief should serve as a foundation for all other knowledge claims?

Narrator 
Listen to part of a lecture in a philosophy class. 
Professor 
Okay. So, uh, to continue our discussion… When philosophers talk about the basis of knowledge, they don’t mean the source of information about any particular subject. They mean how we know what we know. 
Let’s start with one philosophical view—foundationalism. 
Foundationalism is the view that our knowledge claims, what we think we know, that is, they need to have a base. And think of knowledge as a house, you need a solid foundation on which to build your house. And if you have a strong foundation, your house is more likely to be solid. Well, foundationalists think the same thing is true of knowledge. If you have a solid base for your knowledge claims, then your knowledge structure is more likely to be strong, valid, true. 
First, you need some good foundational knowledge claims, and then the rest of the knowledge claims can be based on these. Now, as to what kinds of knowledge claims are foundational, well, that’s where this gets particularly interesting, in fact it sort of depends on which philosopher you ask. Take John Locke for instance. Locke’s viewpoint essentially was that when humans are born, their minds are like blank slates, that is, we don’t have any kind of knowledge when we are born. We get our knowledge from our senses, you know, taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing. So, when we look at the world, first as babies and then as we grow, that’s where our knowledge comes from. Our senses, our experiences serve as the foundation for our knowledge. 
Now, for a very different view, let’s turn to another philosopher—René Descartes. Descartes thought that you have to go much deeper to find the foundations. He believed that our senses are not to be trusted. So he wanted to find a more solid foundation for knowledge. He began with what has come to be called methodological doubt. And when we say methodological doubt, well … Descartes believed that everything should be questioned, that is, approach it with doubt and that if you could find one thing that cannot be false, that one thing would serve as a foundation for all other knowledge claims. 
So unlike John Locke, Descartes doubts that knowledge comes to him from his senses. He points out that at some time or another, everyone has been deceived by their senses. We have all had experiences where our senses have been wrong—illusions, perhaps, mirages. When driving in a car on a hot summer day, you may see what looks like shimmering water on the road, which, as science tells us, is really just a mirage, an illusion caused by the heating of the air. Our senses 
are wrong, they’ve deceived us. And Descartes thinks that since our senses can deceive us, we ought not take for granted that what they tell us is really true. That’s the first step in his methodological doubt. 
From there he wonders, well, ok, I can doubt my senses, but can I doubt that I am sitting in this room? Can it seem that we are not really here? That we are somewhere else? He conceives that most of us would know that we are sitting in the room. But then he says, well, couldn’t I just be dreaming? He’s had dreams that were so real that he thought he was awake when in fact he was actually asleep. 
And this is another good point. It’s really hard to be sure that you are not actually dreaming. Yet another proof for Descartes that we can’t always trust what our senses are apparently telling us. We could be dreaming. And there’s really no good way to prove that we are not. So the common sense picture of reality, that the world is really the way it looks to us, Descartes shows that we cannot just assume this to be true beyond all doubt. And he does this by talking about illusions and also by arguing that we could be dreaming. 
But consider this, he says, while one is thinking or doubting, or doing any of those sorts of mental activities, one has to exist, right? To even think that I doubt that I exist, you have to exist! And so what Descartes has done is find at least one thing that he can be certain of. He says, “I exist.” And that’s a start. And other knowledge he tells us can be based on that foundation.