Clover, a researcher and author at the Institute of Cultural Studies at the University of Virginia, and his book published last year, "The Magic of Driving: A Philosophy of Sailing to the Wind."
Albert Camus, author of the novels The Stranger, The Plague, and The Myth of Sisyphus, has said that there is only one really serious philosophical problem and that is suicide.
sole? What about the question of "should I use a car to transport"? For modern people, Shakespeare's phrase "To be or not to be, that is the question" can be rewritten as "To drive or not to drive, that is the question" (to drive or not to drive). Camus, who died young, may feel the same way at the last minute. 61 years ago, he was riding a publisher's free ride, but when the car crashed into a tree, Camus was out of breath and died at the age of 46.
The convenience of driving is needless to say, but for many drivers, it is far more fun than practical value. The American writer Matthew Crawford pointed out in his book Why We Drive: Towards a Philosophy of the Open Road that driving is to practice one's skill at being free. He agreed with Nietzsche that it was indeed exciting to feel his energy inflated (Joy is the feeling of one's powers increasing), which is the magic of driving. No wonder driverless people scoff at driverless cars. In their eyes, if the automotive revolution succeeds, human autonomy and agency, and the pleasure of acquired skills and calculated risk, will be greatly reduced.
But cars can also be weapons of murder, and people who drive them can become murderers at any time. Patricia Highsmith, a crime novelist who died in 1995, wrote in a recently published diary: "The car is fighting for more lives than the war, and that's one of the reasons it's admirable." ”（One reason to admire the automobile：It demolishes more people than wars do）。 It's no surprise that these words come from the authors of "Strangers on the Train" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley," not to mention that she was half right. According to statistics, more than 1.4 million people died in traffic accidents worldwide last year, far more than the souls who died on the battlefield.
The potential lethality of cars is staggering, and the police officers who enforce the law on the road know best. Incidents of U.S. police shooting unarmed suspicious drivers have occurred, and their explanation is that "cars are weapons that can be killed." This is, of course, a strong argument, but it is not entirely unfounded. Like firearms, cars are tools that can lead to serious consequences and must be taken seriously. Every time you drive, you should be as fearful as a courtier giving a chapter to a king. Nabokov, a Russian-American novelist who understands this, said that he did not have to live a life of trepidation because he did not know how to drive; he laughed that this "not understanding" trumped all his knowledge.
"Driving or not driving" is a philosophical and ethical issue because it involves our moral responsibility to others. If we choose to drive and abandon public transportation, do we consider the impact on others? Including pollution of the environment and threat to life? The so-called ethics and morality is to know how to put yourself in the shoes of others, see things and consider things from the perspective and position of others. The question is to what extent to consider others? Selflessly fighting for the best interests of others is very human, but we should at least avoid doing things that hurt people. "First, do no harm" is not just a medical code, it should be a code of conduct.
The philosopher Peter Singer examines ethics from a utilitarian point of view, and his thought-provoking views on issues such as animal rights, poverty, and affluence are thought-provoking. He believes that it is our moral responsibility to try to prevent things that are harmful to people as long as we can. This is not a big truth, but a practical principle of life. To strictly adhere to this principle, should we also say no to "self-driving"?
The English word "automobile" is a combination of Greek and Latin, which originally meant freedom of movement. Isn't freedom of movement the most basic definition and the most universal manifestation of freedom? It's no wonder that since its widespread use, cars and driving have been cultural symbols of freedom in Western society. In the Hollywood film Thelma and Louise, the motto of the two heroines who escaped "toxic masculinity" was "just keep driving." The moment they really felt their freedom was when they stepped on the accelerator of the car, and one of their hands clasped together, starting the car at full speed and driving towards the cliff.
The romantic freedom and freedom of driving has an evil twin, and that is its lethality and destructiveness. The globally popular "Iron Kong" and "Fast and Furious" film series turn traffic accidents into spectacles, dressing dangerous driving as entertainment, and the more you watch, the more offensive it becomes. However, no matter how these movies refer to deer as horses, they cannot hide the fact that cars can be weapons of murder. When we watch the TV news and see the big car accidents that are dead and injured, we will cry out for the tragic death, and when we watch the movies and see the rampage car stunts, we will be very addicted. This is the schizophrenia of modern man.
Driving can be a substitute, but the joy of driving cannot replace the pleasure of walking. Of course, walking on two feet alone can't go very far. In ancient China, poets often used walking to highlight difficult distances to cross. The first of the Nineteen Ancient Poems is quite representative in this regard: "Walking and repeating, separating from Junsheng." More than 10,000 miles apart, each in the sky. The road is obstructed and long, can the meeting be safe? ”
However, in today's convenient transportation, people who choose to walk are not out of helplessness, but to embark on a journey of discovery. The best way to get to know a city and then understand it is not to find a favorable position to look down. Doing so may create a sense of superiority that "the earth is under my feet," but it does not help us to "experience" and "experience" a city and understand the people who live in it. We have to be down-to-earth and get into the crowd. We live in the multi-task era, but a person can only do one thing when walking – walking on his two legs. In the process, the walker's body, mind, and emotions become one, rediscovering the inexplicable feelings and excitement of living in the present moment.
Lin Peili