Hello, nice to meet you and
welcome back to our lecture.
Last time, we talked about
an important need intensively,
and it is the need for power.
If we associate this need with other needs,
we may discover that the correlation
between the needs are quite interesting.
Read the tenth paragraph,
and try to find out the
answer to the question:
What is the counterforce to power?
Yes, it is freedom.
Freedom is an essential need for everyone.
For centuries, countless people
pursue freedom despite the sacrifice
of wealth, love or even their lives.
No wonder Sandor Petofi voices
such a classic poem: Life is valuable
love costs more/for the sake of freedom/
we give up both.
《逍遥游》是《庄子》的首篇 24
在思想上和艺术上 25
都可作为《庄子》一书的代表
《逍遥游》的主题是追求 26
一种绝对自由的人生观
作者认为 只有忘却物我的界限 27
达到无己 无功 无名的境界 28
无所依凭而游于无穷
才是真正的 逍遥游 29
文章先是通过大鹏与蜩 学鸠 30
等小动物的对比
阐述了小与大的区别 31
在此基础上作者指出
无论是不善飞翔的蜩与学鸠 32
还是能借风力飞到九万里高空的大鹏 33
甚至是可以御风而行的列子 34
它们都是 有所待 而不自由的 35
从而引出并阐述了
至人无己 神人无功 圣人无名 的道理 36
The first immigrants who took the
"May Flower" to sail to and land on 38
the New Continent were driven by,
though among many motivations,
above all the seek for freedom.
And since then, the pursuit of freedom
was deeply rooted in the spirit of America.
Millions of movie fans are fascinated
by one film: The Shawshank Redemption.
And the impressive theme of it is
the undying hope for freedom.
Freedom, inevitable as power,
is often in conflict with power.
That is, Freedom which is another
basic need, often clashes with power.
For example, power may restrict
or limit people's freedom or even deprives them
of the freedom to do certain things.
It seems that there has to be a counterforce
to power; unbridled power would be destructive
to the survival of the species.
Counterforce: a contrary
or opposing force 59
Unbridled: is an adj.
esp.used as an attributive.
It denotes the meaning of: not controlled,
not checked and too extreme or violent.
e.g. He often speaks with an unbridled tongue.
Unbridled power indicates the abuse of power.
The author intends to convey the idea that:
It seems necessary to have an opposing force
to restrict power so as to prevent abuse/misuse.
Power without control and supervision would
threaten the life of the species on earth.
For example, as Rachel Carson points out
in The Silent Spring, man's power to temper
with nature has resulted in serious
"contamination of air, earth, rivers,
and sea with dangerous and lethal materials."
Therefore, almost everything said about power
could also be reworded
into the vocabulary of freedom.
Reword is a verb which
means to say or write sth.
again in different words in order to
make it easier to understand or more suitable
For example: If we reword the telegram we
can save one-third of the cost.
This sentence indicates: Therefore,
what has been said about power could also
be said about freedom, though in different terms.
such as, unbridled freedom would be harmful,
even destructive to society,
and it seems that there has to be a
counterforce to freedom, too.
What ensue are two examples to justify
why the author holds that both the need for power
and that for freedom ask for a
counterforce to make a balance.
The first example shows that we want to have
the freedom of experiencing failure in our struggle
to fulfill our need for success.
The second example is expressed like this:
As much as a child may love her parents,
she also wants the freedom to branch out on her own.
It means Although a child may love her parents,
she also wants her parents to
let her develop the way she wants.
(as) much as: is similar to "although"
to introduce an adverbial clause of concession
when you want to express a strong feeling or desire.
More examples:
As much as I hate to do it,
I must stay home and study tonight.
Much as I respect him,
I don't always approve of what he does.
Much as he longed for a better job,
he rejected a well-paying position.
to branch out (into): to add to the range
of one's interests or activities, e.g.
Whitney doesn't want to concentrate on
just one field; she wants to branch out more.
The company decided to branch out
into producing digital cameras.
The author stretches his argument by adding
the observation that: So you can see that
freedom can be in conflict not only
with power but also with belonging.
For example, if you want me around too much,
I claim you stifle me, but if you aren't
constantly giving me attention,
I may claim you don't love me.
We try to understand it. It is clear that freedom
is not only contradictory to power but also to
the sense of belonging.
It is reported by the scientists that even
in the most intimate relationships,
people involved should have an appropriate
spatial distance in between. Too close may bring
about the feeling of suffocation and repression;
too apart might yield the feel of estrangement
and resentment. So it is hard to reach
and maintain a balance.
In this lecture, we talked about our need for freedom,
which is a counter-force to power.
Next time, we'll try to discuss anther need:
the need for fun. Please read from paras. 11-14
beforehand and try to consider the question:
Do you agree that the love of fun is
also a basic human need? Can you offer
a few examples to illustrate it?
Ok, look forward to our next talk. See you!