Meet Tony. He's my student. He's about my age, and he's in San Quentin State Prison. When Tony was 16 years old, one day, one moment, "It was mom's gun. Just flash it, scare the guy. He's a punk. He took some money; we'll take his money. That'll teach him. Then last minute, I'm thinking, 'Can't do this. This is wrong.' My buddy says, 'C'mon, let's do this.' I say, 'Let's do this.'" And those three words, Tony's going to remember, because the next thing he knows, he hears the pop. There's the punk on the ground, puddle of blood. And that's felony murder -- 25 to life, parole at 50 if you're lucky, and Tony's not feeling very lucky.
Tony ile tanisin. Benim bir ogrencim. Yaklasik benim yasimda, ve San Quentin Devlet Hapishanesi'nde. Tony 16 yasindayken, bir gun, bir an, "Annesinin silahiydi. Sadece gorunup kac, adami korkut. O bir toy. O bir miktar para aldi, biz de onun parasini alacagiz. Bu ona bir ders olacak. Sonra son dakika, dusundum ki, "Bunu yapamam. Bu yanlis." Kankam dedi ki, "Hadi su isi yapalim." Ben de " Hadi yapalim." dedim Ve o uc kelime, Tony bunlari hatirlayacak, cunku biliyor oldugu sonraki sey, polisi duyuyor olduguydu. Toy yerdeydi, kanlar icinde. Ve bu agir bir cinayetti. 25 yil, eger sansi olursa 50sinde sartli tahliye edilecekti, ve Tony kendisini pek sansli hissetmiyordu.
So when we meet in my philosophy class in his prison and I say, "In this class, we will discuss the foundations of ethics," Tony interrupts me. "What are you going to teach me about right and wrong? I know what is wrong. I have done wrong. I am told every day, by every face I see, every wall I face, that I am wrong. If I ever get out of here, there will always be a mark by my name. I'm a convict; I am branded 'wrong.' What are you going to tell me about right and wrong?"
Sonralari hapishanesindeki felsefe dersinde karsilastigimiz zaman ben dedim ki, " Bu sinifta, biz ahlakin temellerini tartisacagiz," Tony benim sozumu kesti. " Bana dogru ve yanlis hakkinda ne ogreteceksiniz? Ben yanlisi biliyorum. Yanlis yaptim. Her gun bana boyle deniyor, gordugumuz herkez, karsilastigim herbir duvar, bana hatali oldugumu soyluyor. Eger ben bir gun buradan cikarsam, benim ismim damgalanmis olacak. Ben bir sucluyum. Ben damgalanmis bir 'Hata'yim. Bana sen dogru ve yanlis hakkinda ne anlatacaksin?"
So I say to Tony, "Sorry, but it's worse than you think. You think you know right and wrong? Then can you tell me what wrong is? No, don't just give me an example. I want to know about wrongness itself, the idea of wrong. What is that idea? What makes something wrong? How do we know that it's wrong? Maybe you and I disagree. Maybe one of us is wrong about the wrong. Maybe it's you, maybe it's me -- but we're not here to trade opinions; everyone's got an opinion. We are here for knowledge. Our enemy is thoughtlessness. This is philosophy."
Sonra ve Tony'e dedim ki, "Uzgunum, fakat durum senin dusundugunden de kotu. Sen dogru ve yanlisi bildigini mi iddaa ediyorsun? O zaman bana yanlisin ne oldugunu soyleyebilir misin? Hayir, bana sadece bir ornek verme. Ben yanlisligin kendisini bilmek istiyorum, yanlislik fikrini. O fikir nedir? Birseyi yanlis yapan sey nedir? Birseyin yanlis oldugunu nasil biliyorsun? Belki senle ben ayni fikirde degiliz. Belki birimiz yanlis hakkinda yaniliyor. Belki o sensin, belki benim. Fakat biz burada dusuncelerin ticaretini yapmak icin degiliz. Herkezin bir dusuncesi vardir. Biz bilgi icin buradayiz. Bizim dusmanimiz dusuncesizlik. Felsefemiz bu."
And something changes for Tony. "Could be I'm wrong. I'm tired of being wrong. I want to know what is wrong. I want to know what I know." What Tony sees in that moment is the project of philosophy, the project that begins in wonder -- what Kant called "admiration and awe at the starry sky above and the moral law within." What can creatures like us know of such things? It is the project that always takes us back to the condition of existence -- what Heidegger called "the always already there." It is the project of questioning what we believe and why we believe it -- what Socrates called "the examined life." Socrates, a man wise enough to know that he knows nothing. Socrates died in prison, his philosophy intact.
Ve Tony icin birseyler degismeye basladi, "Belki hataliyim. Fakat hatali olmaktan yoruldum. Ben neyin yanlis oldugunu ogrenmek istiyorum. Ben neyi bildigimi bilmek istiyorum." Tony'nin o an anladigi sey felsefe projesiydi, merak ile baslayan proje, Kant'in " takdir ve huşu yildizli gokyuzunde yukarida ve ahlaki kurallar icerisinde." olarak tanimladigi sey. Bizim gibi varliklar boyle tur seyleri neyi bilir? Bu proje bizi herzaman varolmanin kosullarina geri alip goturen bir projedir, Heidegger'in "her zaman hazirda orada" dedigi sey. Bu neye ve nicin inandigimizin sorgulandigi bir proje, Sokrates'in "hayatin sinanmasi" diyerek tabir ettigi sey. Sokrates, hicbir sey bilmedigini bilecek kadar bir alim adam. Sokrates hapishanede olmustur, felsefesi sapasaglam.
So Tony starts doing his homework. He learns his whys and wherefores, his causes and correlations, his logic, his fallacies. Turns out, Tony's got the philosophy muscle. His body is in prison, but his mind is free. Tony learns about the ontologically promiscuous, the epistemologically anxious, the ethically dubious, the metaphysically ridiculous. That's Plato, Descartes, Nietzsche and Bill Clinton.
Boylelikle Tony odevini yapmaya basliyor. Nicinlerini, ne sebeptenlerini, nedenlerini ve baglantilarini, mantigini ve yanlislarini ogreniyor. Durum tersine dondu ve Tony Felsefe de acayip guclu oldu. Onun bedeni hapisteydi fakat akli ozgurdu. Tony varliksal olarak karmakarisik, epitomolojik olarak endiseyi ahlaki olarak supheyi ogrendi. Bunlar, Plato, Dekart, Nietzsche, ve Bill Clinton idi.
So when he gives me his final paper, in which he argues that the categorical imperative is perhaps too uncompromising to deal with the conflict that affects our everyday and challenges me to tell him whether therefore we are condemned to moral failure, I say, "I don't know. Let us think about that." Because in that moment, there's no mark by Tony's name; it's just the two of us standing there. It is not professor and convict, it is just two minds ready to do philosophy. And I say to Tony, "Let's do this."
Boylece, o en son yazisini bana verdiginde, ki bu yazisinda siniflandirilmis kacinilmazligi tartisiyor, gunluk islerimizi etkileyen catismalarla ve mucadelerle basa cikmak icin asiri uyumsuzdu. ona ahlaki basarisizlikta suclanmamiza ragmen dedim ki "Bilmiyorum. Bu konuda biraz dusunelim." Cunku o an artik Tony'in isminde bir damga yoktu. Orada oturan sadece ikimizdik. Profesor ve mahkum olarak degil, felesefe yapmak icin hazir olan iki beyin olarak. Ve Tony'e dedim ki, "Hadi bu isi halledelim."
Thank you.
Tesekkurler.
(Applause)
(Alkislar)