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1、Unit12 The Indispensable OppositionUnit 12 The Indispensable Opposition Walter Lippmann Structure of the Text Part 1 (Paras. 1-9) In this section, the author argues that it is wrong to say freedom of speech is something unpleasant we must tolerate. It is also not good enough to say that it is a righ
2、t we must respect. He believes that it is, rather, the best way to avoid error and find truth, and therefore it is indispensable. Part 2 (Paras. 10-24) This is the main body of the essay. Here, the author discusses in detail how the principle of freedom of speech is applied in different political sy
3、stems. Part 3 (Paras. 25-28) In this section, the author moves from the discussion of freedom of speech to the broader problem of how a true democracy must work. Political opposition is absolutely indispensable and is what makes democracy different from all other forms of government. Detailed Analys
4、is of the Text 1. Were they pressed hard enough (Para. 1) If they were pressed hard enough or: If they were obliged to tell the truth 2. most men would probably confess that political freedomthat is to say, the right to speak freely and to act in oppositionis a noble ideal rather than a practical ne
5、cessity. (Para. 1) The author defines political freedom as the right to speak freely and act in opposition. This should not be taken as a scientific definition. Contemporary political science has a much more elaborate definition. 3. As the case for freedom is generally put today, the argument lends
6、itself to this feeling. (Para. 1) As we generally justify the need for freedom today The word “case” here means a set of facts and arguments for or against something 赞成某事的根据和理由 to state ones case 陈述某人的理由 to make a good case 这理由说得很充分 to lend itself to something: to be suitable for a certain purpose 4
7、. the freedom he accords to other men is a matter of toleration. (Para. 1) accord sth. to sb. (or: to accord sb. sth.): to give or treat someone or something in a particular way, especially by giving them power, status, or respect 授予；给予 5. Thus, the defense of freedom of opinion tends to rest not on
8、 its substantial, beneficial, and indispensable consequences, but on a somewhat eccentric, a rather vaguely benevolent, attachment to an abstraction. 因此，人们往往不是从言论自由那巨大、有益和不可或缺的结果来为它辩护，而是把它看成和一种抽象概念联系在一起的、多少有些古怪、依稀让人觉得慷慨仁慈的东西。 rest on: to be based on beneficial: producing good and helpful effects ben
9、evolent: kind and generous 6. It is all very well to say with Voltaire, I wholly disapprove of what you say, but” (Para. 2) It is all very well to say but: This phrase is used to indicate that something may seem good or reasonable in itself, but that other factors must also be considered. 说当然不错，但是 7
10、. then we shall find that liberty of opinion is a luxury, safe only in pleasant times when men can be tolerant because they are not deeply and vitally concerned. (Para. 3) then we shall find that liberty is to be appreciated if we can have it/if is offered to us, but it is not an utter/absolute nece
11、ssity. And we can have this good thing only in pleasant times when people can be tolerant because they dont feel that peoples differing opinions threaten their vital interests. Therefore, they do not care very much what people say. 8. there is a much more compelling reason for cultivating the habits
12、 of free men. (Para. 4) compelling: capable of forcing somebody to believe or agree; convincing 令人信服的 the habits of free men: It refers here to the habits of respecting freedom of speech and other rights all citizens enjoy in a free society. 9. We take, it seems to me, a naively self-righteous view
13、when we argue as if the right of our opponents to speak were something that we protect because we are magnanimous, noble, and unselfish. (Para. 4) If it is not because we are deeply and vitally concerned that we protect the right of our opponents to speak, then is it because we are kind and generous
14、, or noble, or unselfish? The author says no. That would be a nave or childish view. self-righteous: (disapproving) showing or having a strong feeling that your own views or opinions are right and those of others are wrong. 自以为是的 10. We miss the whole point when we imagine that we tolerate the freed
15、om of our political opponents as we tolerate a howling baby next door, as we put up with the blasts from our neighbors radio because we are too peaceable to heave a brick through the window. (Para. 5) We are missing the whole point: 我们完全没有讲到点上/没有抓住问题的实质 howling babies: babies crying at the top of th
16、eir voices blasts from a radio: loud sounds from a radio peaceable: not liking to fight or argue to heave a brick: to throw a brick According to the author, political opponents expressing their views are different from howling babies or the blasts from a neighbors radio. We sometimes tolerate the ho
17、wling and the blasts as nuisances, but the opinions of political opponents are not mere nuisances for us to tolerate. They are a vital necessity, one we cant do without, and therefore something we must welcome. 11. it would be difficult to say or the indifference of an empty mind. (Para. 5) The auth
18、or goes on to explain that often we are tolerant of opposition not because we are magnanimous or have noble ideals like Voltaire, but because we are too lazy to deal with the problems involved; not because we have strong principles which protect the right to hold opposing views but because we do not
19、 have strong opinions on the issues one way or the other; not because our minds are open and we are eager to seek the truth, therefore we welcome different ideas, but because our minds are empty and therefore we are indifferent to peoples opinions. 12. We are much closer to the essence of the of our
20、 own need. (Para. 6) In this paragraph, the author offers what he thinks is a better analogy. He says that we need the freedom to voice opposing views for the same reason that we need doctors to speak the truth. This is the theme of the essay, and very convincing it is too, because nobody will deny
21、that even “the most ferocious dictator” would rather be treated for his illness by a doctor than by his Minister of Propaganda. 13. The point at which we recognize this need is much higher in some men than in others. (Para. 7) People do not realize their vital need for freedom of speech in the same
22、degree. Totalitarian rulers (dictators) do not think they need political opposition, and they try their best to silence it whereas other people will go so far as to pay an opposition from the public treasury. 14. which goes back to Magna Carta and beyond (Para. 7) which can be traced to Magna Carta
23、and even before that. 15. In so far as the usual apology for freedom of speech ignores this experience, it becomes abstract and eccentric rather than concrete and human. (Para. 8) in so far as: to the degree that the usual apology for freedom of speech: the usual defense of freedom of speech ignores
24、 this experience: What experience? This refers to the experience that one often reaches a point at which things really matter, where the freedom of others is no longer a question of their right but of our own need. it becomes abstract and eccentric rather than concrete and human: What does “it” refe
25、r to here? It refers to the concept of freedom of speech. It becomes a strange and abstract philosophical idea rather than a concrete human need. 16. Surely that is a miserable caricature of the great civic right which men have bled and died for. (Para. 8) What does “the great civic right which men
26、have bled and died for” refer to? It refers to the freedom of speech. What is that “miserable caricature” of the freedom of speech? It is to take it as meaning the right to go out into a park and speak to vacant air. caricature: a description of sth. that makes it seem silly by emphasizing some aspe
27、cts of it 漫画式的讽刺描写 17. and that out of all the speaking and listening, the give-and-take of opinions, the truth should be arrived at. (Para. 8) So freedom of speech means not only that people have the right to speak, but also that we have the duty to listen to them. In other words, there must be eff
28、ective give-and-take of opinions. The author here is supporting the need for public debate without which freedom of speech is meaningless. 18 What is the main idea of this paragraph? (Para. 9) In this paragraph the author concludes, in summary, that the reason why freedom of speech must lead to mean
29、ingful debate is because our ultimate purpose is not to tolerate error, but to arrive at the truth. 19It may not produce the truth, or the whole truth all the time, or often, or in some cases ever. But there is no other system which will find so much truth. (Para. 9) (1) What does “it” refer to here
30、? It refers to “the system”, the system of freedom of speech (the free give-and-take of opinions). (2) Is this system a fool-proof guarantee for finding the truth? The author says no. It may not produce the whole truth. It may not produce the truth all the time. It may not produce the truth often. I
31、n some cases, it may even never produce the truth. Why? Because things are complicated and our capacity for finding the truth is always limited. But “there is no other system which will find so much truth”. In spite of/Despite all its limitations, this system is still the best we have. 19 without an
32、y serious falsification (Para. 10) without any serious distortion or misrepresentation to falsify: to make sth. appear false 20 It is a system of one-way communication (Para. 10) The author defines the system in a totalitarian state as a one-way communication instead of a two-way communication betwe
33、en the ruler and the ruled because there is no give and take, no exchange of opinion, only the expression of the rulers opinions. 21 nothing comes back to the rulers from the people except the cheers (Para. 10) This kind of communication denies the ruler the chance to be made aware of facts he may h
34、ave forgotten, the true feelings of his people that have been hidden from him, the truths that he may have neglected and the good suggestions people might offer him. The author knows that dictators are not all fools. They may be pretty smart. They know they have to make great decisions that have eno
35、rmous consequences and therefore they cannot govern by their intuitions alone. They will also try to find out what the people want. They may even be modest and willing to encourage their advisors or subordinates to debate in their presence. So what is really wrong with totalitarian states? 22 the to
36、talitarian rulers get back the reports of the secret police (Para. 11) Reports by secret police do not have the same validity as the give-and-take of freely expressed opinions of the populace. Dictators may be smart but their own intuition cannot be permanently and continually inspired. However clev
37、er a dictator may be he cannot avoid making serious mistakes. 23 then all one can say is heaven help Mussolini, heaven help Italy, and the new Emperor of Ethiopia. (Para. 12) Translation: 那人们只好说，愿上帝保佑墨索里尼，保佑意大利，保佑埃塞俄比亚的新国王吧。(那人们只好说，墨索里尼、意大利、埃塞俄比亚的新国王要完蛋了。) Heaven/God/Lord help sb.: used to express s
38、trong feelings of worry or concern about what is happening or could happen. 24 Can there be free debate in a totalitarian state? (Para. 13) The author says no, because as time goes on, that is less and less easy; critical discussion disappears as the internal opposition is liquidated in favor of men
39、 who think and feel the same as the totalitarian leader (the yes men). The author gives the examples of Napoleon I and Napoleon 111 whose initial successes were inevitably followed by many fatal mistakes. Yes man: someone who always agrees with people who have more power than he (or she) does, usual
40、ly because he wants those people to like him. 对上唯唯诺诺，唯命是从的人；应声虫 25. But when we try to picture our own system, by way of contrast, what picture do we have in our minds? (Para. 14) by way of contrast: This is used to indicate that a comparison is being made. 作为比较；为了对比 Warning: Do not mix this up with
41、 “in the way of sth.”, which is used to indicate the type of thing that is being described or thought of 就而言 For example: The school did not offer the students much in the way of moral education. 25 It is, is it not, that anyone may stand up on his own soapbox and say anything he pleases like the in
42、dividuals in Kiplings poem who sit each in his separate star and draw the Thing as they see it for the God of Things as they are. (Para. 14) The author does not think that freedom of speech in a democracy should only mean allowing people to stand up on a soapbox and say anything they please. He is o
43、bviously referring to the Hyde Park corner speeches in Britain. (See the Notes to the Text) In Kiplings poem, individuals could draw the Thing as they see it sitting each in his separate star, because Kipling is a poet, and poets are allowed to use a form of exaggeration known as “poetic license”. (
44、See the Notes to the Text) 26 But the ordinary mortal isolated on his separate star will have a hallucination and a citizenry declaiming from separate soapboxes will poison the air with hot and nonsensical confusion. (Para. 14) But we are ordinary human beings, and if we were to be put on “separate
45、stars”, (that is, be isolated one from another) we would go mad and see or hear things that do not exist. And the citizens of a country all speaking loudly from separate soapboxes will not utter useful opinions. They will only pollute the air with hot and nonsensical confusion. citizenry: all the ci
46、tizens of a place Compare: weaponry: weapons toiletries: things like soap and skin lotions that people use in washing and personal grooming hot: angry, excited, swayed by strong feelings nonsensical: meaningless, stupid 27 If the democratic alternative to the totalitarian one-way broadcasts is a row
47、 of separate soapboxes, then I submit that the alternative is unworkable, is unreasonable, and is humanly unattractive. (Para. 15) The author thinks totalitarian one-way communication is no good, and a row of separate soapboxes is no better. If that is regarded as the democratic alternative, it is a
48、 fake. to submit: Here it means to make a formal statement, esp. in a court of law 郑重声明 28 On the contrary, freedom of speech is established to achieve its essential purpose only when different opinions are expounded in the same hall to the same audience. (Para. 15) The emphasis is on the word “same”, “the same hall and the same audience”. Otherwise freedom of speech fails to achieve its essential purpose. 29 What matters is not the utterance of opinions. What matters is the confrontation of
