Debate: "Adequate food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality"
Pro: Cambridge University Team
Against: China Fudan University Team Jia Yan:
Chairman: Li Xueping
Time: August 25th, 1993
Chairman: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the fourth and final preliminary contest of "1993 International Debate Competition for College Students".
Tonight's winning team will enter the semi-finals, and they will compete with last night's winning team, the University of Sydney, for a seat in the finals. The two teams that will compete in our debate tonight are: Cambridge University and Fudan University. Now introduce the representatives of the two sides.
On my right is the representative of Fangzheng Cambridge University. The first is Tang Zhimin, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Economics; The second is Sun Xuejun, a second-year doctoral student in English Department; The third is Wu Junzhong, a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Engineering; The fourth is Ji Linyang, a first-year master student in community medicine. (Applause)
On my left is the representative of the opposing Fudan University team. The first one is Jiang Feng, a second-year graduate student of China Language and Literature in Chinese Department; The second is Ji Xiang, a sophomore in law; The third is Jia Yan, a fourth-year law student; The fourth place is Jiang Changjian, a third-year master of international politics. (Applause)
There are also five judges in our jury tonight. They are Dr. Zhong Zhibang, who is the director of the research institute of Trinity Theological Seminary. (Applause) The second lawyer is Hee Theng Fong, and Mr. Hui is a director of the Singapore Broadcasting Bureau. (Applause) The third place is Mr. Guo Baokun, who is the artistic director of the Center for the Performing Arts. (Applause) The fourth is Dr. Wei Weixian, who is honorary president of Nanyang Art College. (Applause) The fifth is Mr. Zhang Xiawei, the director of the Resources and Public Relations Department of the National Arts Council. (Applause)
Tonight, our debate is related to everyone, that is, "adequate food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality". The position of the opposing side is that "food and clothing is not a necessary condition for talking about morality." The positions of both sides were decided by drawing lots. Now I declare the fourth session of "1993 International College Debate" officially started. First of all, please let Tang Zhimin, the first representative of the square, express his views and speak. Time is three minutes. (Applause)
Tang Zhimin: Hello, everyone! Tonight's topic is "Food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality". Food and clothing are the most basic needs of people, and talking about morality refers to promoting morality. Food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality, that is to say, we can't talk about morality without food and clothing.
what is morality? Some people say that morality is the value standard for judging right and wrong. I asked my classmates, what is the basis for judging right and wrong? In the final analysis, it depends on whether this thing meets people's needs. And I will ask the other students, what is the most basic need for people to survive? Is food and clothing. Then I'll ask the other students again, if we talk about a kind of morality, and the result is that everyone can't guarantee food and clothing, do we still want this kind of morality? Of course not. Therefore, we say that food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality.
what is morality? Some people say that morality is a human code of conduct. I asked my classmates, what do people do when they set a code of conduct? The code of conduct is formulated to meet people's needs. I will ask the other students again, what is the most basic and minimum need for people to survive? Is food and clothing. Let me ask the other students again, if we set a code of conduct, the result is that everyone can't guarantee food and clothing. Do we want this code of conduct? Of course not. Therefore, food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality.
when you are hungry and cold, can you talk about morality without food and clothing? Of course not. I ask you, what should we do most for people who are hungry and cold? What we should do most is to relieve them of hunger and cold. So at this time, what we should talk about most is the morality that can help them get enough food and clothing. What do people who are hungry and cold like to hear most? It is a truth that can help them relieve hunger and cold, not an empty sermon that is divorced from the reality of their lives. If you can't even guarantee food and clothing when you talk about morality, you can't succeed in talking about morality. Therefore, we say that food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality.
In history, Boyi and Shu Qi were ashamed to eat Zhou Su and would rather starve to death. At that time, was food and clothing not a necessary condition for talking about morality? Of course not. Boyi and Shu Qi can be regarded as people with lofty ideals. Whether the morality of people with lofty ideals can be demonstrated and promoted, let me ask you, what is the purpose of people with lofty ideals struggling all their lives? In order to save the world. Let me ask you again, what is the most basic and minimum need for everyone to survive? Is food and clothing. Let me ask you again, if people with lofty ideals struggle all their lives, and the result is that there is no guarantee of food and clothing for everyone in the world, will they still do so? No. Is it still interesting for them to do so? It's boring Therefore, we say that food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality. Thank you. (Applause)
President: Thank you, Mr. Tang Zhimin. Next, we ask Jiang Feng, the first representative of the opposing party, to make a point, and the time is also three minutes. (Applause)
Jiang Feng: Thank you, Madam President, and thank you all. Just now, the other debater put food and clothing in an overwhelming position and asked us many questions. What I want to tell my opponent is that morality is more important than food and clothing. People live not just to eat.
in our opinion, adequate food and clothing is not a necessary condition for talking about morality. Rational human existence is the necessary condition to talk about morality. As long as rational human beings exist, we can talk about morality under any circumstances. In the process of getting enough food and clothing, we should especially talk about morality.
first, food and clothing is by no means a prerequisite for talking about morality. Throughout the ages, there are many societies that have not solved the problem of food and clothing. Don't they talk about morality? Today, don't talk about morality in Ethiopia, which is naked and hungry? Don't talk about morality in Somalia, where the country is in trouble and the people are scarce and the war continues? As the old saying goes, "People are neither human nor fond of right and wrong." People are rational and can talk about morality, which is the difference between people and animals. People can and should talk about morality, whether they are hungry, cold or well-fed, whether they are surrounded by happy ever after or family members.
Second, morality is a norm to regulate people's behavior, which is supported by public opinion and conscience. As we all know, talking about moral practice includes three meanings: personal cultivation, social promotion and government advocacy. Personally, there are countless examples of people who insist on their moral cultivation despite food and clothing difficulties. Yan Hui, a good student of Kong Old Master Q, has only one food and one ladle of drink. Isn't he still "faithful in his words and respectful in his deeds"? When Du Fu's hut was destroyed by the autumn wind, did he still think, "There are thousands of spacious buildings, and all the poor people in the world are happy?" When it comes to the government, Singapore has also been struggling. Mr. Lee Kuan Yew warned the people: We have nothing but ourselves. He emphasized that morality is an important factor to make competitiveness better than others. Imagine, if there were no government to advocate virtue, where would Singapore be today's prosperity and prosperity?
thirdly, the so-called necessary conditions, from a logical point of view, mean "what is necessary is not inevitable, and what is natural is not". Therefore, for today's debate, we only need to demonstrate that we can talk about morality without food and clothing. What the other party wants to demonstrate is that without food and clothing, you can never talk about morality. And this argument of the other party is just not justified.
Hugo said, "Good morality is the foundation of society." Morality is a stone, knocking out the fire of hope; Morality is fire, which lights the lamp of life; Morality is a lamp that illuminates the road of mankind; Morality is the road that leads us to a brilliant tomorrow.
above, I mainly expounded our point of view logically. Next, our debaters will further elaborate our views from three aspects: theory, facts and value. Thank you, everyone. (Long applause)
President: Thank you, Jiang Feng. Next, let's listen to Sun Xuejun, the second representative of the square, for three minutes. (Applause)
Sun Xuejun: The other classmate just said that food and clothing is more important than morality. She also said that people live not just to eat. But as we all know, how can we live without eating? How can we talk about morality if we are not alive? So in this sense, food and clothing is a necessary condition for talking about morality.
The problem of food and clothing and morality cannot be simplified. This includes not only talking about morality after getting enough food and clothing, but also talking about morality at different levels before getting enough food and clothing. It is a natural and self-evident fact to talk about morality after food and clothing. But before food and clothing, how to deal with the relationship between food and clothing and morality, and how to deal with the relationship between economic construction and moral construction, this is the problem we want to talk about today, and it is also the problem that people pay attention to. And the other side just ignored this problem.
As we all know, adequate food and clothing is the most basic and necessary condition for human survival. In order to multiply and develop, human society must have sufficient economic strength to maintain people's survival. Therefore, when we talk about morality, we cannot be divorced from the people's food and clothing. The other party seems to be saying that as long as a society has morality, the economy and society will naturally go up. As long as there is morality, everyone's stomach will be full. This is ridiculous. This is a naive fantasy. We recognize the importance of morality to a society. But we have a deeper understanding of the indispensable importance of food and clothing for everyone and every society to survive. Therefore, we propose that talking about morality cannot be separated from food and clothing.
building a country is like raising a child. We all know the importance of educating children, to teach them to abide by social ethics and to be a good person. However, if we don't feed our children, what will happen? What will happen if we educate our children to eat? If we don't educate our children at the same time, isn't our fault as parents even greater? From a realistic point of view, a country can only succeed if it insists that morality and food and clothing are inseparable. The other party, who came from Chinese mainland, must be deeply touched by the achievements made by China in economic changes over the past ten years. The world is very aware of this problem. These achievements have been made under the condition that the China government insists on paying equal attention to spiritual civilization and material civilization. If the China government still cares only about moral construction, as in the past and during the Cultural Revolution, but does not talk about economy, then it is hard to imagine that China will achieve such achievements. Thank you all. (Applause)
President: Thank you, Sun Xuejun. Next, we invite Ji Xiang, the second representative of the opposing party, to speak. Time is three minutes. (Applause)
Ji Xiang: Thank you, Madam President, and hello! Eat to live, but do people live to eat? I remind the other debater once again that what you are going to argue today is that you can never talk about morality without food and clothing. No matter whether this morality is a morality that guarantees food and clothing or a morality that cannot guarantee food and clothing. Since the other party has not understood our point of view logically, I will further elaborate it theoretically.
first, morality appeared with the birth of human beings. With rational people, with interpersonal relationships, there will be moral norms. Therefore, no matter what stage human beings are in, it is not only possible but also necessary to talk about morality. What is recorded in the Book of Rites, Li Yun, is not a vivid portrayal of China's moral situation in ancient times. And the legend of Adam and Eve stealing forbidden fruit and original sin in the Old Testament also shows the earliest origin of morality? The cultural and anthropological evidence of people talking about morality in poverty is abundant in the British Museum. Presumably, the other party knows all about this.
second, in essence, morality is a social and historical category. Although it may provide some convenience for talking about morality in the case of food and clothing, it is by no means a necessary condition. People are talking about morality in different historical stages and cultural backgrounds. Darwin discovered in his travels around the world that the Bushmen in South Africa, even if they were starving to death, would not keep a small fish they found, but would share it with their people. Do they have enough food and clothing? No. Do they talk about morality? Of course. Just as we can't go beyond our own skin, human beings can't go beyond or even get rid of morality. When human beings talk about morality, there are ways to talk about poverty when they are poor, and there are ways to have enough food and clothing when they have enough food and clothing. When talking about morality, you can talk about it by sitting down, you can teach by example, and you can even be independent. Never block a hundred leaves without seeing Mount Tai.
Third, from the perspective of function and purpose, morality is used to coordinate interpersonal relationships and achieve the perfect realm of life. Morality, from ancient times to the present, aims at "being clear about morality, being close to the people and stopping at perfection". As the other side insists, if we can't talk about morality until we have enough food and clothing, but decide the world with our teeth and claws, then I'm afraid human beings have long since disappeared into the wilderness, so why are we debating any moral issues here today?
Finally, advise the other debater not to turn a deaf ear to a large number of facts and not to turn a blind eye to human history. Please give examples, even one: when, where and under what circumstances did human beings not talk about morality at all? Thank you. (Applause)
President: Thank you, Ji Xiang. Let's listen to Wu Junzhong, the third representative of the square, how to refute it. (Applause)
Wu Junzhong: Hello, everyone! Regarding today's debate, our definition is different from the other's. However, the other party didn't respond to our definition, and only wished to strengthen the development of the other party's definition. Let's compare the definitions of the two sides.
First of all, with regard to food and clothing, we put forward the concept of relative food and clothing, and the hunger and cold mentioned only refers to the definition of hunger and cold of ordinary people and middle-class people in society, not the hunger and cold mentioned by the other party. So we didn't recognize each other's definition. According to this definition, what is hunger and cold like? According to biological research, long-term hunger and cold, heat is not enough to sustain life, will occur mutation, and even death. The other party cited the example of Singapore. When Singapore was developing, was it hungry and cold? Is there no food for everyone?
Secondly, when it comes to morality, morality is a norm that everyone can practice.
a norm that everyone can't practice is not called morality. The other party only cited examples of saints and heroes. Just because everyone can't do it, everyone praises him. This is a super-moral behavior, which is not moral. For example, a doctor risked his life to practice medicine in a plague-ridden area, and everyone praised him. But if another doctor doesn't go, will everyone condemn him morally? No. Therefore, morality is not super-morality, and the other side has a wrong definition. (Laughter) If that is morality, let's not debate here, let's not listen to the debate here, let's go to Somalia. (Laughter) Regarding the origin of morality, firstly, there is a society first, and morality will only be produced when the resource system is known. If ten people are in the desert and there is only one piece of bread, is it possible to produce morality? It was too late for everyone to grab it.
Morality is produced in this way, and resources and systems must be well known. Resources must be available, and you must have enough food and clothing after distribution to produce morality. After distribution, you can't have enough food and clothing, and you won't produce morality. This is an anthropological study. Judging from the logical relationship between morality and food and clothing, people's demand for food and clothing is innate, but the emergence of morality is only after human beings form a society. The purpose of morality is to maintain social harmony, so only under the premise of human survival can there be society, morality and moral harmony be discussed. Therefore, talking about morality must be based on food and clothing. In our definition, we talk about