美國俄勒岡大學的Gerard Saucier帶領一組研究者在亞非和澳洲的12種語言中尋找人類共通的概念。他們發現在所有語言中都出現了道德這一概念,被譯為「好」、「壞」、「不服從」和「羞愧」等詞語。此外,能力這一概念也十分普遍,比如「強」、「弱」、「無用」、「愚蠢」等等。而「羞愧」這一共通概念是人類對社會群體造成行為限制所作回應的核心經驗。(編譯/劉錚箏)
A team of researchers looking for ubiquitous human concepts in a dozen languages as diverse as the Afro-Asiatic tongue Afar and the Australian language Wik-mungkan discovered that ideas of morality — reflected in words that translate as 「good,」 「bad,」 「disobedient,」 and 「ashamed」 — occur in all 12. Also common are concepts of competence, or lack thereof: 「strong,」 「weak,」 「useless,」 and 「stupid,」 says the team, led by Gerard Saucier of the University of Oregon. The ubiquity of the concept of shame may indicate that a central part of the human experience is the response to behavioral constraints imposed by social groups, the researchers suggest.