存在——一个麦格芬:如何保护思想的欲望

Being——A MacGuffin:How to Preserve the Desire to Think

本文从电影悬念大师希区柯克关于“麦格芬”的谈话开始,将这个不见于词典且没有确切意义的词语视为一个绝对隐喻——世界、人生和心灵的奥秘不可穷尽。在电影世界,一个麦格芬就是思想欲望的隐喻,其本身毫无意义,虚无缥缈。但麦格芬的唯一特征,仅仅在于其同一性。在它身上,一桩秘密被浓缩,从而证明了每一份代价、每一次行动甚至生命的整体冒险对于情节悬念的正当性。它便成为存在与虚无的同一体。我们便认识到,每一位哲学家都有且必须有自己的麦格芬,以便保持思想的工作,以及对思想结果的兴致。

This essay begins with a talk by Hitchcock,the master of cinematic suspense,about the“Mac Guffin”,a word that is not found in the dictionary and has no precise meaning,as an absolute metaphor-the inexhaustible mystery of the world,life and the mind.In the world of cinema,a Mac Guffin is a metaphor for the desire of the mind,meaningless and nebulous in itself.But the only characteristic of a Mac Guffin lies simply in its sameness.In it,a secret is condensed so as to justify every cost,every action,even the whole adventure of life for the suspense of the plot.It then becomes one and the same with being and nothingness.We then realize that every philosopher has and must have his own Mac Guffin in order to keep the work of thought,and the interest in its outcome,alive.