Michael Ignatieff 的2本書： Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics和 Isaiah Berlin 的傳記

( 真正的人藏在許多地方:

編輯Henry Hardy 寫的《自由及其背叛‧編者前言》Freedom and its Betrayal: Six Enemies of Human Liberty很精彩，不亞於Michael Ignatieff 所寫的 Sir Isaiah Berlin 的傳記。(該書有二漢譯本，而我寫了好幾篇所謂"翻譯評論"。Michael Ignatieff 的訪問影片，在YouTube可找到) 。---- 這是1952年的6小時BBC演講的追憶稿---- 最有趣/意思的是許多聽眾寫信問柏林……柏林很感動，每信必復……..

近年，什麼"平庸的邪惡"被拍成電影，台灣的法官的判決書還引用它。江先生的退職說法還引用漢娜鄂蘭的2段話。(可能斷章取義) 我認為，真正研究政治哲學的，應該 讀Sir Isaiah Berlin 作品以及了解他對她的評價為什麼不高。)

黃國昌

“The first thing you need to know when you enter politics is why you’re doing it. You’d be surprised at how many people go into politics without being able to offer anyone a convincing reason why. But why is the first question they—voters, press and rivals—will ask you . . . ”

過去一個月，花了相當時間閱讀Fire and Ashes。這本由美國哈佛大學出版的書，紀錄了一位學者踏上政治後的回顧與反思。Ignatieff，一位在哈佛大學甘迺迪學院(Kennedy School of Government)教授人權與國際政治的加拿大人，於2005年10月返回家鄉踏入政壇，次年1月贏得選舉進入國會，2008年年底成為加拿大的傳統大黨「自由黨」(Liberal Party)黨魁，率領自由黨爭取執政機會，一切似乎都順利地依計劃進行。然而，2011年5月國會大選，自由黨慘敗，在308個國會席次中，僅僅取得34席。Ignatieff黯然退出政壇，結束短短五年的從政生涯。

這不是一個振奮人心的勝利故事，這是一個挫折失敗的故事，但卻因此是一個更有價值的故事。一位政治學家透過親身經歷，不做作、不浮誇、不推諉，以令人驚訝的坦率態度，誠實並深刻地反省自己的政治之路，帶領讀者認真地思考當代政治的意義與價值。

特別謝謝從不吝於給我直率諍言的好友丞儀與彥圖，催促我閱讀這本好書，考驗自己的心靈，逼迫自己誠實面對挑戰與選擇，追問自己意志的強度。

Fire and Ashes也是在明天(12/07)「閱讀，讓世界不一樣」的龍顏講堂上，我所推薦的一本書。如果有興趣，明天下午14:30，來金石堂信義店（台北市信義路二段196號5樓）走走，與我及飛帆一起交換閱讀的喜悅與心得。

Michael Ignatieff is Professor at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, and Edward R. Murrow Chair of Press, Politics and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Fire and Ashes

Success and Failure in Politics

Michael Ignatieff

In 2005 Michael Ignatieff left his life as a writer and professor at Harvard University to enter the combative world of politics back home in Canada. By 2008, he was leader of the country’s Liberal Party and poised—should the governing Conservatives falter—to become Canada’s next Prime Minister. It never happened. Today, after a bruising electoral defeat, Ignatieff is back where he started, writing and teaching what he learned.

What did he take away from this crash course in political success and failure? Did a life of thinking about politics prepare him for the real thing? How did he handle it when his own history as a longtime expatriate became a major political issue? Are cynics right to despair about democratic politics? Are idealists right to hope? Ignatieff blends reflection and analysis to portray today’s democratic politics as ruthless, unpredictable, unforgiving, and hyper-adversarial.

Rough as it is, Ignatieff argues, democratic politics is a crucible for compromise, and many of the apparent vices of political life, from inconsistency to the fake smile, follow from the necessity of bridging differences in a pluralist society. A compelling account of modern politics as it really is, the book is also a celebration of the political life in all its wild, exuberant variety.

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• 1. Hubris
• 2. Ambition
• 3. Fortuna
• 4. Reading the Room
• 5. Money and Language
• 6. Responsibility and Representation
• 7. Standing
• 8. Enemies and Adversaries
• 9. What the Taxi Driver Said
• 10. The Calling
• Notes
• Index

RELATED LINKS

• Listen to an interview with Michael Ignatieff on WBUR’s Radio Boston
• Via WGBH’s Forum Network, watch Ignatieff discuss his experience at an event at Cambridge, MA’s Harvard Book Store
• Read profiles of Ignatieff—and his political rise and fall—in the Boston Globe, Chronicle Review, and the Harvard Gazette
• At Times Higher Education, read how Ignatieff was humbled by his political experience (but discovered it made him a better teacher)
• Read a New York Times op-ed by Ignatieff about the political dysfunction that occurs when leaders abandon good-faith negotiations in favor of a “war” mentality

【說書】烈火與灰燼：一個哲學家的政治試煉｜故事

2004年10月，三位來自加拿大的黑衣人，出現在美國哈佛大學的校園附近。他們的目標，是哈佛的甘迺迪政府學院中，一位名叫葉禮廷（Michael Ignatieff）的政治哲學教授。 在甘迺迪學院附近的一間高級飯店，葉禮廷帶著太太，和這三位黑衣人見了面。 葉禮廷並不清楚這三個遠道而來的人目的何在。不過，對方單刀直入，向葉禮廷說明了目的：他們想要說服葉禮廷放棄哈佛大學的教職，回到故鄉加拿大，代表加拿大的自由黨，參選國會議員。 葉禮廷出生在加拿大的多倫多，並且在多倫多大學完成了大學學位，是不折不扣的加拿大人。不過，他在大學畢業之後，就跟故鄉的漸行漸遠。他先到了英國留學，後來進入哈佛大學歷史系，並以一篇…