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2012年2月1日星期三

王澄:中国人弄错了,不是“自然法”是“本性法”

http://www.peacehall.com/news/gb/pubvp/2012/02/201202010627.shtml
中国人弄错了,不是"自然法"是"本性法"/ 王澄
(博讯北京时间2012年2月01日 首发 - 支持此文作者/记者)
     本文分两个部分,第一个部分讨论中国人弄错的概念,不是"自然法"是"本性法"。第二个部分介绍一篇有关阿奎那的本性法(自然法)思想的文章。
   
     *第一部分 (博讯 boxun.com)

    我在网上读了一些介绍阿奎那本性法(自然法)思想的中文文章,大多不适合普通人阅读。西方哲学思想在中国还处在一种"消化不良"的阶段。"消化不良"有三 种表现,一是哲学家讲的话普通人听不懂,跩得很;二是不能够活学活用,不能够把学习到的西哲思想精髓应用到中国的现实社会中,这当中当然有来自中 共伪科学马克思主义唯物论的阻力;三是把英文的意思搞错了,比如把"本性nature"错误地翻译成"自然"。我以前说过,"形而上 学"metaphysics也被翻译错了。[1]
   
    中国历史上没有过"自然法" 概念,到现在,大家在讨论西方哲学自然法的内容时也还是不那么透彻。其中之一就是对英文的理解错误。中国人 说的"自然法"的英文是 law of nature,这个nature 在英文中有很多意思,如果你读全本(unabridged)的Webster's Third New international Dictionary 大辞典,对nature 的解释从大的方面就有15种之多。
   
    我们一起来读一下其中与我们这次讨论有关的两种解释,我们要把nature 当成"本性"来解读。
   
    Nature 的英文解释
   
    一种解释:
   
    a. The fundamental character, disposition or temperament of a living being usually innate and unchangeable. 有生命体的基本特性,性情,或气质,一般是内生的,不能改变的。(注:nature相当于中国人说的"本性难移"的"本性"。)
   
    b. The fundamental character, disposition or temperament of mankind as whole: HUMAN NATURE (not interested in any particular man)把人类作为总概念,他的基本特性,性情,或气质。(意思是并不指某个具体的人。)我们常用HUMAN NATURE人类本性。
   
    另一种解释比前一种解释更加具体化了:
   
     A creative and controlling agent, force, or principle operating in something and determining, wholly or chiefly its constitution, development, and well-being. 对于一个具体事物/具体人体来说,能够表现出的,能够起控制作用的一种因素,一个力量,或对某事的主要驱动力,他们能够基本决定该事物的结构,发展和保持 良好状态。以下有两种情况:
   
    a. such a force or agency in the universe acting as a creative guiding intelligence: a set of principles held to be established for the regulation of the universe or observed in its operation. 世间万物的这样一种力量或因素,他们起到表现出来的有导控性的智力:一系列这样的原则,他们能够帮助建立世间万物的行为规则或需要遵守的行动原则。
   
    b. an inner driving or prompting force (as instinct, appetite, desire) or the sum of such forces in an individual. 一种人体内生的驱动力或激励,比如人的本能反应,食欲,身体的各种欲望,或者是作为这些驱动力的总合概念。
   
    (nature 的英文解释结束)
   
    中国人要明白至少两种事物都有nature, 一种是nature of nature大自然的本性,一种是nature of human being 人的本性。在这里nature 相当于essence本质。当我们了解到nature的不同含义后,我们就明白了西方人说到law of nature的时候,西方人脑子里想的是"本性法",而中国人想的是"大自然"的那个"自然法",中国人弄错了。
   
   
    *第二部分 圣- 托马斯-阿奎那的本性法(自然法)思想St. Thomas Aquinas on the Natural Law
   
    选自圣- 托马斯-阿奎那哲学思想网Thomistic Philosophy Page
   
    [王澄注: 为了帮助中国人读懂这篇文章,我先把阿奎那的本性法( 自然法)思想归纳如下:
   
    第一层次:万事万物要遵循的基本法:做好事不做坏事。
   
    第二层次:世间万事万物的本性,包括石头,山,河流,等。除了第一层次的要求以外,加上:保护好(上帝给与的)存在的状态,如果是有生命的,要保护好生 命。这就涉及到保护好自然环境,保护好野生动物,对于人来说,保护好自身,不可以自杀。
   
    第三层次:生命物的本性:除了第一,二层次的要求以外,加上:生育和养育下一代。
   
    第四层次:人的本性:除了第一,二,三层次的要求以外,加上:对于个人来说,要追求知识,要提倡普世的爱;对于社会来说,要有合作意识,要有道德心。(第 四层次实际上有很多很多话题可以讨论,这里只是举个例子。)
   
    记住,law of nature "自然法"的翻译是错误的,要翻译成"本性法",当适用于人的时候,你也可以翻译成"人性法"。]
   
    译文
   
    阿奎那的本性法原则来源于他对上帝和上帝的创造物的理解。他把本性法融入上帝的永恒法(永恒法代表上帝的理性,智慧和意志)之中。如果要确认有无永恒法, 那么阿奎那会先给所有的法确定一个基本定义:法(律)就是一个社会的统治者的理性的要求。 这种理性的要求对于统治者来说是第一位的,也是最重要的理性和智慧。法律是一种理念,它是为了保障统治者关心的那些社会功能的高度有序化而定的。阿奎那的 政治学理论的基本原则是:统治者的法规是为了被统治者的利益制定的。上帝创造了世界,上帝也用理性来管理世界。阿奎那认为,上帝的智慧中有意志的 存在,上帝是用意志来管理世界的。这个意志就是上帝的永恒法。
   
    Aquinas bases his doctrine on the natural law, as one would expect, on his understanding of God and His relation to His creation. He grounds his theory of natural law in the notion of an eternal law (in God). In asking whether there is an eternal law, he begins by stating a general definition of all law: Law is a dictate of reason from the ruler for the community he rules. This dictate of reason is first and foremost within the reason or intellect of the ruler. It is the idea of what should be done to insure the well ordered functioning of whatever community the ruler has care for. (It is a fundamental tenet of Aquinas' political theory that rulers rule for the sake of the governed, i.e. for the good and well-being of those subject to the ruler.) Since he has elsewhere shown that God rules the world with his reason (since he is the cause of its being (cf. ST Ia 22, 1-2), Aquinas concludes that God has in His intellect an idea by which He governs the world. This Idea, in God, for the governance of things is the eternal law. (Summa TheologiaeI-IIae, 91, 1)
   
    接着,阿奎那要说明我们人类是否也被本性法支配。首先,他认为法有一个特征:法是上帝的理性产物,但并不只是存在于上帝一方,它也存在于被上帝统领的人类 和世间万物一方。永恒法建立时,上帝已经把该法注入他所创造的人类体内,然后通过人的本性显现出来。因为世间万物是依照他们的本性行动的,所以他 们行动和目的正当性由已经写入他们本性中的法来决定。人类本性中的一切,都反映出上帝的旨意,这些旨意就是通过 永恒法对人类本性的指导,帮助人类(道义地)获得自己的利益。(因为人类的本性已经有了永恒法的指导,所以人的本性之法就是法了。)
   
    Next, Aquinas asks whether there is in us a natural law. First, he makes a distinction: A law is not only in the reason of a ruler, but may also be in the thing that is ruled. In the case of the Eternal Law, the things of creation that are ruled by that Law have it imprinted on the them through their nature or essence. Since things act according to their nature, they derive their proper acts and ends (final cause) according to the law that is written into their nature. Everything in nature, insofar as they reflects the order by which God directs them through their nature for their own benefit, reflects the Eternal Law in their own natures. (S.T. I-IIae, 91, 2)
   
    要把本性法应用于人类社会就要定义十分精确,因为人类自己也有理性以及 自由的愿望,人类的本性就是要有先见之明的行动自由,自由地趋向正当的行动和目的。也就是说,我们人类必须实践我们本性中的理性去确认什么对我们来说是最 好的,去获得符合人类本性的性情趋势的目的。进一步说,我们必须实践我们的自由,能够自由地选择理性确定的符合我们本性之事,也就是对我们本性最 为合适的事。本性法就是,用理性和自由的方式,人类依本性的趋势去获得他们最正当的目的。更正式的定义应当是:用理性和(自由)愿望的方式,本性 法使人类参与了上帝的永恒法。人类用理性主动参与上帝的永恒法,达到和本性法的一致性,才能够分辨善与恶。
   
    The Natural Law, as applied to the case of human beings, requires greater precision because of the fact that we have reason and free will. It is the our nature humans to act freely (i.e. to be provident for ourselves and others) by being inclined toward our proper acts and end. That is, we human beings must exercise our natural reason to discover what is best for us in order to achieve the end to which their nature inclines. Furthermore, we must exercise our freedom, by choosing what reason determines to naturally suited to us, i.e. what is best for our nature. The natural inclination of humans to achieve their proper end through reason and free will is the natural law. Formally defined, the Natural Law is humans' participation in the Eternal Law, through reason and will. Humans actively participate in the eternal law of God (the governance of the world) by using reason in conformity with the Natural Law to discern what is good and evil.
   
    把本性法作为普世真理应用于人类,首先要弄清什么是上帝设定的人性本质。因为上帝创造的每一件事都有它的本性,每一个事物都有本性的目的,人类本性就是人 类生活目的的实现。当一个人用理性发现了他的生活目的时,也就是发现了他的本性所在。别忘了中世纪的格言:幸福是人人的渴望。当人们获得了本性的 目的,他们就感到愉悦和幸福了。(desire人体本身的各种欲望)。
   
    In applying this universal notion of Natural Law to the human person, one first must decide what it is that God has ordained human nature to be inclined toward. Since each thing has a nature given it by God, and each thing has a natural end, so there is a fulfillment to human activity of living. When a person discovers by reason what the purpose of living is, he or she discovers his or her natural end is. Accepting the medieval dictum "happiness is what all desire" a person is happy when he or she achieves this natural end.
   
    阿奎那把本性法的内容分为不同水平的要求。第一层次,最普世的最基本的要求:做好事不做坏事。这项要求符合于每一件事每一个人,以至于有人认为这个要求超 过了我们对善的描述和定义。对那些哲学家来说,一个事物是善的只是符合一些人的利益而已。阿奎那会部分同意这个观点,但是阿奎那认为重要的是:必 须是明显的善。因此,阿奎那的观点有了一个现象学规则:当一个人做某件事或每件事的时候,他必须先确认这件事至少"看起来是善的"。即使是我选择 了一件事,这件事对我自己不利(是恶的),我也要去做,因为它有善的一面。做事首先选择明显的善。比如,我不想吃这个蛋糕,因为奶油太多,但是我 还是吃了,因为它可口。选择善,就像人吃东西首先要可口那样,即使可口的食物也可能是不健康的。
   
    Aquinas distinguishes different levels of precepts or commands that the Natural Law entails. The most universal is the command "Good is to be done and pursued and evil avoided." This applies to everything and everyone, so much so that some consider it to be more of a description or definition of what we mean by "good." For these philosophers, a thing is "good" just in case it is pursued or done by someone. Aquinas would agree with this to a certain extent; but he would say that that is a definition of an apparent good. Thus, this position of Aquinas has a certain phenomenological appeal: a person does anything and everything he or she does only because that thing at least "appears" to be good. Even when I choose something that I know is bad for myself, I nevertheless chooses it under some aspect of good, i.e. as some kind of good. I know the cake is fattening, for example, and I don't choose to eat it as fattening. I do, however, choose to eat it as tasty (which is an apparent, though not a true, good).
   
    第二层次的本性法就是和其他天然物一样,要存在,要存活,要维系生命。因此,本性法的最基本要求是不可以自杀。有时候,有人要选择自杀,是为了终止疼痛, 显然也是为了明显的善。第三层次是所有的生命体共有的,本性法要求我们照顾好我们的生命,并把生命转往后代。因此,就像本性法要求(所有的生命 体)我们保护好我们自己的生命一样,也要求我们生儿育女,养育下一代。第四层次只适用于人类,本性法对于人类的要求是特别的,低等动物不具备的, 比如对于个人,要求要有知识和爱,而对于国家,要求要有社会意识。对于个人,本性法要求我们建立理性和道德的能力,这个能力是从智慧(谨慎,艺 术,科学)和意志(公正,勇气,节制)中培养出来的。对于社会,本性法要求建立一个功能和谐的社会(比如不要杀戮,不要偷盗)。人类本性也会显现 出彼岸的世界,比如说上帝。人们的认识和爱的无限性就命定了人们去认识和爱那个无限的存在,即上帝。
   
    On the level that we share with all substances, the Natural Law commands that we preserve ourselves in being. Therefore, one of the most basic precepts of the Natural Law is to not commit suicide. (Nevertheless, suicide can, sadly, be chosen as an apparent good, e.g. as the cessation of pain.) On the level we share with all living things, the Natural Law commands that we take care of our life, and transmit that life to the next generation. Thus, almost as basic as the preservation of our lives, the Natural Law commands us to rear and care for offspring. On the level that is most specific to humans, the fulfillment of the Natural Law consists in the exercise those activities that are unique of humans, i.e. knowledge and love, and in a state that is also natural to human persons, i.e. society. The Natural Law, thus, commands us to develop our rational and moral capacities by growing in the virtues of intellect (prudence, art, and science) and will (justice, courage, temperance). Natural law also commands those things that make for the harmonious functioning of society ("Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not steal.") Human nature also shows that each of us have a destiny beyond this world, too. Man's infinite capacity to know and love shows that he is destined to know and love an infinite being, God.
   
    本性法这四种不同层次的概念只是作为一个基本知识,实践起来远远不够。比如说,"做好事不做坏事"这个说法过于简单,实践中常常会遇到困惑。为此,阿奎那 相信我们需用理性来培养道德达到完美的地步,(道德中的"谨慎"非常重要),为了找到本性法中适合自己的内容,人们必须每天培养自己的道德。
   
    All of these levels of precepts so far outlined are only the most basic. "The good is to be done and pursued and evil is to be avoided" is not very helpful for making actual choices. Therefore, Aquinas believes that one needs one's reason to be perfected by the virtues, especially prudence, in order to discover precepts of the Natural Law that are more proximate to the choices that one has to make on a day to day basis.
   
    阿奎那的本性法思想也有它的来源,他认为世间万物是上帝创造的,上帝造了万物之后也一直关怀着他们。本性法表达了上帝的创造的意图和关怀的意图。阿奎那的 本性法思想极其慎密,因为它必须要成为人造法的基石。既然是基石,就一定要比人间立法者的人造法的条例,法规和命令等更加具有普遍性。这样一来, 就出现了这样的情况,本性法会遇到被它要求或禁止的特殊对象可以不是那么明显 。在这种情形下,我们要记住阿奎那的本性法中否定的部分(禁止人们去做的事)总是对的,比如,不可犯有迫害人类罪。这样就避免了由于某些"多数人的观点" 和另外一些"多数人的观点"之不同带来的法律上的判断困难。不管怎么说,当遇到本性法的特例的时候,人们的思想交流和理性的讨论是执法前非常必要 的过程。
   
    The Thomistic notion of Natural Law has its roots, then, in a quite basic understanding of the universe as caused and cared for by God, and the basic notion of what a law is. It is a fairly sophisticated notion by which to ground the legitimacy of human law in something more universal than the mere agreement and decree of legislators. Yet, it allows that what the Natural Law commands or allows is not perfectly obvious when one gets to the proximate level of commanding or forbidding specific acts. It grounds the notion that there are some things that are wrong, always and everywhere, i.e. "crimes against humanity," while avoiding the obvious difficulties of claiming that this is determined by any sort of human consensus. Nevertheless, it still sees the interplay of people in social and rational discourse as necessary to determine what in particular the Natural Law requires.



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