陈望道与中国现代美学——写在陈望道先生诞辰120周年之际

Chen Wangdao and Chinese Modern Aesthetics

1926年陈望道先生的《美学概论》是中国现代美学学科初创时期理论探索的重要收获。1927年陈望道同潘菽围绕美的"本质"和"特质"的区别的学术论争,对当代美学有着重要的理论启示意义。《美学概论》以美感而非"美的本质"为研究重心的理论架构方式,是1920年代中国美学具有共性的一个特征,而陈望道将美学作为"说明科学"而非"哲学"的研究领域的学科建构思路,则同马克思主义美学的研究路径有着内在的一致性,也是当代美学值得探索的一条理论道路。

In 1926, Chen Wangdao published Introduction to Aesthetics which was an important achievement in the initiative period of modern Chinese Aesthetics, and paved the way for Chen’s debate with Pan Jiao focusing on the 'nature' and 'particular characteristics' of beauty in 1927. In this book, Chen postulated aesthetic perception instead of 'nature of beauty' as the main point of research within a theoretic frame which is common to Chinese aesthetics in the 1920s, and his constructive speculation of aesthetics as a 'descriptive science' instead of 'philosophy' is consistent with the approach of Marxist aesthetics. Both Chen’s book and his debate with Pan are still instructive to contemporary aesthetic research and many of his theoretical contributions remain to be uncovered.