道德何以败坏?——亚当·斯密论“同情”的消极作用

Why is Morality Corrupted?——Adam Smith’s Theory on the Negative Impact of Sympathy

在《道德情操论》(The Theory of Moral Sentiments)第一篇"论合宜感"和"论各种情感的合宜程度"中,亚当·斯密论述了"同情(sympathy)"原理及其在各种场合中的运用;在第三章"论处境顺逆对人类评价行为合宜与否的影响"中,亚当·斯密论述了人们"同情"快乐的天性、雄心抱负和地位差别的起源、崇拜富人和大人物藐视穷人和小人物这种倾向对道德败坏的消极作用。本文拟从亚当·斯密的"同情"原理出发,围绕"道德何以败坏"问题,依次对第三章的内容作一个解读。具体分为:亚当·斯密的"同情"原理及在两种处境中的应用;雄心抱负的起源和等级差别的原因;崇拜富人和大人物藐视穷人和小人物对道德败坏的消极作用;总结和评价。旨在通过文本解读,对第三章的内容做一个系统展示,说明亚当·斯密认为的"同情"与道德败坏的关系,揭示其新增部分的用意,并略陈几点对当代社会的启示。

Adam Smith explicated the principle of sympathy and its application in various fields in the first chapter,on the degree of propriety of various emotions of his book The Theory of Moral Sentiments.In chapter 3,on the influence of circumstances on the evaluation of human behavior,he then explicated the human nature of sympathizing happiness,the origination of ambition and social hierarchy distinction,and the negative impact of morality on the tendency of the wealthy,great worship and the poor,little despise.This article endeavor to interpret forgoing aspects of chapter 3 through Adam Smith’s sympathy theory with the problematic of why is morality corrupted,which could be divided into four parts involving——Adam Smith’s theory of principle of sympathy and its application in two specific fields;The origination of ambition and the reason of social hierarchy distinction;The negative impact of morality on the tendency of the wealthy,great worship and the poor,little despise;Summary and evaluation.The article explicates the engagement between the sympathy in Smith’s perspective and moral corruption,revealing the purpose on the additions of the book through the interpretation of three parts of chapter 3 systematically by textual analysis,of which would also bring some enlightenment to the contemporary society.