Humanism:人文主义或人道主义

Humanism:an Explanation on Its Ambiguity

Humanism一词在西方词典里具有多重意义,在我国哲学界也存在不同的翻译。解释角度的差异导致翻译上存在不同的译名,各具优缺点。Humanism一词出现于19世纪初,用于指称文艺复兴时期人文学者所发动的人文学研究与传播以及所表现出来的关于人的观念。随着历史的变化,对人的观念也发生了变化,从而带来了Humanism一词在内涵上的变化。基于这种变化,对Humanism一词做出不同的恰当的翻译,才是合理的。

The term of “humanism” is of several meanings defined in some western dictionaries, and has been given different interpretations in the philosophical field of China too. The difference in interpretive angles has brought about different translations, and different forms of translation also have their merits and shortcomings respectively. The word of “humanism” emerged first in the early 19th century, and it was mainly used to denote the humanitarian research and communication launched by some humanitarian scholars in Renaissance and the concept of human being reflected in such a scholarly movement. In line with the change of history, the concept of human being has also seen certain changes, and as a result, brought about changes in the connotation of the word “humanism”. In view of this change, different and appropriate interpretations on this word will become reasonable.