人文:一个与“人和人性”有关的文化概念——古今“人文”考

Humanity: a cultural conception related to human being—On ancient and current conceptions of humanity

“人文”是我国目前最为流行的文化术语之一,但一些重要辞书对其含义的解释明显不当。仔细检讨“人文”一词的古今流变,它在当今决不是泛指“人类社会的各种文化现象”,而是指“与人有关的,能显示人的本性的各种文化现象”。“人文”在当代中国的流行,与20世纪中叶以来国际社会出现的“科学文化”与“人文文化”之争密切相关,我们只有从这“两种文化”的国际背景看问题,才能较准确地理解有关“人文”的一切名词术语。

Humanity is one of the most popular terms in China but is not correctly explained in some books. By carefully examining the evolution of this word, we know that humanity does not refer to all kinds of cultural phenomena of human society but refers to all kinds of cultural phenomena that are related to human beings and can reveal human nature. The current popularity of humanity in China is closely relevant to disputes about “scientific culture” and “humanistic culture” in international community since the middle of the 20th century. It is pointed out that only by analyzing international background of the two cultures can we understand all the terms concerning humanity.