工具理性与实用主义之辨

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INSTRUMENT RATIONALISM AND PRAGMATISM

工具理性作为人类理性的重要内容,是指人们在行动中表现出来的对实现目的、理想而起着重要作用的手段、工具、途径以及具体方法等格外重视的思维方式和态度。它具有精确性和系统化、功利性和追求效益的最大化、现实性和实用性、独立性与进取性、法制化和标准化等特点。实用主义产生于19世纪70年代的美国,其中心范畴是“效益”、“效用”,它崇尚个人主义、利己主义。工具理性与实用主义虽然有一些相似之处,但却是有本质区别的。分清二者的不同,对于纠正我国现代化建设过程中存在的一些错误的思想认识意义重大。

Being the important contents of human rational faculty, instrument rationalism refers to theoretical ways and attitudes-means, instruments, ways and the concrete approaches, etc. to which people attach importance and which human being show in their activities and which play an important role in their realization of targets and ideals. Instrument rationalism has such characteristics as （1）exactitude and systematization; （2）utilitarianism and maximum of seeking benefits; （3） realism and pragmatism ; （4） independence and gumption ; （5） legalization and standardization. Pragmatism emerged in the 1970s in USA, whose central category is “benefits and effectiveness”,and which advocates individuaism and egoism. Although there is some similarity between instrument rationalism and pragmatism, they are differentin essence. To draw a clear distinction between instument rationalism and pragmatism is of great importance to correcting the wrong ideology in the course of China construction.