从伏尔泰到亨廷顿——西方“文化形态史学”透析

From Voltaire to Huntington——An Analysis of Western Cultural Formation History

"文化形态史学"是西方近代以来兴起的史学流派,习惯上人们认为"文化形态史学"兴起于斯宾格勒,汤因比是其集大成者。笔者认为首开世界文化形态研究之先河者当是法国启蒙运动的先驱伏尔泰,尽管在他的著作里既没有出现"文化形态史观"的概念,也看不到对此进行的诠释,他只是不自觉地、"无意识"地运用"文化形态史观"进行历史学的撰述,他对于"文化形态史学"开创之功为其后的斯宾格勒、汤因比、亨廷顿诸家所继承。由于他们之间存在太多的相似之处,他们都以宏观的视角分析问题,都关注西方文明的前途,均注重对文化、文明的研究,并将之作为历史研究的基点。

As a newly emerged school of history in modern West, cultural formation history has been viewed as starting from Spengler with Toynbee as the synthesizer of all the formations. However, Voltaire, the pioneer of French enlightenment movement is actually the father of world cultural formation studies whose unconscious expositions of cultural patterns from historical point of view lay a solid foundation for the later schools of Spengler, Toynbee,and Huntington who have a lot in common. They all concern about the future of Western civilization and study culture and civilization from. the angle of history.