奥古斯丁与尘世政治的价值——关于第三座城的争论

Augustine and the Value of Secular Politics:A Debate about the Third City

奥古斯丁在《上帝之城》中提出了著名的两城说,即认为人类历史就是上帝之城与魔鬼之城斗争的历史。但奥古斯丁研究界的学者一直在争论,是否还会有第三座城?这个问题的实质是,尘世政治有没有德性的含义?笔者认为,奥古斯丁并不承认有第三座城。在他看来,尘世政治只能是罪恶的产物,其功能永远是有限的。这成为中世纪以来西方政治思想的基本观念。

In his famous De Civitate Dei, Augustine puts forward his view about the two cities, that is, the city of God and the city of the Devil, and regards human history as a history full of struggles between these two cities. But among Augustinian scholars, there has been a debate about whether there exists the third city, namely, a city not so good as the city of God, and not so bad as the city of the Devil. The theoretical concern behind this issue is whether secular politics has any virtuous value. After examining some core issues about secular politics in Augustine, the author argues that for Augustine the third city does not exist. And for him, secular politics is nothing but a product of evil, whose function is always limited. Since the medieval times, this idea has been the fundamental idea of the political thought in the West.