美国实用主义哲学起源的新教解读

The Protestantism's Impact on the Origin of American Pragmatism

移居北美大陆的清教徒继承了新教改革中最重要也是最核心的遗产即因信称义的思想;但随着时代的发展、科技的突飞猛进,信仰退居幕后成了不可避免的现实,这偏离了清教徒们一开始所设想的蓝图。究其原因,一是法国浪漫主义、英国自由主义、德国的超验主义等欧陆思想的影响;二是新教的世俗化。实用主义哲学的产生正是寻求解决上述问题的一个结果,这在詹姆斯及其实用主义哲学上体现得尤为明显。詹姆斯及其实用主义哲学正是试图在科技发展与信仰保持之间寻求一个平衡点。因此,美国的实用主义哲学正是为解决因信称义的新教思想在现实中产生的矛盾而出现的,它的出现具有深刻的新教背景。

Puritans who immigrated to North American continent inherited the heritage of the thought of justification by faith, the most important core idea of the Protestant Reformation. With the development of the times and with the rapid progress of science and technology, the faith in retiring backstage stepped into unavoidable reality, which deviated from what the Puritans expected at the beginning. One of the reasons is the influence of the ideas from Europe such as France's romanticism, the UK's liberalism,German's transcendentalism, i. e.; the other one is the secularization of the Protestantism. Pragmatism is a consequence of seeking a solution to the problem, obviously reflecting on James and his pragmatic philosophy. James and his pragmatic philosophy are trying to seek a balance between technological development and beliefs. Therefore, the emergence of America's philosophy of pragmatism has a deep background of Protestantism.