托克维尔论宗教的政治意涵

Tocqueville's comment on the political implications of religion

本文旨在分析托克维尔思想中宗教所具有的政治意涵。托克维尔认为,宗教在贵族社会是政治权力的基础,但在现代社会,它却是个人赖以依靠的最重要的精神资源。宗教缓和了现代社会的原子化倾向,使得现代国家权力得以扩张的基础受到了制约。在这个意义上,托克维尔认为宗教是"首要的政治制度"。但同时,托克维尔亦非常精辟地指出,现代社会的宗教只有与政治权力相分离才能实现其政治功能。与近代以来占主流的自由主义思想传统不一样,托克维尔将宗教看作严格的政治制度的组成部分,而不仅仅从属于私人领域。

The issue of religion constitutes a very important part in Alexis de Tocqueville's political thought. Particularly,the relationship between religion and( political) freedom is one of the central arguments he puts forward in his works. For Tocqueville,a free modern society cannot exist without the support of religion. But religion can only have its influence when it is separated from politics. This article tries to single out the issue of religion in its relationship with freedom in Tocqueville's theory and analyze it with regard to the crisis of modern democratic society.