世俗与超俗——基于《庄子》和《新教伦理和资本主义精神》

Mundane and Trans-mundane: A Comparison between Chuang Tzu and the Protestant Ethic and the Capital Spirit

宗教中的个人有着天然的超俗倾向,而按照韦伯的理解,宗教改革之后产生的新教则通过鼓励个人恪尽"天职",积极"善工",客观上促进了现代资本主义的产生。新教作为一种宗教,不仅成为了个人积极参与实践的精神动力,而且还获得了全新的世俗内容。作为一个生活在现实中的个体,庄子却选择了战略性大撤退,撤退到内在城堡中去,最终引导人们走向内心世界而远离现实。这样,庄子与新教之间产生了一种世俗与超俗的奇特对照。

Commonly,people hold that religion believers always have the trans-mundane tendency. However,as Weber says,after the Reformation,protestantism encouraged individuals to adhere to their vocation strictly and participate actively in worldly life,which made an positive effect on the capitalism development and thus obtained a totally new mundane content. In contrast to the protestantism,as an mundane member in human society,Chuang Tzu retreated from the outside world and hid into the inner castle,leading people to shun real life in pursuit of inner development. As a consequence,there exists a strange contrast between protestantism and Chuang Tzu. Through the distinction,people can find some differences between China and western world.