古旧文化土壤中新思想的萌动——荷马史诗与希腊文明的观念基础

The Germination of New Thoughts from the Traditional Soil——The Homeric Epics and the Conceptual Background of Greek Civilization

荷马是史诗诗人,也是一位古代的人文主义者。《伊利亚特》6.466—474里展示的既是特洛伊英雄赫克托耳的舐犊之情,也是一位父亲对儿子基于血缘和本能的由衷喜爱。对普遍性的重视和对人类本性的理解,在此达成了高度的统一,构成了荷马人文观深厚而隽永的认知底蕴。荷马重视共性的认知取向,极大地影响了后世希腊人对自然与人生的思考。重视事物的普遍性既是一种正确的哲学立场,也是一种极为明智的方法论举措。对于一些重要的人文概念,如果自愿放弃从"属"的高度而不甚明智地选择从"种"的角度加以理解,那么选择者就很可能已经输在了起跑线上。评判一种文化战略竞争力的强弱,标准之一是细致审察它的学术体制能够在多大程度上有效抵御黑社会风气的侵袭。比发展经济和军事能力远为困难的,是决定各种次级体制稳妥建立的文化基本结构的建设,是如何使其中的质素配置尽可能地趋于合理,形成最佳的搭配模式。向古希腊人学习,自然是学习他们的优点。在经过"希腊文明东来说"的大浪淘沙之后,我们仍然能够发现并承认希腊文明的精湛之处并且愿意借鉴它的成功经验,这件事本身就表明它的非同寻常,尽管我们已经没有那样的激情,事实上也不再需要把它当作某种横空出世的奇迹。

Homer is a great humanist as well as a bard of ancient times.In the Iliad 6.466-474 we see not only the profound affection the Trojan hero Hector for his baby-son,but also by instinct and consanguinity the universal love of a father for his son.The awareness of universality and the understanding of human nature here go hand in hand.Together with his favor for universalization and impartiality,the typical Greek sense of wholeness of things molded by Homer exerted its influence conspicuously on the subsequent generations of the Greeks.For certain important conceptions containing social and cultural significance,he who chooses to deal with them on the level of species rather than on that of genus,will most probably lose at the very starting line against his will.In comparison with the development of strong economic and military capacities,it is far more difficult for us to construct a basic cultural structure which is both sound and competitive.From Homer and the ancient Greeks therefore we still have some good things to learn,though nowadays we do not have the need as we once had to regard their achievements as a miracle.