从“小我”到“大我”:五四启蒙思想中的个人观念

From ‘Small Self’ to ‘Big Self’ : the New Individualism in the May 4th Movement

五四时期,中国社会的道德观念发生了重大的世俗化转型。随着个人主义与功利主义逐渐成为道德观念中的核心理念,儒家德性伦理逐步解纽。不过,这一时期所崛起的现代个人,并非古典自由主义传统意义下的"原子式"个人。五四时期的个人,虽然具有强烈的道德自主性,但在五四启蒙知识分子的思想当中,现代个人的道德自觉,却依旧遵循着"修齐治平"的"群己"价值尺度。这意味着,人生的意义与价值,不仅仅在于满足一己私利,而是要为"社会"乃至"全人类"的福祉而奋斗。在个人自由和精神独立的"小我"背后,还有着更高层面的社会责任意识和对人类、对世界文明这一"大我"的关怀。个人主义中"唯我"的一面,只是更多地影响到市民阶层的世俗生活,而无法在五四的启蒙知识分子当中获得道义上的正当性。

During the transition from the late Qing dynasty to the Republic of China, the morality of Chinese society changed in fundamental and widespread ways. During the May 4th period, the legitimacy of individualism and utilitarianism was generally accepted by modern intellectuals and provided two main focuses of moral conceptu-alization. This paper analyses the complexity and multiple dimensions of the new morality in the May 4th peri-od. Although the modern individual possessed a similar radical momentum and moral autonomy, it also needed to base its legitimacy in the group-self relation, as it had done in traditional China. The new morality of the May 4th era also indicated that the significance of the individual not only lay in self-interest, but also in dedi-cation and service to the whole society. Chinese intellectuals rejected materialism while regarding spiritual as-pects of utilitarianism as the core of their outlook of life. Thus, in the viewpoint of intellectuals, the value of‘small self'(individual) came from ‘big self'(society), which spurred social responsibility and deep love of the world, and these views became key resources of the new morality in the May 4h period.