“普世价值”的普适性及其兴衰

Universality and Development of Universal Values

人们所珍视的价值本质上是客观存在及其合理性与必然性的主观要求与反映。由于生产与生活方式上的共同性,人们在不同的文化中不难发现许多相同的价值指标,而这些价值指标在整个价值体系中所占据的优先性与重要性的不同与变化,就表现为文化的差异以及同一文化的不同发展阶段。西方所谓的"普世价值"同样是历史发展的产物,这些价值虽然在现代性的进程中具有重大的世界历史意义,但自身也正经历着危机、挑战乃至"衰败"。

Values what people cherish are by nature the subjective appeals and reflections of the objective being and its rationality and necessity. It is very easy to find that there are many common value terms in different cultures according to the commonality of the ways of production and living, while the differences of cultures and the different stages of the same culture originate from the differences and changes of the priority and importance of these value terms in the whole value system. Although the alleged universal values in the west, which are products of the histor-ical development, played a great worldwide role in the progress of modernity, they themselves are experiencing a series of crises or challenges and even decay.