世俗时代的灵性状况:查尔斯·泰勒“世俗性”概念辨析

The Spiritual Condition in a Secular Age: Base on the Views of Charles Taylor

查尔斯·泰勒对西方世俗化的独特叙事,在重新激活世俗化命题的同时,也带来了重新理解灵性的方式。本文首先对泰勒的世俗性概念做出三重辨析:对于作为可理解性前提的"超验条件",泰勒从构成人类灵性实践的理解语境和公共可用的语言两个层次来考察;关于"在凡俗"时间中的社会想象,泰勒指出寓于单一时空中的凡俗性正是现代世俗化的根本特征;关于在"道离肉身"意义上的基督教世俗化,泰勒揭示了西方思想重新界定道德动力的中心,在抽象的、超脱的理性中找到了普遍仁慈和正义的源泉,重新界定了道德动力的中心。在此基础上本文提出三点对当代灵性状况的反思:1.泰勒的研究解构了"世俗/灵性"的二分,现代世俗化意味着一种新的对信仰或灵性的理解语境,这种隐含的理解语境为世俗人士和宗教人士所共享;2.在现代内在框架所推动的反思意识中,灵性更恰当的定义是内在经验的完满感,泰勒试图以这个宽泛的定义,来涵盖灵性生活的种种形式,包括那些非宗教的形式;3.现代的道德秩序却未停留在抽象理论层面,而是发展出一整套具身化的形式,即他所谓的"现代社会想象",塑造了世俗现代社会的整体样貌。泰勒的社会想象进路也提出了如何发展当代"灵性想象"的问题。

A peculiar narrative about the Western secularity given by Charles Taylor brings about not only a revival of secularization thesis,but also a reopening of spiritual understanding.This article discriminated three dimensions of Taylor＇s concept of secularity： as the understanding background of ＂transcendental condition ＂; as the social imaginaries in the profane time; as the excarnation from the standpoint of Christian secularization.Then it gave three possible reflections on the spiritual condition in modern time： 1） Taylor＇s work deconstructs the dichotomy of ＂the secular and the spiritual,＂which means modern secularization is a new understanding context which is implicit and shared by secular people and religious people; 2） According to the reflective consciousness prompted by an modern immanent structure,spirituality can be properly defined as ＂the fullness＂of lived experience; 3） Taylor＇s approach of social imaginaries raises the question of how to develop modern ＂spiritual imaginaries＂to religious people.