歌德《浮士德》中的斯芬克斯因子与伦理选择

Sphinx Factor and Ethic Choice in Goethe's Faust

本文从文学伦理学批评视角出发,将歌德的名著《浮士德》置于创作的历史环境中,在18世纪德国伦理环境转变的语境中对论题进行研究,解读浮士德的伦理抉择以及作品所体现的人性因子与兽性因子冲突。文中指出,在歌德笔下,浮士德的人生尽管受到"黑暗冲动"(兽性因子)的影响,但自由意志的张扬也带来了对人类未知潜能的充分发掘,催生出更新、更高层次的需求,这必然导致浮士德从低层次的欲望追求走向越来越高层次的人生体验,因而浮士德逐渐超越低层次兽性因子的影响,转向为全人类的福祉而奋斗,使人性因子的内涵获得极大丰富。最终,新伦理下的浮士德战胜了魔鬼的诱惑,为自己赢得了救赎,兽性因子、人性因子则从二元分离重新走向辩证统一,成为更高层次的斯芬克斯因子。通过分析浮士德的这一成长过程,本文不仅揭示出歌德时代的伦理变迁,也开启了对这部经典名著伦理意义的重新解读。

Proceeding from the perspective of ethical literary criticism, this article interprets Goethe＇s Faust within the framework of the historical circumstances under which this drama was produced, and examines the issue in the shifting ethical context of the 18 th-century. It interprets Faust＇s ethical choice as well as the conflicts between human factor and animal factor. In Goethe＇s writing, although Faust＇s life is influenced by the ＂dark impulses＂（animal factor）, the expansion of free will also promotes the full development of the unknown potential of human beings and the birth of newer and higher levels of demand, which inevitably leads Faust to the increasingly higher levels of life experience. As a result, Faust surpasses the influence of low-level animal factor step by step and fights for well-being of mankind while the connotation of human factor and the value of life get enriched greatly. Eventually, in the new ethical circumstance, Faust overcomes the temptation of the devil and gets the final redemption for himself. Meanwhile, animal factor and human factor change from binary seperation to dialectical unity and become Sphinx factor at a higher level. Through the analysis of Faust＇s development, this paper not only reveals the ethical changes in the age of Goethe, but also makes a reinterpretation of the ethical significance of the masterpiece.