从“社会”的视角思考政治——19世纪上半叶法国政治话语的重要转变

The Important Transformation of the French Political Discourse in the First Half of the 19^(th) Century: The Reflection on Politics from a Perspective of 'Society'

18世纪的法国启蒙哲人热衷于从拟设的"自然状态"出发,谈论人普遍享有的"自然权利"。这种思考政治的方式在法国大革命遭遇挫折后饱受批评。不少人认为,它过于抽象并且轻视历史与现实的社会状况。在19世纪上半叶的法国,无论保守派、自由派,还是社会主义思想家,大都关注历史研究,并且从"社会"的视角来思考政治,于是带有强烈历史意识的社会学说纷纷兴起。基佐把"社会状况"视为比"政治制度"更为根本的因素,他关于文明史的研究就是考察欧洲社会变迁的一次成功尝试。圣西门倡导用实证与科学的方法研究历史与社会,摒弃抽象的意识形态之争,回归到社会事实本身来思考政治。实证和科学的精神渗透到19世纪的各种思潮中,促成了观念与经验的互动,这一切有助于法国顺利完成政治现代化的转型。

The French philosophers in the 18 thcentury were keen to hypothesize the ‘natural state 'and claim that the ‘natural rights ' were enjoyed by all human beings universally. This way of contemplating politics was heavily criticized after the French Revolution encountered the setback. Someof the critics considered it be too abstract and disdainful of the historical and authentic social situations. In the first half of the 19 thcentury,most French thinkers,including the conservatives,the liberals and the socialist ideologists,paid their attention to the historical research and reflected on the politics from a perspective of ‘society'. Therefore,this era witnessed the rise of social doctrines with the strong historical consciousness. Guizot considered the ‘social condition'a more essential factor than the ‘political institution '. His research regarding the history of civilization was a successful attempt to investigate the transition of the European society. Saint-Simon initiated a study on history and society by the empirical and scientific approaches,proposed to renounce the debate on the abstract ideology,and suggested to contemplate the politics on the basis of the social facts. The empirical and scientific spirit penetrated into the various trends of thoughts in the 19 thcentury. This promoted the interaction between ideas and experiences, and contributed to the successful completion of the transition of political modernization in France.