至善与趋恶:康德人性论下的意志选择

Highest Good or Evil Propensity: Consciousness Choice Oriented by Kant's Treatise on Human Nature

关于人性是善、是恶还是介于二者之间的争论古今有之。其中,康德曾就"人性善恶"问题作出了深刻探究。他将人性细化为三种向善的原初禀赋和三种不同层次的趋恶倾向,并认为"善的禀赋"与"恶的倾向"共居于人性之中,故"即使是在最好的人这里,都提出了恶的倾向"。他对于"人是什么"这一问题从宗教的角度加以阐述,旨在让宗教理性化、纯粹化和道德化。康德强调"道德的宗教",以"命令"的方式要求人们与恶性斗争,并努力成为一个更加完善的人,并将道德基础之上的"德性"与"幸福"结合起来,从而达到一种"至善"。于是,"德性"也被康德看作"一切我们对幸福的追求"的终极条件,是终极的善。因此,康德关于人性在善恶上的倾向不是凭借神启或信仰来解决的,而是依靠自身的努力,让"人性"服从"德行",通过对法则的敬重和遵从,使之成为至上动机从而指导人们找到"向善"的归路。

There has been debate about whether human is radically evil, good or somewhere in between. For this issue, Kant hasmade deep researches and put forward his own opinions. He presented that human nature could be classified into three innate good andthree propensities to evil in different levels, which co-exist in human nature. That means ‘even the best one could infer an evil disposi-tion’. He elaborated ‘what was human being from religious perspective, intending to make religion rational, pure as well as moral.Kant saw morality as the ground of religion, urging people to fight evil nature to become a better man. In addition, moral-basedmorality and happiness are supposed to be combined for moral perfection. Accordingly, morality is the utmost goodness and is regardedas the extreme condition of our pursuit of happiness. Therefore, in Kant’s opinions, this propensity to evil cannot be overcome throughgod or belief. It is human being’s duty to strive to get human nature ruled by morality. By obeying the moral law, human being canacquire incentives guiding himself on the path from bad to good.