古典与历史之间:施特劳斯对柏克形象的刻画

Between Classics and History: Strauss's Depiction of Burke's Image

在《自然权利与历史》第六章中,列奥·施特劳斯重新捡拾起埃蒙德·柏克的政治理论并对其加以评判。施特劳斯刻画出一个多重交错的柏克形象:存在一个坚持审慎原则并力求回归亚里士多德的古典式的柏克;也存在一个为后来"历史学派"铺平道路的纯然现代的柏克;在这两者之间还存在着多少是居中的柏克。施特劳斯之所以以这种手法来论述柏克,在于其认为柏克的思想是个综合体,是种折衷的妥协,在包含古典成分的同时又有着历史主义的维度。联系起《自然权利与历史》一书的整体架构,施特劳斯对柏克思想的这种定位实际上暗示了一种解决现代性倒悬的可能方案,在降低了人类的可能性的相对主义世界里,唯有重申人类的高贵性和伟大,重新思考终极真理的问题,人类才不至于在现代性的癫狂中走向"末人"的悲惨境地。

In chapter 6 of Natural Rights and the History,Strauss re-picks up Edmund Burke’s political theory and judges it.In this part,Strauss portrays a multiplicity of Burke’s image:there is a classic Burke,who seeks to return to Aristotle in the principle of prudence;there is also a pure modern Burke who paved the way for the later“school of history”;there is still a Burke in between modern Burke and classic Burke.Burke’s thought is a complex,is a kind of eclectic compromise,which contains classical composition,but a historical dimension at the same time.Under the background of the overall architecture of Natural Rights and the History,Strauss suggested a possible solution to the lamplight of modernity,in the world of relativism where the possibility of human was reduced,only we reiterated the dignity and greatness of the human and rethink the ultimate truth,can human beings avoid a tragic situation in the madness of modernity.