从概念史的角度看启蒙运动

Rethinking the Enlightenment through the History of Concept

从历时性和共时性的角度出发,欧洲启蒙运动的兴起与全球化的初始、新航路开辟、科学革命的成功、欧洲内部思想的跨文化交流以及对中国文化的认知等背景有关联。18世纪启蒙哲学家试图启迪民众心智,使之脱离被动的心态,所以他们对人性及其思维状态进行了批判性反思,还依据理性对未来社会做出展望。本文从概念史的视角,探究组成启蒙思想的子概念即宗教宽容精神、怀疑批判精神、理性主义和理想主义的内涵及意义。欧洲启蒙运动的影响早已超出18世纪和欧洲范围,对这场思想运动的背景和意涵的再反思可以加深学界对人类思想史的认知。

Judged from the points of view of synchronism and diachronism,we think that the rise of the Enlightenment in Europe is related to a series of world-historical events such as the initial stage of globalization,the“Great Discovery of Geography,”the“Scientific Revolution”of the seventeenth century,cross-cultural dialogues between Europe and other parts of the world,and Europe s imagination of Chinese culture as an alternative to its own historical experiences.These events offered a historical context for change.Trying to liberate the mankind from a so-called state of“immaturity,”Enlightenment philosophers of the eighteenth century carried out a critical examination of human nature as well as their mode of thinking.By exercising of human reasoning,they reflected on the prospects of societies.This essay re-examines several concepts of the Enlightenment ideas,such as the ones of tolerance,critical thinking,rationalism,and idealism from a perspective of conceptual analysis.The impact of the Enlightenment has already extended out of Europe and the eighteenth century.A reappraisal of this movement by rethinking its context and lasting impact today would further deepen our understanding of the intellectual history of the entire mankind.