二元论的衰微与身体美学的兴起——以西方美学为例

The Decline of Dualism and the Rise of Soma-esthetics in Western Aesthetics

在西方美学史上,二元论(dualism)曾经长期占据上风。自诞生之日起,它就建立起等级制的人学图式:心被想象为一种主体性角色,身则被当作需要驱动、充实、引导的被动之物。从逻辑上讲,这种图式蕴含着一个悖论:倘若身心根本不同,它们就无法相互作用,当然也不可能联合为人;要是它们本性相同,将它们划分为两元同样悖理。在破解这个悖论的过程中,身体的意义获得了吊诡性的揭示。尤其是到了近代以后,自然科学持续揭示了精神活动对身体的归属关系,提供了解构二元论的证据。随着二元论的衰微,现当代理论中的身体开始展示其主体形貌,美学建构出现了层层递进的身体复兴:在18世纪中叶,作为"身体的话语"的感性学诞生了;到了19世纪末,尼采标画出身体美学的原初形貌;进入20世纪以后,在现象学、实用主义、认知科学的合力推动下,身体美学最终升格为一个学科。可以预见,这个进程还将持续下去,属于身体美学的时代还刚刚开始。

Dualism has long been dominant in the history of Western aesthetics, and it has established a hierarchical schema from the day it was born. The mind is imagined as a subjective role, while the body is regarded as a passive object that needs to be driven, enriched and guided. From the point of logic, a paradox is inherent to the schema: if the body and the mind are essentially different, they cannot interact with each other;if their nature is the same in essence, it is equally illogical to distinguish them. In the process of solving this paradox, the significance of the body exposes itself, especially in the modern and post-modern times when natural science continues to reveal the attribution of mental activities to the body, providing evidence for the deconstruction of dualism. Along with the decline of dualism, the body in the modern and contemporary theories gradually assumes the subjectivity of its own, and a revival of the body develops in the new construction of aesthetics. The mid-18 th century sees the aesthetics in the form of body discourse, the end of the 19 th century sees Nietzsche outlining the prototype of soma-aesthetics, and the 20 th century, driven by the combined efforts of phenomenology, pragmatism and cognitive science, sees soma-esthetics upgrading to a discipline. It can be predicted that this process will continue and the era of soma-esthetics has just begun.