严复天演思想中“天”观念的祛魅与返魅

The Disenchantment and Re-enchantment of Tian in Yan Fu’s Theory of Tianyan

天演是严复思想的核心概念,其内涵十分丰富,兼有“竞”“择”“进”“道”“合”等多个层面。从evolution到天演,严复不仅综汇达尔文、斯宾塞与赫胥黎三者对evolution的不同理解,同时也借助传统中国天道观念,凸显天演概念的形上特征。天演视域中的“天”观念是天演概念的重要面向。通过对“天”的解读,有助于具体地探讨近代天道观的演变。要而言之,严复在界定自然与人文、天道与人道的关系时,一方面学习西方近代以来经验科学的知识,对自然界的演变给出诸多科学的解答,从而为传统中国“天”观念中,具有神秘主义色彩和宗教信仰特征的思想因子祛魅;另一方面他又对近代以来,被过分物质化和原子化的机械自然观保持怀疑和警惕。相较而言,由于深受传统中国思想中人文理性思想因子的影响,严复对“天”的认识,更多地增加了人文理性的特征。从积极意义上来说,这种人文理性视野下的“天”观念,不仅为严复思想的进一步展开提供了基础,同时也为我们重新认识自然与人文的关系提供了一个可供选择的视角。

Yan Fu’s philosophical thought can be summarized as the“philosophy of tianyan”.The redefinition of the concept of tian by the performance philosophy is one of the important manifestations of the modern turning point of the traditional Chinese concept.To sum up,Yan Fu,while defining the relationship between nature and humanity,and between the Dao of Heaven and the Dao of human beings,learns the scientific knowledge of modern Western experience on one hand,and gives many scientific answers to the evolution of nature,thus becoming the traditional Chinese concept of tian.On the other hand,he is wary of the natural attributes of people who have been over-substantiated since modern times.At the same time,he also attaches importance to the ideological factors of humanistic rationality in traditional Chinese thought,and tries to use the tian concept of humanistic rationalization to“re-enchant”the over-materialized modern mechanical natural view.This concept of tian in the perspective of humanistic rationalization not only provides a basis for the development of the performance philosophy,but also provides an alternative perspective for us to re-understand the relationship between nature and humanity.