生命福祉下的情理博弈——论麦克尤恩《儿童法案》中的情感之力

Sense and Sensibility of Life’s Well-being: The Ethical Emotion in Mc Ewan’s The Children Act

麦克尤恩在《儿童法案》中聚焦法官菲奥娜对少年亚当生命福祉案的审理,演绎当代道德不确定性背后的情感之力。菲奥娜主动促成的医院面谈,彰显情感因子在化解理性困境时的创造力;她对庭外亚当精神诉求的冷漠回绝,暗示工具理性至上的现代价值观裹挟着威胁他者生命的情感暴力;她因亚当变相自杀而触发情感的反思力,凸显道德情感之于社会良性互动的人文价值。小说不仅指向自我的主体性建构,更富含以正义与善为表征的道德思辨。理性中的情感因子在弥合价值分歧时的积极效力在此得到强化,可为多元文化中自我生命意义的追寻与社会精神文明建设提供范例。

In The Children Act,McEwan focuses on Judge Fiona’s trial of a case concerning the adolescent Adam’s well-being to demonstrate the ethical emotion behind moral uncertainty in contemporary society.Fiona’s hospital interview manifests emotional creativity when solving rationality’s dilemma.Her indifferent rejection of Adam’s spiritual appeal outside the court implies a modern instrumental reason,which carries emotional violence threatening other lives.Her repentance after Adam’s de facto suicide unleashes emotional reflection,which highlights the humanist value of moral emotion.The novel not only points to the construction of self-subjectivity,but also contains a profound moral meditation as seen in the question of justice and goodness.The positive effects of reasonable emotion in bridging the gaps between different values are thus strengthened,which can provide an example for the pursuit of a meaningful life and the cultural-ethical advancement in a multicultural society.