“克己”与“克性”:中西对话、语言多样性与哲学翻译

“Subduing One’s Self”and“Subduing One’s Nature”:Sino-Western Dialogue,Language Diversity,and Philosophical Translation

翻译在哲学研究中的重要性往往被低估。本文以明末清初"克己"概念的跨文化诠释为对象,从比较哲学角度分析哲学翻译中的思想交会的三个层次:语义对应、概念挪用和思想创造。分析表明,以"(人)性"为中心的儒家修身工夫和以"灵魂"为中心的基督宗教实践在观念和技术上有共同点,但两者间的界限并不因此消失。跨文化交流中的由浅入深次第以及局部与整体的关系,对交流的结果影响重大。传统之下和传统之间的"人",而不是概念,才是跨文化交流与文明对话中最重要、最有活力的因素。

The importance of translation tends to be underestimated in philosophical studies.Focused on the crosscultural interpretations of the concept of"keji"(subduing one’s self)in the early modern Sino-Western encounter,this study demonstrates the complexities of intellectual interaction from a comparative perspective.Three levels of intellectual interactions in philosophical translation,namely semantic correspondence,conceptual appropriation,and the creation of ideas,are recognized and discussed.Analysis shows that the Confucian and Christian spiritual traditions,with the concepts of human nature and the soul as their respective centers,can be fundamentally incommensurable despite their similarities in concept and practice.How certain ideas are presented play a crucial role in cross-cultural communications,as does how they fit in with the larger picture.The human element,not ideas,is the key to cross-cultural communication and civilizational dialogue.