古希腊思想中的秩序与无序--从耶格尔的《教化》谈起

Order and Disorder in Ancient Greek Thought: Beginning from Jaeger’s Paideia

德国古典学家韦尔纳·耶格尔在他的名著《教化》中提出,古希腊文化的独特品质在于一种强调“理念”和“形式”的秩序感,以及以此为范式“形塑”人性的教化。他据此认为古希腊文化才是“真正的文化”。《教化》对古希腊文化的赞颂,与西方学界的几种批评立场形成了对比。在《教化》中译本出版之际,重新审视西方学界的这些立场对比,并结合古希腊史诗和古典哲学的多种重点文本分疏相关议题,有助于汉语学界更深入地把握耶格尔所推崇的古希腊秩序观的思想脉络。正如尼采在《悲剧的诞生》中所指出的,古希腊文化缔造秩序的强烈冲动,其实恰恰源自古希腊人对宇宙和人生之本然无序的深刻体认,因此,想要更加原本地把握古希腊文化的特性,研究者就必须重视古希腊思想中秩序和无序的张力。

In his famous book Paideia, the German classicist Werner Jaeger argues that the peculiar character of ancient Greek culture is Paideia as the cultivation of human nature based on a strong sense of order with emphasis on "ideal" and "form", and therefore claims that the Greek culture is the "real culture". Recently, the Chinese translation of Paideia was published, and on such an occasion of celebration, this article aims to compare Jaeger’s Paideia with several equally famous criticisms against the ancient Greek notion of order, and to outline an intellectual history of the Greek notion of order and disorder from epic to philosophy. The author attempts to confirm and revive Nietzsche’s insight in The Birth of Tragedy that the Greek idealization of order is in fact rooted in a profound sense of disorder inherent to cosmos and human life. If so, then a faithful understanding of ancient Greek culture requires comprehension of the tension between order and disorder in ancient Greek thought.