在风险社会中看真理与意见

Truth and Opinion in Risk Society

在社会发展过程中,“依真理而行”还是“依意见而行”?这在工业社会的科学语境中似乎是一个并不需要给予回答的问题,因为近代以来的社会发展,真理获得了类似于中世纪上帝的地位。可是,在风险社会及其高度复杂性和高度不确定性的条件下,这一问题日益凸现出来。真理与意见其实是难以分开的,它们之间存在着一种辩证关系。如果说不存在绝对真理的话,那么相对真理这个概念就是以意见的形式出现的。事实上,真理是具体的,只是分析性思维把人们引向了赋予真理普遍性、同一性的道路上。在风险社会及其高度复杂性和高度不确定性的条件下,不仅形成真理性认识是非常困难的,而且在无法形成真理性认识的情况下也必须行动,出于行动的要求,意见的价值也许高于真理的价值。

In the scientific context of industrial society,there seems no need to answer the question of whether to“act by truth”or“act on opinion”along with the social development,since the truth has gained a position similar to that of God in the middle ages because of the social development since modern times.However,under the condition of risk society and its high complexity and high uncertainty,the problem is increasingly emerging.Truth and opinion are actually difficult to separate,and there is a dialectical relationship between them.If there is no absolute truth,the concept of relative truth appears in the form of opinion.In fact,truth is concrete,but analytical thinking leads people to the way of giving truth universality and identity.In the risk society,we have to act,although it is very difficult,even impossible,to form truth knowledge.For the requirements of action,the opinion rather than the truth might be highly valued.