历史意义的焦虑:“普遍历史”的回应及其病理

Anxiety about the Meaning of History:The Response and Pathology of"Universal History"

历史过程的时间性指向一种历史沧桑感,其核心是历史的无常性,表现为历史过程的偶然、变易与无序,由此而有在历史中生存的意义焦虑。西方思想将历史无常体验为历史意义的虚无,并通过“普遍历史”构筑的“普遍性”,来抗拒历史的无常。最能体现西方文明性格的普遍性(universality)由两种传统构成:一是古希腊哲学提供的概念化思想工具,它使得普遍性在语言及其逻辑机制中以概念化运动方式加以建立,这种普遍性意味着脱离质料的形式;二由基督教尤其是其中的保罗传统提供,它意味着隔断一切自然与文明论脉络的超越的普遍性,同时它将历史的意义系之于末世论的未来,这一未来意味着一种在时间之中消解时间一历史而抵达永恒的“特殊时刻”。以上两者结合,形成了西方近代历史哲学中的普遍性。这种普遍性回应的是“历史(作为一个整体)的意义”,同时又内在包含着对“历史中的意义”的贬抑,因而它意味着对历史的非历史处理,由此而难以避免历史终结的病理,这一病理最终导致的是历史意识的丧失。

The timeliness of historical process points to a sense of historical vicissitudes,the core of which is historical impermanence,manifested in the accident,change and disorder of historical process,which leads to anxiety about the meaning of survival in history.Western thought treats this historical impermanence as the nihility of historical significance,and resists the historical impermanence through the"universality"established by the"universal history".The universality that best reflects the character of Western civilization is composed of two traditions:the first is the conceptual thinking tool provided by ancient Greek philosophy,which enables universality to be established in the language and its logical mechanism in the way of conceptual movement,and this universality is regarded as a pure"Form"separated from all materials;second,it is provided by Christianity,especially the Pauline tradition,which means transcendental universality that cuts off all concreteness and particularity,and at the same time it links historical significance to the eschatological future,and this future means a"special moment,"that is both in time and can dissolve time-history and reach eternity.The combination of the above two forms the universality in modern western historical philosophy.This kind of universality responds to the"meaning of history(as a whole)",but it already contains a depreciation of"meaning in history".In this sense,it means the non-historical treatment of history.Therefore,it is difficult to avoid the pathology of the end of history,which ultimately leads to the loss of historical consciousness.