C.P.斯诺教育成长小说中的科学人文主义

Scientific Humanism in C.P.Snow’s Bildungsroman

喧闹一时的“两种文化”之争使斯诺的科学人文主义思想一度被忽略。科学人文主义是20世纪20-30年代发轫并逐渐流行于英美学术界的思潮,主要倡导者有乔治·萨顿和朱利安·赫胥黎等,其主要观点是肯定科学对社会发展的作用,着眼于人性和人的全面发展,抵制科技的负面影响等。本文通过阐释斯诺的小说《探索》和《新人》中科学家主人公的职业道德危机和伦理选择,聚焦斯诺小说中科学家主人公的成长历程以及小说蕴含的科学人文主义思想。斯诺既崇尚科学,认为科学家应执着追求科学理想;又兼顾人文精神,认为科学家出于对他人、国家和人类命运的关心应捍卫科技伦理。然而,小说中科学家的选择是折衷而妥协的,这也是斯诺的局限性之所在。

The clamor resulting from the“Two Cultures”controversy has eclipsed scientific humanism in C.P.Snow’s thought.Scientific humanism is a trend of thought that started and became popular in British and American academia in the 1920s and the 1930s,initiated by figures like George Sarton and Julian Huxley.The main views include affirming the role of science in social development,focusing on human nature and all-round development of human beings,and resisting the negative effects of science and technology,etc.By illustrating scientists’professional moral crisis and ethical choice in The Search and The New Men,this paper focuses on the growing course of the scientists and scientific humanism reflected in Snow’s bildungsroman.On the one hand,Snow advocates science and be-lieves that scientists should pursue scientific ideals.On the other hand,he values humanistic spirit and insists that scientists should defend the ethics of science and technology out of concern for the fate of others,the country and mankind.However,it turns out that the choices made by scientists in the novels are compromises,which could be understood as the limitation of Snow.