“自然美”何以可能及其作为“问题”的理论启示

How“Natural Beauty”Is Possible and Its Theoretical Implications as a“Problem”

作为美学发展史中的元命题和关切人类生存实践活动的观念范畴,“自然美”因其自身无法消除的“价值”倾向从来不曾、也不可能“科学”地言说。“自然美”成为问题既因“自然”概念的歧义性,又缘于不断更新变化的美学与生活等“现实”因素。“自然美何以可能”是从存在方式上探讨自然美的核心议题,它的另一面相即自然的“审美模式”,在学界已有且通行的“如画模式”“比德模式”“天成模式”和“宇宙模式”等基础上,还可以“文化记忆”“共情体验”“人的力量”“介入选择”等模式作为补充与丰富,其所体现的核心是人在自然美形成中的基础作用、变化形态和“言说”方式。探讨自然美“问题”具有强烈的现实诉求和理论启示,主要体现在:其一,能够有效拓展、更新、反思美学学科以及现实“自然”对象及概念的流动感知内涵;其二,以“平等”为核心的价值观念,有力冲击、平衡着以“自由”为最高原则的美学及审美活动本质的论调;其三,有效消解美学史中长期并存的“自然美”与“艺术美”孰高孰低的选择性悖论和等级制观念;其四,以回到“物”自身的方式体现出对人与自然和谐统一关系的再辨识、再体认,最终有力维护人之理性与感性等统一的完整性,表征对人之现存经验的高度关切和人之超越超验的形而上构建。

As a basic proposition in the history of aesthetics and a conceptual category concerned with the practical activities of human existence, “Natural Beauty” has never been and cannot be “scientifically” stated because of its own ineradicable “value” tendency. “Natural beauty” has become a “problem” not only because of the ambiguity of the concept of “nature”, but also because of the constantly changing “realities” of aesthetics and life. “How natural beauty is possible” is a central theme in the exploration of Natural Beauty in terms of ways of being, the other side of which is the “aesthetic mode” of nature. This article is based on the “Picturesque model”, the “Cohesive moral model”, the “Nature model” and the “Cosmic model”, supplemented by the “Cultural Memory”, “Empathic Experience”, “Human Power” and “Intervene Selection” models. The core of these models is the fundamental role of the human being in the formation of natural beauty, its changing forms and the ways in which it is “spoken”. The “problem” of natural beauty has both practical and theoretical significance. First, it can effectively expand, renew and rethink the discipline of aesthetics and the connotations of real “natural” objects and concepts. Secondly, the core value of “equality” is a powerful counterweight to the argument that “freedom” is the highest principle of aesthetics and aesthetic activity. Thirdly, it effectively dispels the paradox of selectivity and hierarchy between “Natural Beauty” and “Artistic Beauty” that has long existed in the history of aesthetics. Fourthly, by returning to “Nature” itself, it embodies the rediscovery and recognition of the harmonious and unified relationship between man and nature, and strongly upholds the unity of man’s reason and sensibility, etc. It is a high concern for man’s existing experience and a metaphysical construction of man’s transcendental transcendence.