论传统文化之“不证自明性”

On the “Self-Evidence” of Traditional Culture

“不证自明性”强调了个体以一种存而不论的态度,接纳意义系统所设定的主张和价值,以此构建生活世界的真实。从“不证自明性”的角度理解传统文化的当代价值,这一分析进路超越了现有研究对于传统文化具体“内容”的分析,从“传统文化可以提供意义”这一基本论断,转而讨论“传统文化提供什么样的意义”或者“传统文化是否能够以一种‘理所当然’的方式赋予社会成员以意义”这一更具理论信息量的问题。中国传统文化可以分为作为叙事体系的传统文化和作为实践惯习的传统文化;前者与制度化的大传统相对应,通过内化的方式实现“不证自明性”,后者则与弥散化的小传统相对应,通过习惯化的方式呈现“不证自明性”。在现代社会,个体处于一种意义选择的阈限状态。传统文化意义在个体情景化信息缺失或信息过载时均有可能被调用,从而体现其“不证自明性”。

“Self-evidence” emphasizes that individuals accept the propositions and values set by the meaning system with an attitude of “no questioning”, so as to construct the reality of the lifeworld. The approach to understanding the contemporary values of traditional culture from the perspective of “self-evidence”goes beyond the analysis of the “content” of traditional culture in the existent research. It prompts the transition from the basic assertion that “traditional culture can provide meaning” to discussing the more theoretically informative question of “what kind of meaning traditional culture can provide” or whether traditional culture can provide meaning in a “taken-for-granted” way. As a narrative system, Chinese traditional culture corresponds to a large institutionalized tradition that achieves “self-evidence” through internalization, while as a practical habitus, it is in line with a folk tradition that presents “self-evidence” through habituation. In modern society, individuals are in a liminal state of meaning selection. Traditional cultural meaning may be invoked when individual situational information is missing or overloaded, thus reflecting traditional culture’s “self-evidence”.