从“根本恶”看康德对基督教的哲学转化

Kant’s Philosophical Transformation of Christian Thought from the View of “Radical Evil”

“根本恶”是康德宗教哲学的轴心概念,这一概念深受基督教的影响,以此为契入点可以看到康德对基督教所做的哲学改造。根本恶是人类本性中的恶,在康德那里,“本性”是人类自由采纳某种道德准则时所凭依的原初主观根据,它在道德意义上具有先天趋恶倾向,实质在于道德秩序中的主次颠倒。基督教神学的“原罪”作为人神秩序的原初颠倒可谓根本恶的“原型”,根本恶是对原罪说的哲学转化。同原罪一样,根本恶也源自人的自由运作,通过先天推论,康德得出恶的原初主观根据出于人类先天的自由本性,并存在于“任性自由”为自己制定的准则里。“改恶迁善”如基督教新生一般,既是一场自由自觉的心灵革命,其可能性根据在于人的本性中存在不可磨灭的原初向善的人格性禀赋,也是一个通过社会伦理共同体逐渐改良、无限进步的历史过程,这也包含着对基督教教会观念的哲学转化。

“Radical evil” is the pivotal concept of Kant’s philosophy of religion, which is deeply influenced by Christianity. From this point of view, we can see Kant’s philosophical transformation of Christianity. Radical evil is rooted in human nature, and “human nature” is the original subjective basis on which human beings freely adopt certain moral maxims. In the moral sense, human nature has an innate propensity to evil, the essence of which lies in the reversal of the ethical order. As the original reversal of the order of man and God, the “original sin” in Christian theology can be described as the “prototype” of radical evil. So understood, radical evil is a philosophical interpretation and theoretical transformation of the original sin. Just as in the case of original sin, radical evil also arises out of the free operation of human beings, and through a priori inferences, Kant concludes that the original subjective basis of evil lies in the innate free nature of human beings, which exists in the maxims set by the power of choice itself. Overcoming evil and converting to good is a free and conscious spiritual revolution, just like the new birth in Christianity. Its possibility is based on the indelible original personal predisposition to good in human nature;meanwhile, it is also a historical process of gradual improvement and unending progress through social and ethical community, and it contains the philosophical transformation of the Christian concept of the church.