对话卢梭:《卢塞恩》与“文明人”的困境

Dialogue with Rousseau: "Lucerne" and the Dilemma of"Civilized Man"

1857年正在瑞士旅行的托尔斯泰与卢梭展开了一场紧张对话。小说《卢塞恩》深受卢梭思想影响,以“英国游客”为“文明人”的代表,对现代文明展开了猛烈批判。同时,身为“文明人”的自传性主人公也进行了卢梭式的自我揭示。但托尔斯泰思想的特质同样在对话中得到凸显。相较于卢梭,他表现出了更为强烈的道德意识,强调真诚但拒绝将之视为最高的善;在反思理性与理性主体的限度方面也走得更远。严苛的自审加剧了托尔斯泰这一时期的精神危机,他不仅拒绝再写作卢梭批评的那种媚俗文学,更从根本上怀疑“文明人”的艺术可以通往自然。

Tolstoy,who was traveling in Switzerland in 1857,had an intensive dialogue with Rousseau.The debt to Rousseau was stamped vividly upon the short story"Lucerne."Presenting"British tourists"as representatives of"civilized man,"it fiercely criticized modern civilization.As a"civilized man,"the autobiographical protagonist also unmasks himself in Rousseau's style.The characteristics of Tolstoy's thought,on the other hand,are displayed in the dialogue.With a stronger moral consciousness,Tolstoy treasures sincerity but does not take it as the highest good.He is more radical in reflecting on the limits of rationality and rational subjects.The rigorous self-examination aggravated Tolstoy's spiritual crisis in this period.He not only refused to write works appealing to vulgar taste that Rousseau criticized,but also had grave doubts that the art of"civilized mancould lead tothestate of nature.