契约社会的演化图景:梅因古代法背后的社会理论

The Evolutionary Picture of Contract Society:The Social Theory behind Maine's Ancient Law

作为古典社会理论思想家,梅因浸染着19世纪社会演化论的思想气质。探寻现代社会的要义不是从其本身出发,而是回到其古代法律与社会演化历程,这是梅因演化思想的出发点。同时,有别于当时的社会演化论,法律成为梅因观察社会变迁的重要工具。基于此,梅因描绘出社会的类型、特性与演化动力。在“从身份到契约”的演化趋势下,进步社会最终孵化出现代契约社会,但晚年的梅因意识到现代社会面临现实危机。更为重要的是,梅因的演化思想透露出他对古今社会与东西文明的深刻反思。梅因的社会理论对于深入理解西方古典社会思想,发展中国的法律与社会理论具有重要意义。

As a classical social theorist,Maine was imbued with the intellectual temperament of nineteenth-century social evolutionary theory.The way to explore the nature of modern society is not from itself,but from the ancient evolutionary process of law and society,which is the starting point of Maine's evolu-tionary thought.Meanwhile,law became an important tool for Maine to observe social change,which is different from the social evolutionary theory of that time.In this way,Maine describes the types,characteristics and evolutionary dynamics of societies.Under the evolutionary trend"from Status to Contract",progressive societies eventually gave rise to modern contract societies,but in his later years,Maine realized that modern society was facing a real crisis.More importantly,Maine's evolutionary theory reveals his profound reflection on ancient and modern societies and eastern and western civilizations.Maine's social theory is of great significance for deepening the understanding of Western classical social thought and for developing Chinese legal and social theory.