《佐罗科》的道德情感:以哈奇森的思想为参照

Moral Sentiments in Zeluco:An Analysis in Terms of Hutcheson's Theory

弗朗西斯·哈奇森等苏格兰启蒙文人热衷于道德情感的哲学讨论,约翰·摩尔则在小说《佐罗科》里借助处于道德伦理极端的人物故事参与其中,呼应道德哲学对于德性的探究。已有研究在挖掘该小说与哈奇森道德观念的关系方面留有探讨空间,从小说鲜明的善恶人物塑造着眼,着重结合哈奇森关于错误的自爱为恶行的常见根源、仁爱为德性基础情感的道德动机论,可探析小说对道德情感的体现与思考,发掘出小说如何在对哥特与感伤小说元素的借用与疏离中强化了道德感官培养的表达。理解摩尔小说创作与哈奇森德性思想之间的联系,有助于明晰当时虚构文学与哲学观念间的交往关系,及其对于社会道德体系的共同构建。

Francis Hutcheson and other literati during the Scottish Enlightenment were passionate about philosophical discussion of moral sentiments. John Moore joined them through his novel, Zeluco, in which he presents the story of characters caught in extreme moral ethics in his response to the philosophical probe about virtue. Given the fact that previous studies have more or less neglected the relation between Zeluco and Hutcheson's moral concepts, this essay focuses on the novel's apparent portrayal of good and evil characters and Hutcheson's ideas about moral motives, such as “a mistaken Self-Love” as the ordinary springs of vice and “Benevolence” as that of virtue, on the one hand and, on the other, explores how the novel represents and reflects on moral sentiments and even reinforces the expression of moral sensibilities by either tapping into or distancing from the elements from the Gothic and sentimental novels. Revealing the connection between Moore's novel and Hutcheson's views of virtue may lead to a clarification of the reciprocal relation between fictional writing and philosophical concept at that time, as well as their joint effort to construct a social moral system.