美法革命再比较

The American and French Revolutions Re-Compared

法国启蒙运动提出的“文明”概念和法国大革命时代提出的“旧制度”问题,反映了法国革命掌握了“民主”的真谛,因而演成了名副其实的“民主革命”。美国革命缺乏法式文明观,因而看不到未来,只强调拿回被宗主国夺走的往昔殖民地自治权(这时它们已被抽象为“自由权”)的必要性,而意识不到通过限制人的贪婪本性来保障社会和谐的重要性,所以不具备真正意义上的民主性。

The concept of“civilization”proposed by the French Enlightenment and the problem of“Ancien Régime”put forward by the French Revolution demonstrated that the French Revolution grasped the true meaning of“democracy”and thus became a veritable“democratic revolution”.While lack of the French view of civilization t and failed to have a clear vision of the future,the American Revolution emphasized only the necessity of taking back the liberties which,then abstracted philosophically as“liberty”(or“freedom”),had been taken away by the Suzerain,while failed to realize the importance of restricting the cupidity in human nature to ensure social harmony,therefore the American Revolution can hardly be regarded as democratic in the true sense.