“活着”:人的生存及其意义

“To Live”:Human Existence and Its Signifi cance

“活着”是人“在”世的第一个前提:具有生命形态,是从事其他活动的基本条件。除了劳动这种社会形式外,自然层面的人欲构成了生存的内在动力。作为人的原初规定,人欲与人的感性存在相关。“活着”固然是人存在的前提,然而,在“活着”这一点上,人与动物并没有根本区别。人不同于动物的主要之处在于:动物始终只能以其物种所限定的方式生活,人则总是追求活得更好,并且实际上能够以更好的方式生存。更好的生活,离不开人自身的多样努力,后者的具体内容表现为不同的创造活动。意义的生成基于人自身的作为,有意义的生活,同样离不开人的作用。个体的存在总是有限的,好的生活或有意义的生活,同时涉及这种有限性的扬弃。人诚然无法让生命永存,但却可以使自身创造的文化影响恒久延续。在人类活动的多样展开中,生命存在的有限性与生活意义的无限性之间的张力,将不断得到扬弃。

Being alive is the first prerequisite for a person to be in the world:having a life is a basic condition for engaging in other activities.In addition to labor,the human desire constitutes the internal driving force for survival.Human desire is related to human sensory existence.Being alive is certainly a prerequisite for human existence,but there is no fundamental difference between humans and animals in this aspect.The basic distinction between humans and animals is that animals can only live in the ways limited by their species,while humans always strive to live better and are actually able to survive in a better way.A better life cannot be achieved without the diverse efforts of individuals themselves,which are manifested in different creative activities.The generation of meaning is based on human actions,and a meaningful life is also inseparable from the role of humans.The existence of an individual is always limited,and a good or meaningful life involves the sublation of this limitation.People are unable to make their lives last forever,but they can make permanent cultural influences.In the diverse development of human activities,the tension between the finite existence of life and the infinite meaning of life will continue to be developed and sublated.