超越血气——亚里士多德论德性友爱

Beyond Thumos:Aristotle on Virtue Friendship

在《尼各马可伦理学》中,亚里士多德系统地论述了友爱的谱系学,以德性友爱为最高点,并阐述了德性友爱的意义。德性友爱面临的最大挑战是,两个无所缺乏的好人在什么意义上还相互需要。学术界有一种颇具启发性的观点,从血气和德性竞赛的角度解释这个问题。然而血气和竞赛的进路无法解释德性友爱在友爱体系中的特别位置,在亚里士多德看来,对他人最深的需要是一种高于血气和政治的哲学性的需要,以相互沉思的方式完成。这一内涵赋予了德性友爱最高的意义,折射出全书哲学高于政治的立场。

In The Nicomachean Ethics,Aristotle systematically discusses the genealogy of friendship with virtue friendship as its peak,and elaborates on the meaning of virtue friendship.The greatest challenge for virtue friendship is that in what sense two good people that lack nothing still need each other.There is an inspiring argument that this question can be well explained from the perspective of thumos and moral competition.However,according to the author,thumos and competition cannot explain the special place of virtue friendship in the genealogy of friendship.For Aristotle,the deepest need for others is a philosophical one beyond thumos and politics,accomplished by mutual contemplation.This connotation gives the highest significance to virtue friendship and reflects the superiority of philosophy over politics in the book as a whole.