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发表于 2009-5-10 22:44
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普世价值(Universal value)的词条翻译一则
司马南
普世价值在中国,被某些精英鼓噪得神乎其神。到底是怎么回事,究其根本所涵者为甚,人们似乎并不在意,认真做功课的人不多见。这一篇短文译自阅读量至为广泛的辞书,它似乎在告诉我们,老外那边,对何谓Universal value大家看法并不一致,民主自由类令部分国人神经亢奋的hai词并未天然地被公认为所谓普世价值的一部分。
必须指出,该词条关于普世价值的讨论仅仅涉及了哲学、伦理和心理学部分,即出现如此纷纭复杂的局面,人们各执一词,争论不休。大家可以想见,若是讨论普世价值与政治,普世价值与民族,普世价值与经济,普世价值与文化,普世价值与传统,该是何等混乱的一种局面。可见,Universal value在西方世界的处境,并非如某些人主观臆想的那样。了解这一事实,对促使某些人冷静下来不无裨益。
此文译者北京方雨教授,原本提供笔者参考,我何德何能独享此文,不如贴出来,供大家赏析。
Universal value
Something is of universal value if it has the same value or worth for all, or almost all, people. This claim could mean two importantly different things. First, it could be that something has a universal value when everybody finds it valuable. This was Isaiah Berlin's understanding of the term. According to Berlin, "...universal values....are values that a great many human beings in the vast majority of places and situations, at almost all times, do in fact hold in common, whether consciously and explicitly or as expressed in their behaviour..." Second, something could have universal value when all people have reason to believe it has value. Amartya Sen interprets the term in this way, pointing out that when Mahatma Gandhi argued that non-violence is a universal value, he was arguing that all people have reason to value non-violence, not that all people currently value non-violence. Many different things have been claimed to be of universal value, for example, fertility, pleasure, and democracy. The issue of whether anything is of universal value, and, if so, what that thing or those things are, is relevant to psychology, political science, and philosophy, among other fields.
Philosophy
The principle areas of philosophy concerned with values are axiology and value theory, but values also play an important role in ethics, aesthetics and political philosophy.
Ethics and universal value
Universal value plays a different role in virtue ethics, deontological and teleological or consequentialist moral theories. Consequentialist theories are based on the idea that right actions are those that lead to a result that has universal value.[6] Some utilitarians, Jeremy Bentham for example, have argued that pleasure and pain are the only things that are of universal intrinsic value; that is, that pleasure and pain are the only things that are valued for themselves, and other things are of value only because they produce pleasure or pain. Because utilitarians are consequentialists, this means that utilitarians who hold pleasure and pain to be the only things of universal value then argue that actions are right when they maximise pleasure and minimise pain, when everyone is considered equally.
Psychology and the search for universal values
S. H. Schwartz, along with a number of psychology colleagues, has carried out empirical research investigating whether there are universal values, and what those values are. Schwartz defined 'values' as "conceptions of the desirable that influence the way people select action and evaluate events".He hypothesised that universal values would relate to three different types of human need: biological needs, social co-ordination needs, and needs related to the welfare and survival of groups. Schwartz's results from a series of studies that included surveys of more than 25,000 people in 44 countries with a wide range of different cultural types suggest that there are fifty-six specific universal values and ten types of universal value. Schwartz's ten types of universal value are: power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security. Below are each of the value types, with the specific related values alongside:
• Power: authority; leadership; dominance
• Achievement: success; capability; ambition; influence; intelligence; self-respect
• Hedonism: pleasure; enjoying life
• Stimulation: daring activities; varied life; exciting life
• Self-direction: creativity; freedom; independence; curiosity; choosing your own goals
• Universalism: broadmindedness; wisdom; social justice; equality; a world at peace; a world of beauty; unity with nature; protecting the environment; inner harmony
• Benevolence: helpfulness; honesty; forgiveness; loyalty; responsibility; friendship
• Tradition: accepting one's portion in life; humility; devoutness; respect for tradition; moderation
• Conformity: self-discipline; obedience
• Security: cleanliness; family security; national security; stability of social order; reciprocation of favours; health; sense of belonging
Schwartz also tested an eleventh possible universal value, 'spirituality', or 'the goal of finding meaning in life', but found that it does not seem to be recognised in all cultures.
普世价值(翻译)
普世价值即某些事物是具有普遍价值的,如果它对所有或几乎所有的人具有相同的价值或价值。这种说法可能意味着两件完全不同的重要的事。第一,可能是因为某些人发现某事具有价值。这是以赛亚•伯林(Isaiah Berlin)对该词的理解。柏林观点是:“普世价值是这样一种价值:大多数人在绝大多数的地方和情况下,在几乎所有的时代,都在共同实行,无论是否自觉,明确或在他们的行为中表达”。第二,当所有人们有理由相信某件事有价值时,这件事可能具有普世价值,阿马蒂亚•森(Amartya Sen)是这样解释该词的。他指出,当圣雄甘地认为非暴力是一种普遍价值时,他主张说所有的人都有理由认为非暴力具有价值,而不是目前所有的人给予非暴力以价值。 很多不同的事物都自称具普世价值,例如,生育,快乐,民主。是否存在普世价值这回事,如果存在的话,什么样的东西或哪些事情具有普世价值,是有关心理学,政治学,哲学的问题,并包括其他领域。
哲学
哲学基本领域对价值的关注是价值论(axiology,唯心主义的道德观、美学观、宗教观流派)和价值学说(value theory),但在道德,美学和政治哲学中价值也发挥着重要作用。
伦理与普世价值
在德行伦理、道义论、目的论或因果道德论的理论中,普世价值发挥着不同的作用。 在因果论者的理论基础上,主张正确行动导致的结果应该具有普世价值。对一些功利主义者,例如边沁(Jeremy Bentham),认为快乐与痛苦是唯一具有普遍内在价值的;也就是说,快乐和痛苦是对他们自己唯一有价值的东西,其他的东西的价值不过是因为他们生产快乐或痛苦。因为功利主义者就是因果论者,这意味着功利主义者认为,感到快乐和痛苦是唯一具有普世价值的事情,并主张:当每人都平等时,他们有最大的快乐和最少的痛苦,他们的行动就是正确的。
心理学和普世价值的寻求
施瓦茨(S. H. Schwartz,美国心理学家)和一些心理学的同事,已进行了实证研究,调查是否有普世价值以及这些价值观。施瓦兹把 “价值”定义为“影响人们选择行动方式和评价事件的取向的观念”。他假设普遍的价值观涉及到人的三种不同类型的需要:生物的需要,社会协调的需要,群体相关的福利和生存需要。施瓦兹的结果,从一系列的研究,包括调查多2.5万人在44个国家与范围广泛的不同的文化类型表明,有56个具体的普遍价值观念和10类型的普世价值。施瓦茨的10种普世价值是:权力,成就,享乐主义,刺激,自我的方向,普遍性,善,传统,一致性与安全。下面是每个价值的类型与具体的相关价值:
权力:权威;领导;支配
成就:成功;能力;抱负;影响;智能;自尊
快乐主义:高兴;享受生活
刺激:冒险活动;不同的生活;令人振奋的生活
自我发展:创造性;自由;独立性;好奇心;选择自己的目标
普救说:宽容;智慧;社会公平;平等; 世界和平;世界美好;与自然共处;保护环境;内部和谐
仁爱:乐于助人;诚实;宽恕;忠诚;责任;友谊
传统:接受他人作为生活的一部分;谦卑; 虔诚;尊重传统;适度
一致性:自我约束;服从
安全:清洁;家庭安全;国家安全;社会秩序稳定;互惠;健康;归属感
施瓦茨还测试了第十一种可能的普世价值, “灵性” ,或“找到生命的意义” 的目标,但发现它似乎并不承认在所有文化中。
译注1:以赛亚•伯林(Isaiah Berlin,1909-1997),英国哲学家和政治思想史家,二十世纪最著名的自由主义知识分子之一)
译注2:阿马蒂亚•森(Amartya Sen,1933-),出生于印度孟加拉湾,1959年在英国剑桥大学获得博士学位,其后先后在印度、英国和美国任教。1998年离开哈佛大学到英国剑桥三一学院任院长。他曾为联合国开发计划署写过人类发展报告,曾任联合国前秘书长加利的经济顾问。他因为在福利经济学上的贡献获得1998年诺贝尔经济学奖。
译注3:边沁(Jeremy Bentham,1748—1832):英国哲学家、法学家、政治学家和经济学家,功利主义的主要代表,自由主义政治思想的奠基人。近来一些中文文献也译为“本瑟姆”。 |
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