苏格兰启蒙思想对美国立宪文本的影响

【作者】 任裕海；

【导师】 陈晓律；

【作者基本信息】 南京大学 ， 世界史， 2017， 博士

【摘要】 启蒙运动作为人类历史上一次意义重大的思想文化运动,至今仍在相当大的程度上影响和塑造着西方乃至整个世界的社会和文化。在长达一个多世纪的时间里,启蒙运动涉及十多个国家,相关思想家、政治家、教育家和著名社会活动人士超过百位,其论著阐述具有十分丰富的思想内涵和强大的张力。苏格兰启蒙运动指的是约十八世纪二十年代在苏格兰兴起并且持续百年的思想文化运动。与欧陆哲学影响下的理性主义启蒙学说相比较,苏格兰启蒙思想具有四个关键性特征:一是对各种形式的理性主义表示怀疑,对诸如法国哲学家笛卡尔、德国哲学家莱布尼茨等试图通过找到某种单一的方法或者一套理性的法则来推演出所有真理的做法提出质疑;二是对情感和感官的作用给予高度重视,将其作为哲学讨论的中心内容,如由沙夫茨伯利伯爵所创立的“道德感”学派,以及十八世纪在苏格兰出现的“常识哲学”;三是知识界热衷于采用实验科学的研究方法;四是正如休谟在其《人性论》中所探讨的,通过发展建立一门人性的科学,来确立判断真伪的标准。苏格兰启蒙思想的一个核心内涵,是重视“人的科学”如何影响和架构关于社会关系和社会制度的阐述。苏格兰启蒙运动致力于探讨和推进社会的经济和政治发展,启蒙思想家们的理论学说同时成为心理学、社会学、政治学、经济学等现代社会科学的滥觞。这些社会科学门类皆于“道德哲学”之中孕育成长。当时的道德哲学是一门包罗甚广的早期现代学科,不仅包括伦理道德方面的理论学说,而且包含描述性和规定性的全部人性研究。弗兰西斯·哈奇森、大卫·休谟、亚当·斯密、托马斯·里德、亚当·弗格森等苏格兰思想家,都把研究人的道德本质作为考察社会进步机制的起点。在十八世纪,人们并没有使用“人类科学”的说法;当时最为恰切的对等说法是“道德科学”,它也可以等同于后来的“社会科学”。苏格兰人以一种科学和世俗的精神着力研究“人的科学”,目的是要帮助人们在一个日趋复杂和商业化的社会中获得幸福、价值和有德性的生活。苏格兰启蒙思想家们力图以科学的方式探讨心灵和人性的内涵,他们运用经验归纳的方法研究人类历史和人的心智思维,探寻发现道德领域、社会生活和政府治理应当遵循的自然法则,从而为构建科学完善的社会和政治制度提供理据。他们的研究延续了霍布斯、洛克人性理论之后关于人性本质和社会治理的探讨,对人的心灵、理性和情感以及人类历史中的社会形态进行的可贵探究,形成了一套关于人性阐释和政府治理的理论体系,不仅反映出苏格兰启蒙运动的思想特质,也成为十九世纪社会科学研究的先驱。苏格兰启蒙思想在北美大陆传播,正值北美殖民地宣告独立和制定新宪法之时。它们之所以对美国建国和宪政的形成产生影响,也因为苏格兰与北美殖民地同属大英帝国的“文化省份”,这使得苏格兰思想家与美国早期的建国元勋所思考的问题具有不少相通之处。由于受到苏格兰启蒙思想的熏陶,奠基时代的美国缔造者大多相信人性具有普遍的共同特质,可以把政治视作一门社会科学,能够从研究历史中获得教训、原则以及把握社会变化模式的规律,从而更好地理解现实和规划未来。这种历史观影响了他们对当时一些重大问题的看法和可能采取的解决方案。应当承认,美国宪政观念和制度的形成既包含了对欧洲民主和法治传统的继承,也体现了美国人根据当时特定的时代语境而回应社会需求的创造性智慧。其主要特征包括主权在民的共和政体、三权分立与相互制衡的政府模式、重视个人权利保障的价值理念等。若从历史渊源来考察,这些原则可以追溯至欧洲古老的自然法和自然权利、英国的普通法传统,以及洛克和孟德斯鸠的理论,但是就特定历史语境而言,苏格兰启蒙思想家们的贡献的确不容忽视。其中一个极有意义的实例是《联邦论》的作者大量借鉴吸收了苏格兰启蒙思想,将其中的经验论人性观、能力心理学和动机理论作为阐述其宪政哲学的重要理论支撑。帕伯琉斯在其有关政治哲学的阐述中,将洛克、孟德斯鸠的理论与苏格兰启蒙思想资源加以重新整合,由此创发出适应美利坚具体国情和社会语境的宪政理论。美国早期的政治领袖们从休谟论著所提供的关于政治行为和人性认知的洞见中获益匪浅。在帕伯琉斯看来,构建科学合理的宪政制度必须以充分了解人性为前提。帕伯琉斯同意休谟的看法:对人性的理解和认知需要以对人类历史的经验观察为基础,需要根据实际观察到的人性状况做出判断。帕伯琉斯主张采取道德现实主义的眼光,主张将人类历史世代积累的经验作为考察分析人性本质的科学基础。十八世纪苏格兰启蒙哲学不仅重视运用经验论的方法研究人性,而且对人的心理活动的内在机制做出了深刻的分析和阐释。例如:里德的能力心理学对《联邦论》宪政哲学具有重要影响,不仅反映在能力心理学关于理性原则、动物性原则和机械性原则的分析为帕伯琉斯阐述其代议制的共和制及其所体现的政治精英主义提供了思想基础,而且反映在帕伯琉斯在解释政府的职能架构时采用了能力心理学的概念范畴,即政府机构设置反映了理性能力的不同方面,包括“理解力”、“意志力”和“道德良知”。此外,《联邦论》的核心是论述包括横向和纵向分权制衡的“复合式共和制”政体架构,而苏格兰启蒙学说关于人性动机的理论分析为帕伯琉斯阐述分权制衡的宪政原则提供了必不可少的政治心理学基础。不仅如此,党派问题也是《联邦论》着力解决的重要问题。帕伯琉斯吸收借鉴了休谟、斯密、弗格森等苏格兰思想家有关党派活动的人性根源以及党争危害的治疗之道的理论学说,阐发形成了建立代议制的共和制和广土众民的共和国等有效对治党派问题的宪政主张。考察比较苏格兰启蒙哲学家的著述与《联邦论》宪政学说之间的关联,不难发现苏格兰启蒙思想的确为帕伯琉斯阐述其宪政主张提供了必不可少的理论支撑,为美国宪政制度的设计缔造提供了重要而宝贵的思想资源。更多还原

【Abstract】 The Enlightenment,as a significant intellectual and cultural movement in the history of mankind,has influenced and shaped the western and even the whole human society of today.During the period of more than a century,the Enlightenment involved over a dozen nations and over one hundred important thinkers,statesmen,educators and social activists whose writings provided abundant intellectual resources and exhibited powerful tensions.The Scottish Enlightenment refers to the intellectual and cultural movement that was initiated in the 1720s and lasted for a century in Scotland.As distinct from the Enlightenment teachings of the European Continent noted for their approach of rationalism,the Scottish Enlightenment had four key characteristics.The first was a skepticism about various forms of rationalism and about the attempts by such thinkers as Descartes in France and Leibniz in Germany to find a single method or set of rules of rationality from which all truths might be deduced.The second was the central place given to what was connoted by the terms sentiment and sense,as in the "moral sense" school founded by the third Earl of Shaftesbury,and as in the "philosophy of common sense" which emerged in Scotland in the 18th century.The third was the drive toward empirical methods of inquiry.The fourth was to establish the standard for distinguishing truth from falsehood through the development of a science of human nature as was discussed by Hume in his A Treatise of Human Nature.One of the most significant contributions of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers is the "science of man" which also influenced their approaches to the study of social relations and social systems.These thinkers were committed to the economic and political progress of the Scottish society and their research paved the way for modern social sciences including psychology,sociology,political science and economics.These subjects of social science were all contained in the "moral philosophy" which in the 18th century served as an early form of modern science,incorporating not merely the studies in ethics and morality,but the study of human nature in both descriptive and prescriptive manners as well.Scottish thinkers such as Francis Hutcheson,David Hume,Adam Smith,Thomas Reid all treated the study of the moral nature of man as the starting point for their research on the mechanism of social progress.In the 18th century the term "human science" was not used;what was in use was its equivalent "moral science," which was almost identical to what was called later the "social science." The Scots were committed to the "science of man" in a secular spirit with the aim of assisting people to pursue a life of happiness,value and morality in a society that was becoming increasingly complex and commercialized.The Scottish Enlightenment thinkers endeavored to conduct a scientific study of human mind and human nature,employing empirical and inductive approaches in their research on the historical process and intellectual activity of mankind with the intention of discovering natural laws to be adhered to in the areas of morality,social life and governance so as to provide rationale for the amelioration to be made to the social and political systems.Following the discussion of human nature and political governance by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke,their work served as a valuable continuance involving the study of human mind,reason and emotion,and modes of society in human history.Their theoretical approaches as regards the explanation of human nature and social governance displayed the intellectual features of the Scottish Enlightenment while serving as the forerunner of the social sciences in the 19th century.The Scottish Enlightenment thoughts were disseminated in North America while the American colonies declared independence and the Constitution was being made.These thoughts exerted influence upon the American founding and the formation of American constitutionalism due to the fact that both Scotland and America were cultural provinces of Great Britain and that there existed many similarities in terms of issues to be dealt with between the Scottish thinkers and American founding fathers.Cultivated by the Scottish Enlightenment thoughts,the American founders mostly believed that human nature contained universal attributes,that politics could be treated as a social science,and that history could be studied for the acquisition of lessons,principles and laws concerning the vicissitude of human society.From the Scottish thinkers they obtained insights which were helpful for their recognition of reality and planning for the future and perspectives which influenced their views of and strategies to cope with certain important issues at that time.The formation of American constitutionalism admittedly comprises both the inheritance of the European tradition of democracy and rule of law and the innovative wisdom of the Americans to meet the challenges of their social and epochal context.American constitutionalism features the republicanism with its sovereignty in people,the government mode of power division and counterbalance,and values attached to the protection of individual rights.In terms of their origins,these principles can be traced back to the European notions of natural law and natural rights,the tradition of the British common law,and the theories of Locke and Montesquieu.But the contribution of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers also played a significant role when the particular historical context is concerned.One meaningful example is The Federalist Papers which drew upon a profusion of valuable thoughts of the Scottish Enlightenment.These thoughts including an empirical view of human nature,faculty psychology and theories of motivation were employed as undergirding rationale for their constitutional philosophy.It was by integrating the theories of Locke and Montesquieu with those of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers that Publius managed to create a constitutional system befitting the actual conditions and social context of America.Early American political leaders benefited greatly from the insights of Hume’s theory of human nature and political action.For Publius,the construction of a reasonable constitutionalism entails adequate knowledge of human nature.In agreement with Hume,Publius held that the correct understanding of human nature should be based on an empirical observation of history in which its actual condition was manifested.Accordingly Publius adopted a perspective of moral realism and proposed that the scientific study of man should be based on the experience accumulated through generations.Moreover,the 18th century Scottish Enlightenment thinkers also conducted in-depth analysis of human psychological mechanism.One example is Reid’s faculty psychology which exerted important influence on the constitutional theories of The Federalist Papers.This is reflected on one hand in its illustration of the principles of reason,animal and mechanics which provides basis for Publius’s republicanism and the related political eliteism.One the other hand,Publius adopted the concepts of faculty psychology when explaining the various functions of government:the branches of government such as the legislative,the executive and the judiciary corresponded to aspects of the faculty of reason including understanding,will and conscience.Furthermore,the design of a "complex republic" which involved checks and balances both horizontally and vertically was discussed as a core issue in The Federalist Papers and the Scottish theories of human motivation served as an indispensable foundation in terms of political psychology for the illumination of such constitutional principle.In addition,faction was also an issue to be dealt with.Publius drew upon the theories of Scottish thinkers such as Hume,Smith and Ferguson concerning the origins of and remedies for factions and thereby formulated effective measures as part of the constitutional design including the republicanism through representation and the establishment of an extended republic.In conclusion,the comparative study herein witnesses a close connection between the teachings and ideas of the Scottish Enlightenment thinkers and the constitutional theories of The Federalist Papers.The Scottish Enlightenment thoughts served as an essential rationale for Publius’s elaboration on his constitutional proposals and therefore supplied an invaluable intellectual resource for the creation of American constitutionalism.更多还原