涂尔干:道德本原与现代潮流——以自杀类型为线索

与通常的看法不同,涂尔干的《自杀论》并不是一部通过统计分析达到实证性结论的“科学”著作,在《自杀论》的四种自杀类型背后,有着关于现代社会的完整的病理学分析。本文尝试从自杀类型入手,联系涂尔干有关道德教育与原始宗教的著作,揭示涂尔干有关人性与社会之健康道德本原的思想;另一方面则从文明史的角度出发,结合涂尔干关于法国中等教育史以及政治和法律史的讨论,深入发掘涂尔干对西欧现代社会之源起和演进的思考。在涂尔干看来,正是现代社会潮流的极端化发展,导致社会的种种危机与病态。要克服现代社会的这一危险倾向,必须回到历史来考察现代潮流的源起和演进,才能在变化的现实条件下接续传统,重建人心和道德秩序。

Durkheim's Moral Principle and Modern Currents through His Four Types of Suicide

Le Suicide is commonly regarded as a "scientifically" positive work through the application of statistical analysis. However, this paper proposes that Durkheim's suicide study is also a systematic analysis of the pathology of modern society. By examining the pathology of the types of suicide, along with Durkheim's writings on moral education and primitive religion, the study tries to uncover his thoughts on the morality of human beings and society. The four types of suicide are the manifestation of social moral illnesses. Egoistic and anomie suicides are typical maladies of modern society. The former stems from the absence of group attachment, the latter from the loss of social norms and discipline. Acute altruism and fatalistic suicide are extreme reactions to egoistic suicide and anomie suicide. The former turns the lack of group attachment into excessive fantasy and fanaticism. The latter moves from anomie to zealous commitment on norms and discipline. The paper also touches Durkheim's thoughts on the origin and evolution of Western European modern society by looking into his discussions on French middle school education and French political and legal history. In his view, the morbid condition of French society at the time was the result of its inability to meet the challenge of social structural change of the Middle Age. For not being able to create a reasonable balanced social structure under the new historical conditions, the French society faced the dangerous development of modern social currents. Durkheim suggested the three blocks of moral education, corporate bodies and civic morality as a means of social science for building a new balanced structure for future society.