现代性的缺憾—— 读鲍曼的《现代性和大屠杀》

现代性意味着人类各个方面的进步,它包括科学、道德、艺术等领域全面的理性化的建设。现代性在实现人类可能性方面的潜能远远超过以往任何文明,但它同时也带来各种挑战和危险。在大家沉醉于现代性的时候,鲍曼却深刻地指出了现代性的弊病。鲍曼认为,大屠杀不仅是犹太人历史上的一个悲惨事件,也并非德意志民族的一个反常事件,而是现代性本身的固有可能。科学的理性计算精神,社会管理的工程化趋势,技术的道德中立立场,正是现代性的这些本质要素使得大屠杀这样灭绝人性的悲剧成为设计者、执行者和受害者密切配合的社会集体行动。从极端的理性走向极端的非理性,看似悖谬,实则有着逻辑的必然性。而拯救之途在于:在任何情况下,个体都应该无条件地承担起自己的道德责任来。

The Discontent of Modernity: A Reading of Bauman's Modernity and the Holocaust

Modernity means the advancement of human beings in every sphere of life, including the rational construction of science, morality, art and so on. The potential of modernity to realize human possibilities has not only exceeded any previous form of civilization, but it also brings with it all kinds of change and danger. When people are indulged in modernity, Zygmunt Bauman incisively pointed the disadvantages of modernity, believing that holocaust was not only a miserable event in the history of Jews, and an abnormal behavior of the German nation,but also the possibility inherent in modernity. The scientific spirit of logical calculation, the engineering tendency of society management, as the essential element of modernity have made it possible for the inhuman tragedy like holocaust to become a collective action of architects, administers and victims. The change from extreme rationality to extreme irrationality, appearing to be paradoxical, is logically unavoidable. And the solution to the problem is: under whatever circumstances, every individual should assume unconditionally his/her own responsibility.