现代认同:在自我中寻找人的本性

衡量消费社会中人的价值,在于看其手中握有的支配权利的大小,这是个人价值实现的模式———几个世纪以来,这种模式一直被视为文明社会的中心内容。那么,这一理念的深层含义是什么?它与提高限制无止境消费行为的能力又有什么联系?这能够在“现代认同”这一概念中找到答案。现代认同的起点就是内在自我的起点。现代人必须处于自觉自为的自主程度才能找到自我,而这种自主程度归根到底需要独立的私人性。现代认同并不关乎能否与宇宙哲学的秩序相匹配,而在乎能否回应自我内心的需要和欲望。能否实现这些最终关乎自我个人的情感生活,这是构成幸福生活的关键因素———幸福生活就是根据情感上的满足程度来确定的。

Modern Identity : Finding the Human Nature in the Inner Self

What we value in a consumer society is that it has put at everyone's disposal a mode of fulfilment which has been seen as central in our civilization for a couple of centuries .What lies behind this ideal ,and how is it connected with lifting the limits to endless accumulation ? We can find the answer to this in the concept of modern identity. The horizon of identity is an inner horizon.Modern man must be to this degree autonomous so that he can find himself, and autonomy for this end requires privacy. For it is not a matter of matching a cosmic pattern , but of answering one's inner needs and desires . Whether they are fulfilled or not is ultimately a matter of one's emotional life, and this therefore becomes a crucial factor in the good life . The good life is defined in terms of emotional satisfaction .