論崔斯坦之於哲學之緘默

Tristan’s Silence, Philosophically

音樂對華格納（Richard Wagner）而言，是一種毋須文字即能傳達意念的語言形式，其具有比口語或書寫形式更重要及形而上（metaphysical）的價值。華格納認為，音樂的目的在於觸發自然情感，或是那些被文字語言所控制阻攔的真實感情。偉大的藝術必須喚醒這種真實感情；這種感情能使人通往比現象世界更加真實的世界。叔本華論意志世界（真）與表象世界（假）之間的差異，正好提供華格納的音樂理論一個哲學的／形而上的背景。因此他認為，言詞、文本、故事等歌劇的組成諸要素應結合成使人能浸淫在曲調世界的程度，以支持歌劇的形而上使命，亦即喚起人類真實的感情。然而，相對於虛假的社會世界，真實的世界亦實際存在。只是，真實世界是無法言喻的，唯有透過音樂才能感受這種真實的情感。華格納相信，若要能喚起觀眾這種真實的情感，歌劇則必須將戲劇製作納入考量。其巨作《崔斯坦與伊索德》正是試圖達到這個境界，以「愛」作為主要的題材和他形而上／歌劇探索的目標。《崔斯坦與伊索德》的故事情節和藝術概念，旨在傳達那真實的、無法言喻的世界，藉由歌劇的主題—「愛」，作為理解形而上概念為存在事件的媒介，進而作為通往真實世界的通路。因此《崔斯坦與伊索德》的故事必須一讀再讀。甚至，華格納主張，就追求終極的目標而言，藝術家往往比哲學家更擅長傳達—以及領悟—緘默不語的意涵。因此，崇高的形而上目標可能是非常個人的關注—誠如華格納當時的親密盟友尼采所熟知。這篇論文即是要證明尼采的看法是正確的。

Music for Richard Wagner is a form of language that transports contents without words, being of a higher—metaphysical—dignity than its spoken or written form. Music, he thought, aims at evoking natural feelings, true feelings that had been blocked as a result of domination of the language of the word. According to Wagner, great art has to evoke such true feelings, which would open gates to a truer world than our phenomenal one. Schopenhauer’s distinction between the (true) world of the will and the (deceptive) world of representation provides the philosophical/metaphysical background for his theory of music. Consequently, words, the text, the story, necessary ingredients of operas, should be designed so as to immerse in the world of tunes which would support the metaphysical mission of operas—evoking true feelings. But there is also a true world, as opposed to the false one, the social one. The true world is ineffable; it is only accessible via true feelings thanks to music. Wagner believes that dramaturgical considerations have to be integrated into the concept of opera itself in order to evoke such true feelings for his audience. Tristan und Isolde is conceived as a work of art that tries to achieve exactly this, with “love” as its main subject and object of his metaphysical and dramaturgical quest. Tristan, in its unfolding story and artistic concept, is supposed to express the true, ineffable world and, at the same time, it even offers physical access to it by using the opera’s main topic—love—as a medium of staging metaphysical insights as an existential event. The story of Tristan has to be (re-)read accordingly. Eventually, it is the artist who triumphs over the philosopher when it comes to expressing and realizing ineffable truths that come up whenever one pursues ultimate goals. However, noble goals could result from very personal concerns—as Nietzsche, Wagner’s close ally at one point, knew very well. This essay demonstrates that Nietzsche was right.