清季「世紀末思潮」之探微

Discerning the Fin de Siècle in Late Qing China

本文考察叔本華、哈德曼、尼采在王國維、章太炎、魯迅三人思想之呈現。首先澄清三位西方思想家在世紀末思潮裡的位列。叔本華為時最早，仍有康德哲學的遺風，但其宇宙泛慾力論與自然主義頗合拍，待世紀末的象徵主義挑戰自然主義，叔本華超然物外的審美觀又變成象徵主義的宣言；王國維則取其審美觀以及人生悲觀論。叔本華的門徒哈德曼已達爾文化，將乃師的宇宙泛慾力論演繹為一個進化過程，其終極目的為人類的集體涅槃；此悲觀論為章太炎的「善亦進化、惡亦進化」論所發揮。尼采乃「世紀末思潮」的集大成，叔本華的泛慾力論到了他手裡成為為超人的權力意志，而進化論亦被抬升至哲學的高度：進化不是過程，優與劣體現在每一個時代的「超人」與「末人」的對立上，由此衍生對整個十九世紀物質進步與民主化的批判，責其斲喪靈明與泯滅個性；此成為魯迅思想的根源，在當時工業化與民主化雙雙不發達的中國，魯迅的文風乃世紀末思潮耳。世紀末思潮在同代的日本也找得到對應，如高山樗牛與姉崎正治等人；中、日兩個「世紀末思潮」展現直接串聯的痕跡。

The article discusses the fin de siècle thinking of Schopenhauer, Eduard von Hartmann, and Nietzsche in late Qing China. Schopenhauer's theory of blind life force catered to both naturalists and symbolists, and found a sympathetic ear in Wang Guowei, who founded the first ＂modernist＂ aesthetics in China. The article also revises the accepted view of the alleged disjunction in Wang's intellectual career. Wang was among the earliest translators of experimental psychology in China. Yet both Kant and Wilhelm Wundt averred that the higher activities of the mind can only be studied through cultural history, and that was the path Wang pursued. Hartmann's doctrine of human evolution toward mankind's collective nirvana finds echoes in Zhang Taiyan's ＂co-evolution＂ thesis. Nietzsche deems the Superman a remedy for the decadent nineteenth century, a view echoed in China by Lu Xun out of context. The impact of fin de siècle thinking was mediated by Japan.