後現代社會「關懷倫理學」的意義與功能

The Meaning and Function of ‘the Ethics of Care’ in Postmodern Society

"「後現代」（postmodern）這個詞彙，在法國當代重要思想家李歐塔（Jean-Francois Lyotard, 1924－1998）的著作《後現代情境》（The Postmodern Condition, 1984）出版之後，變得流行起來；其特徵可以馬克思（Karl Marx, 1818－1883）的一句名言來表達：「一切堅固的東西都煙消雲散了」（All that is solid melts into air.），也如尼采（Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844－1900）所說的：「虛無主義就矗立在門前」（Nihilism stands at the door.）的景況。政治權威不再、科學真理受到質疑、宗教力量搖搖欲墜、個人生活支離破碎……，沒有明確的目的與價值，生活的不確定性、不安全感、焦慮虛無……等等現象撲天蓋地而來。如此一來，傳統規範倫理學已然動搖，本論文即在探討近來興起的關懷倫理學，在後現代社會的意義與功能。The term ‘postmodern’ came into popular usage after Jean-Francois Lyotard’s (1924-1998) The Postmodern Condition (1984) was published. The main characteristics of the postmodern society are as Karl Marx (1818-1883) said ‘all that is solid melts into air’ and as Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) announced that ‘Nihilism stands at the door.’ The political authority is distrusted, scientific truth is interrogated, religious strength is tottering, personal life is incoherent, and so on. Modern people feel the uncertainty of life, senses of insecurity, anxiety about nihility of existence… there is no clear purpose and value to pursue. Thus, the contents of normative ethics have changed. This thesis aims to investigate the meaning and function of ‘the ethics of care’ in contemporary society."