丹尼爾．笛福論風俗改革運動及其改進之道

Daniel Defoe's Proposals on the Reformation of Manners and Their Intellectual Context

本文將探討日後以小說家聞名的政論作家丹尼爾．笛福（Daniel Defoe）對於十八世紀初英格蘭風俗改革運動的評價及所提出的改進建議。本文第一部分介紹風俗改革運動的緣起與經過，第二部分探討笛福對於當時英格蘭社會的風俗敗壞，尤其是酗酒、娼妓以及瀆神言論等現象的理解。第三部分則是討論笛福的風俗改革理念與當時的運動領導者不同之處，並說明他如何解釋改革推動遭遇瓶頸的原因。最終，本文將指出笛福是從其人性觀出發，提出了他認為最有效的風俗改革之道。笛福指出要改進當時民眾酗酒與口出穢言的問題，必須要先正視人性的腐敗方能對症下藥，因此便認為糾正腐敗慟感的最佳方式不是一味地禁絕，而是要設法操縱其他的慟感來加以抗衡。因此，人性中的自愛既然無法根除，社會和政治的精英們便必須利用民眾喜好模仿上層人士的虛榮心，先從上層人士開始進行風俗改革，如此一來民眾便能不知不覺地改善自身行為。要言之，笛福相信領導階層應該要以身作則，而風俗改革運動成功的關鍵便在於以堅定基督教信仰等方式來預防領導者的墮落，使領導者成為一般民眾的模範。本文表明，笛福的方法既來自於他對人性的看法，也來自於他認為透過有效機制的設計，才能引導其他的慟感，成功地對抗導致風俗敗壞的腐敗慟感。

This paper deals with Defoe's involvement with the movement of the Reformation of Manners at the turn of the eighteenth-century. It demonstrates that Defoe proposed solutions to the problems of alcoholism and swearing in the England of his age, on the basis of his view of the corruption of human nature. Furthermore, this paper argues that Defoe's ideas on how to correct corrupt passions are to manipulate other passions. These passions are so deeply rooted that they can never be removed. Instead of resorting to abstinence, Defoe proposes a practical solution of balancing passions with other passions. Thus, Defoe shows that even though self-love and pride are impossible to eradicate, it was viable for the social and political elites to design a proper mechanism for the public to satisfy their vanity and meanwhile unintentionally improve their behavior. He believed that the flaws of the English legal system were mainly attributable to officials in the upper ranks not leading by example. Defoe also condemned laws that were applied with unequal force, as when a magistrate would send a poor man to the stocks for immorality, but would never impose the same punishment on nobles and gentlemen. He argued that only when gentlemen and the clergy began to reform themselves could the corrupt manners of society be arrested. The paper shows that Defoe's approaches are derived from both his view of human nature and his ideas on how to correct corrupt passions by manipulating other passions.