小事裡的民主──以霍耐特「民主生活形式」重詮阿多諾《最小道德》

Democracy in Tiny Things: Reading Minima Moralia through Axel Honneth’s concept of the Democratic Form of Life

阿多諾《最小道德》中的著名箴言：「在錯誤的生活裡，沒有對的人生」被認為傳達了阿多諾哲學的根本立場，亦即，當代資本主義社會已經全面毀損了個人尋求理想生活的可能。本文藉著分析阿多諾論及民主的文本以及霍耐特對社會生活之民主意義的論述指出，阿多諾一向以來被忽略的關於「對的社會生活」的構想實為一種實現「社會自由」的「民主生活形式」。在此脈絡下，《最小道德》一書在兩個意義上展現為一種強化「民主生活形式」的實踐：一方面，其使人見到民主政治在私人領域中的最微小的根源及其所受到之挑戰，另一方面，這部高度個人化的哲學散文本身即展現了一個理性社會成員「最小」的公民實踐。

Minima Moralia is one of the most widely read of Theodor W. Adorno’s works. Written in eloquent prose, the collection of aphorisms reveals how capitalism damages individual lives in subtle but pervasive ways. The most famous aphorism from the book ― “There is no right life within the wrong” ― has been understood as a radical critique of modern society as a whole. In this paper I will argue that the negativistic interpretations are wrong, since they fail to perceive Adorno’s critique as part of his critique of “formal democracy”. Drawing on Axel Honneth’s theory of the “democratic form of life” and “social freedom”, I will show that the Minima Moralia, including the aphorism mentioned above should be understood as a contribution to strengthening democracy in the daily life of citizens.