尋找經典：以古希臘為例

Identifying A Classic: The Example of Ancient Greece

對過去的研究毫無疑問必須受限於當下的視野。歷史學家不論是否有所自覺，因為已受歷史的制約，因此不可能成為絕對客觀的紀實者。有人或可以依此認知，嘗試排除個人所處世界的偏見，將過去的文化視為「他者」，但是最終的敘述不免受制於所參考資料的術語，以及表述時所用的語言。這樣的認知雖然使得我們無法「宛若親臨」般暸解過去，但並不會傷害我們對於過去文化的研究與欣賞。但是近來另一新興的學派，建構派則影響甚鉅，因為此派學者認為我們對於過去事物的知識乃是由我們對過去的研究所建構出來的。他們認為一切事物，包括文本，都是隨著探究者的假設與研究過程而變動，而這些探究者又是受到自身所處社會所能提供視野的制約。這種觀點讓歷史研究充其量僅能是個人聰明的運用，甚至可能完全徒勞無功。本篇論文嘗試要對抗這種觀點，甚至證明其為誤謬。過去文化的有些元素是極其顯而易見，且經久不變的。我認為由足夠的事實讓我們可以相信這些元素具體存在。首先，它們都是根基於人性基本的關懷，是不受時間影響的；其次，這些元素因為在其所處的時代，已經有精彩的展現，因此本身即足以令人景仰。此二種特質帶來第三種：這些元素吸引我們去對其更加認識，且利用所得的知識來暸解當下。雖然我所舉的例子是希臘，我將提出這些特質普遍存在於眾文化的經典中的觀點。

That the study of the past is subject to the perspective of the present is, for most, beyond dispute. Historians can not be impartial recorders since they are conditioned, if only unconsciously, by the flow of history itself. One can attempt to recognize and set aside opinions of one's own world, understanding earlier cultures as 'other'. Yet, even the terms of reference and the language in which they are expressed condition the resulting narrative. Such recognition, though limiting an ability to understand the past 'wie es eigentlich gewesen' does not imperal study and appreciation of earlier cultures. However, a more recent tenet does: in the eyes of constructivists, those who study the past construct the very objects of their knowledge. Objects, even texts, are in flux according to their relation to the assumption and procedures of the investigators and their societies who see what they are conditioned to see. This view renders study of the past at best an exercise in ingenuity or even fruitless. My attempt is to undercut-perhaps even disprove-this positon. Certain elements from past cultures are extraordinarily ubiquitous and lasting through vast sweeps of time. I believe that there are grounds for trusting the concreteness of such elements. First since they are rooted in elemental human concerns, they are timeless. Second, they are so brilliantly demonstrated within their own time frame that they have become admirable in their own right. Both of these qualities produce a third: they provoke a desire to know more about them and to use this knowledge to understand and inform the present. While my example is ancient Greece, I propose that these qualities pertain to 'classics' in all cultures.