英文摘要 |
Li Ang is undoubtedly one of the significant figures among the female writers in Taiwan. First of all, she is good at dealing with controversial issues, especially regarding to the women's social positions and the relation between sex and morality. Besides, Li Ang, whose works are often translated into different languages, is perhaps the most internationally famous Taiwanese writer, and this also proves the importance position that Li Ang takes. This paper mainly explores the humanism concerns in her fiction, The Butcher's Wife, from the perspective of ethics, and I would develop my argument in terms of Bernard Williams' 'moral luck'. Williams points out that one of the philosophical tradition factions insists the target of life is pursing deep, calm, and self-sufficient happiness, but luck, on the contrary, is the enemy of happiness because it is considered as an uncontrollable moral force. He adopts Kant's theory of ethics to emphasize that the value of morality can by no means being influenced or even determined by luck. Moral values are absolute, rather than arbitrary. However, are moral values as important as we suppose? Could moral practices actually get rid of luck? Under the pressure of domestic violence, a woman, who chooses to kill her husband, is doomed to be accused of the burden of 'immorality'? Or can we examine it from other possible perspectives? In this paper, I would like to argue that Li Ang's The Butcher's Wife reveals a sense of humanism concerns. That is to say, in the moral predicament, an individual's choices largely depend on how he/she understand the meaning of life for him/herself. In other words, compared with blindly following the extrinsic, fixed moral standards, it is much more urgent to change one's life and make it more meaningful, and I think that it also helps to explain the final action and choice for person concerned. |