《西方興起之辯》（譯文節(jié)選）

Scholars discussed in this chapter believe the West rose mostly because of inherent qualities of its culture. In general， those who emphasize internal factors – as opposed to external ones， like climate， geography， or interactions with other peoples – tend to emphasize cultural values and beliefs， in particular those stemming from the Christian religion， which for centuries formed the core of Europes value system. Even historians who give the most explanatory weight to institutions or technology in answering the “how” question， typically resort to cultural underpinnings when trying to address the “why” question.

Christian Europe： uniquely dynamic （Christopher Dawson） In a series of writings beginning in 1922 and culminating with his Religion and the Rise of Western Culture （1950）， Christopher Dawson traced the rise of the West to medieval Europe when， in his interpretation， the “barbarian” cult of heroism and ideal of aggression fused with the Christian cult of saintliness and ideal of self-renunciation. The elements of this dualism struggled for mastery not merely within society but within peoples heart and conscience， creating conditions of extraordinary dynamism， constant soul-searching and self-criticism， and ultimately world-changing innovation. The West rose， according to Dawson， for distinctive cultural reasons.

Christopher Dawson （1889–1970） spent his early years in Hay Castle， Wales， his mothers ancestral home， an ancient ruin dating to the twelfth century. He later recalled： “What I felt most at Hay was the feeling of an antiquity – the immense age of everything， and in the house， the continuity of the present with the remote past.”1 When he was seven， his family moved to his fathers estate in Yorkshire. The family prayed together every morning， and both father and mother taught the precocious child a variety of subjects， both spiritual and secular. After a miserable experience at two private schools on account of poor health and athletic inability， Dawson had more success with a private tutor before entering Oxford University in 1908. He fell head over heels in love with a Catholic girl in 1909， converted to Catholicism in 1914， and married her two years later. After brief stints in the law before， and in military intelligence， during World War I， he settled into a life of independent research， freelance writing， and occasional university teaching.

Extremely learned in both the classics and religious subjects but also in sociology， history， and economics， Dawson early on vowed to devote his life to understanding and explaining how cultures flourish and deteriorate. Using an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach， he found in each societys religious life the key to understanding its successes and failings， its rising and declining. He conceived of human history as unfolding in stages across Eurasia over several thousand years beginning with the emergence from 4500 to 2700 BC of isolated river-valley civilizations – in Egypt， Mesopotamia， northern India， and northern China. These societies came to be dominated by priestly castes， centralized economies， and theocratic god-kings. In the next age， from 2700 to 1100 BC， intercultural diffusion and mutual influencing flourished across Afro- Eurasia， as dozens of new societies emerged along the margins of the core areas of civilization. The great classical cultures and most of the world religions appeared next – the third age – from the Athenian city-states and the Roman Empire in the west to the Gupta Empire and Imperial China in the east. In the fourth age， according to Dawson， great cultures flourished across Eurasia –medieval Christendom， Byzantium， the Islamic civilization， and Tang and Song China. Devastating invasions in the 1200s–1400s， however， stunted the development of China， Persia， India， and the Near East， leaving only Western Europe unscathed.

西方興起之辯（第一章）

西方的奇跡

本章提及的學者認為，西方興起的原因是其內(nèi)在的文化特質(zhì)。重視內(nèi)因的人通常否定環(huán)境，地理，人類的互動等外因的影響，特別關(guān)注源于基督教的文化價值觀和信仰，幾個世紀以來這些價值觀和信仰最后成為了歐洲價值體系的核心。一些歷史學家用制度或科技作為原因解答“如何興起”的問題，然而在試圖解決“為什么興起”的問題時基本上會借助文化作為支撐。

信奉基督教的歐洲：格外活躍（克里斯托弗·道森）1922年，克里斯托弗·道森的各類作品開始出現(xiàn)，1950年以《宗教和西方文化興起》而告終。他認為，西方興起可追溯到歐洲中世紀，那時英雄主義殘暴的行為和侵略主義的理想融合了基督教圣潔的風尚和自我犧牲精神；這種二元結(jié)構(gòu)的基本觀念不僅在社會內(nèi)部爭奪控制權(quán)，甚至深入到人的內(nèi)心和意識中，結(jié)果社會變得異?；钴S，人們不斷自省，自我批判，出現(xiàn)了顛覆世界的創(chuàng)新活動。道森認為西方興起受特定文化因素的影響。

克里斯托弗·道森（1889-1970）早年生活在他母親的祖屋威爾士干草城堡，這座古跡可以追溯到十二世紀。據(jù)他后來回憶，“在干草城堡感受最深的就是古老——一切都經(jīng)歷了無窮的歲月，走進屋子，可以感受到遠古到現(xiàn)在從未停滯。七歲時，全家人搬到了他父親在約克郡的莊園。每天早上全家人一起祈禱，而且父母親傳會教授這個聰慧的孩子各科的知識，宗教的和世俗的皆有。因為身體差，缺乏運動才能，在兩所私立學校都經(jīng)歷了不幸，后來在1908年進入牛津大學前，道森在一位家庭教師的指導(dǎo)下小有成就。1909年他瘋狂地愛上了一個信天主教的姑娘，于是在1914年轉(zhuǎn)而信奉天主教，兩年后與她結(jié)婚。由于短暫地學習了法律和軍事情報學，在一戰(zhàn)期間，他習慣性的生活就是，做歷史研究，自由寫作，偶爾去大學教課。

道森不僅精通典籍和宗教，還有社會學，歷史學和經(jīng)濟學，早年就立志傾盡一生了解并說明文明興衰交替的方式。通過運用跨學科和跨文化的方法，發(fā)現(xiàn)了每個社會的宗教生活是了解社會成敗和興衰更替的關(guān)鍵。

他把人類歷史看作是幾千年來歐亞大陸的階段性演變；首先，從公元前4500年到前2700年，埃及，美索不達米，印度北部和中國北部出現(xiàn)了孤立河谷文明。隨后祭祀階層，集權(quán)經(jīng)濟和神權(quán)至上的國王逐漸在這些社會中占主導(dǎo)地位；下個時代從公元前2700到前1100年，在文明核心區(qū)的邊緣出現(xiàn)了幾十個新社會， 與此同時，亞非大陸不同文化傳播迅速，互相影響也增強。隨后從西方的雅典城邦和羅馬帝國到東方的笈多王朝和帝制中國出現(xiàn)了偉大的古典文化和大多數(shù)世界宗教，即歷史的第三世紀。道森認為，在第四世紀歐亞大陸上的中世紀基督教世界，拜占庭和伊斯蘭文明以及中國唐朝和宋朝的偉大文明繁榮發(fā)展。然而13世紀到15世紀之間毀滅性的侵略阻止了中國，波斯，印度和近東的發(fā)展進程，只剩下西歐毫發(fā)未損。

【作者簡介】潘冰新（1993.2- ），女，漢族，河南開封人，碩士研究生在讀，現(xiàn)就讀于首都師范大學外國語學院，英語筆譯專業(yè)。