西方人本主義倫理與基督教思想

在西方，「humanism」一字有岐義，它用來表達兩個交互重疊但又方向不同的思潮；在本文筆者以「人文主義」及「人本主義」來對它們作出區分。這兩個思潮相同之處都是以人的經驗及歷史的經歷為反思的開始點，以人的價值與尊嚴為基本價值。至於這二者的相異之處，「人本主義」思潮提倡一種以人爲中心的世界觀及人生觀，以人自身為對象的信仰；「主義」色彩較濃，刻意反對基督宗教。「人文主義」思潮則是一種寬廣的思想傾向，在某些共同關心人的問題上甚至表現為一場持續不斷的辯論；這種思潮可以與基督宗教思想有共通之處。本文先後從三個論旨來解說「人本主義」思潮（人是萬物的尺度、對人性的自信與對歷史的樂觀、人的自由及自主），並且在每一論旨提出後，分別以美國神學家萊因霍爾德•尼布爾的思想作對比回應，及以一些心胸廣闊及深思熟慮的人文主義思想家說明他們為何也不會認同此三個論旨。簡言之，與基督宗教思想衝突的只是「人本主義」思潮，某些「人文主義」思潮的思想傾向卻與基督宗教思想非常一致，可相互發明。

The word ”humanism” is ambiguous in western intellectual history. It can be used to refer to two overlapping and yet diverging streams of thought. The present writer uses two Chinese phrases to refer to these two streams of thought. In spite of the common starting point of human experience and the common concern about human dignity, the more narrow-minded stream of humanism asserts an anthropocentric worldview and even a religion of humanity to replace the Christian faith. The more open-minded stream of humanism is less doctrinaire and allows for internal debate on many issues relating to humanity; some humanistic thought of this stream actually shares some Christian views. In this paper the present writer uses three humanistic theses to expound the thought of the narrow-minded humanism, viz., ”human being is a measure for all things,” ”confidence in human nature and optimism in history,” and ”human freedom and autonomy.” After the exposition of each humanistic thesis the present writer uses the thought of Reinhold Niebuhr to provide a Christian contrasting thesis. The thought of some broadminded humanists will also be used to illustrate how they will not endorse these three theses. In short, the Christian faith is not incompatible with humanism per se, but only incompatible with the more narrow-minded and doctrinaire stream.