康德的伦理学与挑战

康德的伦理学与挑战 - Maria von Herbert的案子这是发生在Kant(康德)和他的一个女崇拜者之间的故事。

这个女士名叫Maria von Herbert，热衷于学习Kant的哲学。

这篇东西收集的是Kant和她的几封通信。

Maria和Kant互相并不认识，Maria只是一个默默无闻的崇拜Kant的读者而已。

可是她突然选择了给Kant写信，为什么呢？故事是这样子的。

她曾经有过一个情人，并且失身于他。

然而，那个男子辜负了她的信任。

之后，她又爱上了一名男子，然而却一直犹豫是不是要把自己这段历史告诉对方。

她十分犹豫，因为她并不想欺骗对方，但是一旦告知对方这个秘密，又会影响他们现在的爱情。

结果，她还是告诉了自己的情人，结果是--这个男子不爱她了。

她对此极其痛苦，感觉生命都没有了意义，希望结束自己的生命。

在这样的情况下，她想请Kant帮助她：为什么还要继续活下去呢？作为一个Kant的热心学习者，她对Kant的哲学思想都十分熟悉。

她特别指出，Kant的绝对命令等道义学都根本帮助不了她：她对自己的生命本身已经不再有兴趣。

之后，Kant给她回了一封信；一年之后，她又回了另一封信。

可是Kant再也没有回过信。

大约十年后，Maria结束了自己的生命。

Kant并没有能够帮助她。

这几篇通信为我们探讨了Kant主义的伦理道义学的一些根本问题。

我们可以看看Maria von Herbert和Kant的通信。

先是Maria von Herbert给Kant写了一封信:(1). To Kant, From Maria von Herbert, August 1791Great Kant,As a believer calls to his God, I call to you for help, for comfort, or for counsel to prep are me for death. Your writings prove that there is a future life. But as for this life, I have found no thing, nothing at all that could replace the good I have lost, for I loved someone who, in my eyes, encompassed within himself all that is worthwhile, so that I lived only for him, everything else wa s in comparison just rubbish, cheap trinkets. Well, I have offended this person, because of a long d rawn out lie, which I have now disclosed to him, though there was nothing unfavourable to my ch aracter in it, I had no vice in my life that needed hiding. The lie was enough though, and his love v anished. As an honourable man, he doesn't refuse me friendship. But that inner feeling that once, u nbidden, led us to each other, is no more - oh my heart splinters into a thousand pieces! If I hadn't read so much of your work I would certainly have put an end to my life. But the conclusion I had t o draw from your theory stops me - it is wrong for me to die because my life is tormented, instead I'm supposed to live because of my being. Now put yourself in my place, and either damn me or c omfort me. I've read the metaphysic of morals, and the categorical imperative, and it doesn't help a bit. My reason abandons me just when I need it. Answer me, I implore you - or you won't be actin g in accordance with your own imperative.My address is Maria Herbert of Klagenfurt, Carinthia, c are of the white lead factory, or perhaps you would rather send it via Reinhold because the mail is more reliable there.大意是，Maria告诉Kant自己遇到的问题。

她把自己埋藏着的一个秘密（后来我们知道，就是她过去自己的情史）告诉了她的现任情人。

显然她一直在犹豫是不是要把这个历史告诉对方，因为她认为隐瞒就等于欺骗、撒谎，这是不道德的。

因此她选择了把真相告诉对方。

但她不认为自己过去在这件事上做了任何错事，也没有必要隐瞒，"there was nothing unfavourable to my character in it, I had no vice in my life that needed hiding."。

她担心的只是失去对方的爱情。

结果，果然，当Maria把秘密告诉了对方，他对她的爱就消失了。

现在，Maria心灰意冷，觉得生活再没有意义。

她读了Kant的道德形而上学、绝对命令，但认为它们帮不了她。

她希望Kant能设身处地的想想她的情况，谴责她，或者安慰她都行。

（2）. To Maria von Herbert, Spring 1792 (Kant's rough draft)Your deeply felt letter comes from a heart that must have been created for the sake of virtue and h onesty, since it is so receptive to instruction in those qualities. I must do as you ask, namely, put m yself in your place, and prescribe for you a pure moral sedative. I do not know whether your relati onship is one of marriage or friendship, but it makes no significant difference. For love, be it for o ne's spouse or for a friend, presupposes the same mutual esteem for the other's character, without which it is no more than perishable, sensual delusion. A love like that wants to communicate itself completely, and it expects of its respondent a similar sharing of heart, unweakened by distrustful reticence. That is what the ideal of friendship demands. But there is something in us which puts li mits on such frankness, some obstacle to this mutual outpouring of the heart, which makes one kee p some part of one's thoughts locked within oneself, even when one is most intimate. The sages of old complained of this secret distrust - 'My dear friends, there is no such thing as a friend!'We can't expect frankness of people, since everyone fears that to reveal himself completely would be to ma ke himself despised by others. But this lack of frankness, this reticence, is still very different from dishonesty. What the honest but reticent man says is true, but not the whole truth. What the dishon est man says is something he knows to be false. Such an assertion is called, in the theory of virtue, a lie. It may be harmless, but it is not on that account innocent. It is a serious violation of a duty to oneself; it subverts the dignity of humanity in our own person, and attacks the roots of our thinkin g. As you see, you have sought counsel from a physician who is no flatterer. I speak for your belov ed and present him with arguments that justify his having wavered in his affection for you. Ask yo urself whether you reproach yourself for the imprudence of confessing, or for the immorality intri nsic to the lie. If the former, then you regret having done your duty. And why? Because it has resul ted in the loss of your friend's confidence. This regret is not motivated by anything moral, since it is produced by an awareness not of the act itself, but of its consequences. But if your reproach is g rounded in a moral judgment of your behaviour, it would be a poor moral physician who would ad vise you to cast it from your mind.When your change in attitude has been revealed to your beloved, only time will be needed to quen ch, little by little, the traces of his justified indignation, and to transform his coldness into a more f irmly grounded love. If this doesn't happen, then the earlier warmth of his affection was more physical than moral, and would have disappeared anyway - a misfortune which we often encounte r in life, and when we do, must meet with composure. For the value of life, insofar as it consists of the enjoyment we get from people, is vastly overrated.Here then, my dear friend, you find the cust omary divisions of a sermon: instruction, penalty and comfort. Devote yourself to the first two; wh en they have had their effect, comfort will be found by itself.Kant的回信大意如此：他讲了一大堆十分抽象的道德伦理。