宗教理性、資本主義理性與人類理性－從韋伯的《基督新教倫理與資本主義精神》出發

在人類發展歷程中，宗教一直扮演著重要角色，但真正圓滿的宗教是要去其神秘化，並能開啟人類心靈理性。依德國社會學家韋伯的觀察，近代資本主義的興起和基督新教的制慾精神密切相關，韋伯認為宗教教義會影響人類的精神理念，甚至帶動整個物質經濟文明。不只西方學者韋伯，中國近代大儒梁漱溟也持相同觀點，認為儒家倫理的理性精神可以帶動中國走向近代化。但是資本主義經過幾百年的發展後卻引發了「文明倦怠症」，物質凌駕在精神之上，自私的算計重於倫理道德，讓大多數人對生活的意義茫然，甚至麻木不仁。基督新教原來的制慾精神和理性啟蒙已消失殆盡。人類畢生都在追求幸福，而幸福是物質與精神的平衡，若依宗教圓善的觀點就是德福一致的境界。當人類迷失在物慾漩渦、資本主義牢籠時，應該再去思維精神、道德如何平衡。人類自身有其理性，唯有透過無私的感情、通達的心理，才有清明安和之心，也才能自發的採取義務、道德的行動，並讓這些行動合法化，這也就是宗教倫理中最高階的「心志倫理」。本文認為資本主義理性從基督新教的制欲精神為起點，最後卻以工具理性為主軸，雖然帶來物質繁榮昌盛，卻喪失了道德和倫理，引起人類的災難，這都是緣於人類真正的價值和信仰喪失。吾人應該反思真正理性為何，而宗教教義部分也值得參照，因為真正圓滿的教義涵蓋了意志、情感、與認知三要素的完整，可以讓吾人面對外在世界時以整體人性做回應，不再只有認知、工具、利益。兼具物質與精神、利益與道德的生活才可以讓人類從一時炫目燦爛的物質文化，進入到開啟人類真正幸福的高度文明。

關鍵字

宗教；理性；資本主義；韋伯；儒家

並列摘要

Religion has played an important role in human history. The tenets of advanced religions are supposed to tend towards demystification and open our minds to rationality. According to the German sociologist Max Weber, the rise of modern capitalism has much to do with the Protestant asceticism. Weber is of the opinion that religious doctrines can shape people's ideas and thoughts so as to motivate a whole material civilization. Weber is not the only scholar who has come to this conclusion. Liang Shuming, a recent great modern Chinese scholar, holds the same view that the rational spirit inherent in Confucian ethics would be beneficial in promoting the modernization of China. Following several hundred years of development, capitalism has led to a syndrome of boredom with civilization, with the result that the material world has won over the spiritual one. Meanwhile the self-interested, calculating mind has overwhelmed morality, and this makes people feel lost or even numb towards the meaning of life. The original ascetic ideal of Protestantism and the reason of the Enlightenment have died away. People have always pursued happiness, which is a balance between matter and mind. Happiness, in terms of well-perfected religion, is the agreement of virtue and merit. While people are lost in material pleasures and enslaved in the cage of capitalism, they have to reconsider how the spiritual and moral life might provide a balance against the physical world. Reason has always been part of human nature. Only generous affections and a grateful mind can assuage people's inner life and make them spontaneously conscious of their moral duty. That is why 'Gesinnungsvernunft' is capable of the highest level of religious ethics. In this way, mankind can reshape a culture where matter and mind agree with each other and where true well-being is desirable.