盲目的愛？啟明的愛？─Iris Murdoch論愛與看見

有一個常見觀點認為，愛情是種不為人所控制的非理性情感，使人為之目盲，以個人一廂情願的看法扭曲愛戀對象的真實面貌。但另一方面，卻又有無數的詩人、小說家與思想家們為文歌頌愛情的偉大。尤其，當代英國哲學家兼小說家Iris Murdoch（1919-1999）主張，真正的愛能帶來無私的眼光，幫助我們看見，使我們對他人有最為真實的認識。本文試圖探究Murdoch如何在其獨特的倫理學理論中討論愛與看見的關係。首先，筆者將概述Murdoch採取柏拉圖式進路所建構出來的觀視倫理學理論。其次將分析Murdoch如何援用柏拉圖的Eros概念作為人類求善的動能並促成靈魂的能量轉向，以提昇道德觀視的整體品質，並以此論證愛乃有助於我們對實在的認識，能在美善的引導下，為我們的靈魂開啟智慧的眼光。最後，筆者將闡述Murdoch這種啟明之愛的重要內涵：它要求我們放下我執，以耐心且寬容的溫柔目光注視被愛者作為一個獨立的個體，並且運用同情推擴的想像力，對他人有更多更清楚的看見。

關鍵字

Iris Murdoch ；柏拉圖；愛；看見；道德

並列摘要

Love has commonly been regarded as an affection that is far from rational and cannot be commanded. Love blinds us and makes us deceive ourselves and distort our perception of the beloved. On the other hand, numerous poets, novelists and thinkers eulogize love. Particularly, the British philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch (1919-1999) claims that love may be enlightening and prompt a selfless vision, which helps us to see another person more clearly.This paper attempts to investigate the relationship between love and vision in Murdoch's ethics. First, I shall delineate Murdoch's ethics of vision, in which morality is regarded as the moral agent's vision of and response to the reality. Second, I will argue that Murdoch employs Plato's concept of Eros as the source of motivation for the search for the good and that love of this sort will enhance our perception of reality. In the end of this paper, I shall elaborate Murdoch's theory concerning the exercise of that enlightening love as a moral discipline of un-selfing and imagination.