由疏離到關懷～梭羅思想的實用與利他性

一八四五～七年，美國文學家亨利大衛梭羅(Henry D. Thoreau)擇居華爾騰(Walden)湖畔，展開個人自發性道德之「自我教化」(self-educated)生活實驗；在兩年兩個月的「簡約生活」(life of simplicity)裏，梭羅與自然獨處，力主「自然」與「文明」之不相容。待一八六一年《散步》一文，我們發現已經重返現實社會的梭羅，卻提出兼容自然與文明之「邊界生活」(border life)論調，加上兩次緬因森林之旅與印地安人相處的啟發，益加證驗個人能與文明世界交流，不傷其道德教化；待一八六二年，《沒有原則的生活》發表，全文只見梭羅談論工作的價值，個人俾不陷文明之「經濟奴隸」，梭羅已有如現代生活的道德說教者了！梭羅文學思想中，「自然」是他「社會疏離」思想啟發的源頭，「改革、務實」才是他內在核心的一貫動力。因此，梭羅自「自我教化」至湖濱「簡約生活」，最終至「邊界生活」，從「區隔」以至「兼容」文明與自然的歷程，海曼(Stanley E. Hyman)詮釋此一過程是「從自我(egocentric)到社群(socicentric)的動態演進」，因此，「湖濱獨居是一個改變歷程中的象徵行動，是從個人的孤立過渡到集體社會認同；從抽象的哲學上看，是從一個柏拉圖式的烏托邦，再到一培根(F. Bacon)式的利他主義者」。不但顯示他積極、務實的人格與他回歸社會之必然，也重新詮釋他作品所欲傳遞改革、求變的真實思想，翻轉梭羅以往予人幽然、隱世的超現實印象。

關鍵字

自我教化；簡約生活；邊界生活；超越主義

並列摘要

Being misunderstood as passive, superidealist, and an image of isolated hermit, Henry D. Thoreau is a deeper and complicated writer than we have been told, whose works are essentially dynamic than static, contemplating a revolutionary change rather than a methodology to escape the real world.To know Thoreau's thoughts and purposes, this paper will trace Thoreau's works to unfold an individual self-reform map of his life by 3 stages, telling Thoreau's flexibility and compromise to modern capitalist life only to find new interpretation of his personality from a passive, isolated, and humble hermit to a reformer of passion, change, anti-tradition which truly reflect why Thoreau was born a protestant and best the speaker of truth.Thoreau experimented a ”self-educated” life in 1845~47 in Walden Pond. In his ”own little world”, Thoreau lived a ”Life of Simplicity” to fulfill a sort of Utopian days-”not how much we get, but how less to be satisfied.”In a lecture ”Walking” in 1861, Thoreau first explored the nature of the ”border life”, a life in which Thoreau admits the hyperbole of the simple life and made Nature and Civilization compatible.In ”Life Without Principle”, delivering in 1862, Thoreau merely preached the fundamental ethical question of how life be lived and asserted as his principal task the close scrutiny of the value of work.This paper will focus on Walden and Walking with reference to Thoreau's other writings, such as, Journal, The Service, Paradeise to Regained, Reform and The Reformers, The Maine Woods, Life without Principle, Thoreau by R. Emerson, Slavery in Massachusetts, Joural, Civil Disobedience, etc., which truly reflect a practical face of Thoreau.