論中國大陸《現代美學體系》中的「審美感興」觀

Critique of the notion “Aesthetics Ganxing” in the “Modem Aesthetics System” suggested in Contemporary China

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

八十年代末期，中國大陸一批青年美學家撰寫了《現代美學體系》，為一部採用新的理論架構，探究美學原理的教科書籍。該書旨在融貫中西古今的美學，兼顧理論與應用，不失為一部宏觀及具規模之作。

本文對該美學體系中的核心概念——「審美感興」作出了分析及檢討，特別注意此美學概念中蘊涵的主客體關係，如何反映了當代中國美學的發展。從「審美感興」之內容分析所見，建議中的新美學，不主張對主體的建構活動有所偏頗，強調審美想象離不開知覺客體的性質，謂二者處於一種「同構對應」的關係當中，有別於西方傳統美學的主客對立觀。細察之下，作者們主要是採用了西方近代美學中的移情説、現象學中的「意向性結構」及中國古典美學的形上意境等來構想 「審美感興」；此等理論資源，亦構成了《現代美學體系》的知識論大概。最後，作者們又試圖以馬克思主義中的實踐美學觀念來總其大成。

本文在介紹及分析「審美感興」的理論成素之餘，亦展示了中國當代美學界對審美中主客關係的爭論史，以見出建議中的「審美感興」對過往派别的主張，作出了怎樣的修正或發展。本文最後指出，該觀念在不同的美學立場間搖盪折衷，產生了不少理論困難，實有需要整理其中的差異和矛盾。

It is said that aestheticians, art critics and philosophers today are yearning for some kind of ‘salvation’ for contemporary art. They would like to re-establish foundations or authentic roots for art, which is basically the aesthetic experience, so as to enable resistance to the trend of contemporary discourse, i.e. pure discursive reflection and intertextuality. This reference to ontologically based norms, which is claimed to be the central notion of contemporary aesthetics today, may be for different reasons, is shared among young aestheticians in Communist China.

In 1988, a modern aesthetics system was published in a book form in China, entitled by the same name, Modern Aesthetics System. （《現代美學體系》）It is edited by Prof. Ye Lang, the head of Philosophy department of Peking University, and is written collectively by a group of 9 young aestheticians. The book aims to become a basic textbook for colleges and readers nationwide introducing aesthetic theories using new theoretical models. “Aesthetic Ganxing”, a new term introduced in the book, is suggested to replace the old word ‘aesthetic experience’ in aesthetics and has become the central core of study in this modern aesthetics system in China. This article is both an introduction and a critical analysis of the notion to examine how new the notion is and towards what direction has it been developed into.

The article is composed of the following six sections:
I) Introduction: introducing the significance of the notion of “aesthetic ganxing"
II) A content analysis of the notion of “aesthetic ganxing"
III) An examination of the epistemology of the “Modem Aesthetics System”
IV) A historical reflection on the debates of the origin of beauty in Marxist China
V) A critique of the subject-object relation in the notion of “aesthetic ganxing"
VI) Conclusion

After a detailed content analysis of the notion, the epistemology behind the notion is examined. The notion is also compared with the discussion of aesthetic experience in the modern history of aesthetics in China after which it is evaluated and its theoretical problems are investigated and presented for consideration.