呂格爾=Paul Ricoeur; 《自我宛如他者》=Oneself as Another; 密契=Mystical; 倫理=Ethics; 詮釋=Hermeneutics
摘要
在今日密契主義的研究中，藉助法國哲學家呂格爾（Paul Ricoeur, 1913-2005）的觀點—「詮釋式」的理解方式—能解釋「密契者」的行動已具有倫理的面向。是以，本文將大題小作一下，先看到西方過往的倫理學，如康德等人的倫理觀，以自我為中心來思考。後來，鑑於他者占有不可忽略的位置，於是列維納斯提出他者先於己存在的倫理觀，那樣又令人覺得太沈重。是故，應有一種兼顧自他的倫理觀來說明倫理行動。 呂格爾在《自我宛如他者》（Oneself as Another）所提的倫理觀適足以兼顧自他。他先消解傳統倫理學之本體論、再進行對倫理的迂迴詮釋、然後形構敘事的倫理指涉，因為我們在世上，自我必然與他者發生一連串的行動。行動構成生活事件，事件與事件又彼此構成具有故事意涵的敘事，透過敘事我們指認出我們這個行動者自身。 於是本文先概紹呂格爾《自我宛如他者》的觀點，再以其觀點來探討密契者所做的關懷倫理之行動，除了密契者以終極他者作為自我的行動，本身實已屬倫理範疇。而他們後續在關切社會苦難或環境，更是一種對自對他的倫理關懷，以引領大家朝向美好人生。最後，本文再反思這樣的密契倫理詮釋，在當今各種思潮中是否有其重要性。
Nowadays, in mystical studies, the insights of Paul Ricoeur's (1913-2005) hermeneutics can be used to interpret the "mystical" action-oriented ethics. This article shall first look into past Western ethics, which swayed between two extremes like a bow. On one extreme is the Kantian ethics that focused too excessively on the self to the exclusion of others. On the other is Levinas' consideration of the "other" as the first of ethics, which for many, was deemed to heavy. These two poles should be balanced with a notion of ethics that cares for both the self and others. Paul Ricoeur's Oneself as Another consists of both dimensions. Ricoeur first destructs the ontology of traditional ethics, then using a detour style of explanation,he demonstrates the intertwining relationship between self and other. By placing the other in oneself, Ricoeur argues that this embodied subjectivity is ethics. In our life, we inevitably act and/or have interactions with others. These actions make up events, these events configure narratives, and through these narratives, we can identify the agent/self. Ricoeur's approach illustrates well what mystics do, and how they express ethical concerns through their actions. In this article, I argue that by placing the "ultimate Other" as oneself, the mystical action or experience is ethics, and most mystics who then “return” after their mystical experience to help others in various ways to attain a good life, are expressing an ethical concern. Finally, I reflect whether these mystical hermeneutics carry any validity in contemporary theories.
