U13BeautyFortheGreeks,beautywasavirtue:akindofexcellence.Personsthenwereassumedtobewhatwenowhavetocall---lamely,enviously---wholeperson.IfitdidoccurtotheGreekstodistinguishbetweenaperson’s“inside”and“outside”,theystillexpectedthatinnerbeautywouldbematchedbybeautyoftheotherkind.Thewell-bornyoungAthenianswhogatheredaroundSocratesfounditquiteparadoxicalthattheirherowassointelligent,sobrave,sohonorable,soseductive----andsougly.OneofSocrates’mainpedagogicalactswastobeugly----andteachthoseinnocent,nodoubtsplendid-lookingdisciplesofhishowfullofparadoxeslifereallywas.美之于古希腊人是一种德性一种美德。今天看来他们就是我们如今所谓的“全面的人”虽然这个称呼有点不理直气壮,并且带有嫉妒之意。倘若让古希腊人区分一个人的“内在”和“外在”他们仍期望内在美是需要与其他种类之美相匹配的。那些聚集在苏格拉底身边的雅典青年人发现自己的偶像是如此得聪慧、勇敢、正直、充满诱惑力而同时又那么得丑这是多么自相矛盾啊。而苏格拉底主要的教学手段之一即为“丑”告诉这些天真却拥有毋庸置疑般美貌的门生真正的人生是充满悖论的。TheymayhaveresistedSocrates’lesson.Wedonot.Severalthousandyearslater,wearemorewaryoftheenchantmentsofbeauty.Wenotonlysplitoff----withthegreatestfacility----the“inside”(character,intellect)fromthe“outside”(looks);butweareactuallysurprisedwhensomeonewhoisbeautifulisalsointelligent,talented,good.他们或许能够抗拒苏格拉底的学说。而我们做不到。几千年以后.美的魅惑使我们更加疲惫。我们不仅仅用最容易的方式将“内在”(性格,心智)和“外在”(外貌)割离开来.同时我们也对那些既有美貌亦有智慧天赋之人,感到诧异。ItwasprincipallytheinfluenceofChristianitythatdeprivedbeautyofthecentralplaceithadinclassicalidealsofhumanexcellence.Bylimitingexcellence(virtusinLatin)tomoralvirtueonly,Christianitysetbeautyadrift----asanalienated,arbitrary,superficialenchantment.Andbeautyhascontinuedtoloseprestige.Forclosetotwocenturiesithasbecomeaconventiontoattributebeautytoonlyoneofthetwosexes:thesexwhich,howeverFair,isalwaysSecond.Associatingbeautywithwomenhasputbeautyevenfurtheronthedefensive,morally.美在古典时期是理想的人类美德,而将其从这中心位置赶走的首要原因来自基督教的影响。通过美德(拉丁语为virtus)的概念限定到仅仅指伦理道德的范畴,基督教放逐了“美”——它成为一种异化的,武断的,肤浅的诱惑。同时美不断丢失了它原本的名声。到二世纪末的时候,美成为一种既定概念,仅用于修饰两性之的一个性别:这个性别虽然是悦目的,但却处于第二位。将美与女性联系起来,使得美的概念在道德层面上更加脆弱。Abeautifulwoman,wesayinEnglish.Butahandsomeman.“Handsome”isthemasculineequivalentof----andrefusalof----acomplimentwhichhasaccumulatedcertaindemeaningovertones,bybeingreservedforwomenonly.Thatonecancallaman“beautiful”inFrenchandinItaliansuggeststhatCatholiccountries---unlikethosecountriesshapedbytheProtestantversionofChristianity---stillretainsomevestigesofthepaganadmirationforbeauty.Butthedifference,ifoneexists,isofdegreeonly.IneverymoderncountrythatisChristianorpost-Christian,womenarethebeautifulsex----tothedetrimentofthenotionofbeautyaswellasofwomen.在英语里,我们说一位女子是美丽的。但是我们却说一位男子是英俊的。“英俊”是其阳性的等同词,同时拒绝一种带有某些贬义暗示的赞扬,而这种赞扬是仅用于女性的。在法语和意大利语里,人们可以称男子是“美丽的”,这暗示着这些天主教国家依旧保留了前基督教时期欣赏“美”的痕迹,而这些痕迹在新教国家中已经荡然无存。但即使存在,差别也只是程度不同而已。在任何一个基督教或者后基督教国家里,女性就是那个美丽的性别——既损害了美这个概念,...
