《自由》中自由与道德的冲突_英语论文

The Moral Concern in Jonathan Frazen's Freedom 

摘要

如今，随着“成功”一词逐渐退出历史的舞台，“自由”已成为美国梦的核心。小说《自由》描绘了一幅失序的美国中产阶级家庭画卷，并借此来揭示高度自由化的当代社会正面临的一大困境：由于过度追求自由，越来越多的人开始挑战自己的道德底线，并且放弃作为一名社会成员所要承担的责任。最终，他们陷入了自由与道德冲突的漩涡。在《自由》中，这种激烈的冲突从三个层面体现：第一，个人自由与道德。小说主人公们不安现状，个人对自由的渴望驱使他们挣脱传统的道德规范，到头来，过度的欲望将其淹没，个人良知倍受折磨；第二，自由市场与道德。当社会中的每一位成员都抛开道德对自身的束缚，肆意地追求自由，社会就会成为一个毫无秩序的竞争市场，人际关系将面临巨大的威胁；第三，环境保护层面的自由与道德。人类对环境的肆意夺取占有，使地球遭到了严重的破坏，生态环境岌岌可危。因此如何在自由与道德中取得平衡就成了一个亟待解决道德问题。这里，个人选择发挥了巨大作用。当个人在追求自由时，他就如同身处一个人生的多岔路口，每一个选择都将带领他走向不同的命运。他应当做的就是做出最正确的选择。道德选择的三个重要元素给予了我们启示，即：自发性，反思性以及趋善性。首先不同于把道德视为外在束缚的看法，自发性意味着从内心自愿地遵循道德规范，是一种爱与创造性的活动；其次，人性本善，内心根本的善能引导人们做出一个相对正确的选择；最后，反思性要求人们审视过去的种种错误选择，自我反省，自我批评并自我改正。

关键词：自由；道德；个人；市场；坏境；自发性；反思性；趋善性

Abstract

Today, with the word “success” going off its stage, “freedom” turns up as the new core in American Dream. By presenting a picture of a disordered American middle-class family, the novel Freedom conveys the massage thatthe highly-liberal modern society is confronted with a dilemma: in the excessive pursuit of freedom, more and more people challenge their moral bottom line and abandon their responsibilities as a social member. Finally, they are trapped in the whirlpool of conflicts between freedom and morality. In Freedom, this kind of sharp conflicts is presented from three aspects: firstly, personal freedom and morality. Characters in the novel are restless. Driven by the eagerness for freedom, they manage to get rid of the individual shackle of traditional morality, which makes them end up in struggling in the flood of excessive desire, and suffering the torment of personal conscience. Secondly,free markets and morality. When every social member discards the moral restrains, the society turns into a totally disordered competitive market where interpersonal relations will be faced with great threat. Lastly, freedom and morality in environmental protection. Human’s merciless grab and occupation of environment makes the planet at stake. As a result, how to achieve a balance between freedom and morality becomes a burning issue. We resort to explanations from the perspective of personal choice. When a person pursues his individual freedom, he is at a multi-directiion life crossing. Each choice guides him to a different fate. What he should do is to make the right moral choice to make his life better. There are three significant elements in making moral choice: spontaneity, reflection and goodness-orientation. First of all, opposite to the idea that morality is an outside restriction, spontaneity means following the moral rules with inner willingness. This is a kind of activity with love and creation; Second, reflection requires human beings to criticize, to correct themselves after reexamining the mistakes they have made; Finally, man’s nature at birth is good. Although in the situation where the first two elements do not work, the good deep-rooted in one’s heart will guide people to make a right choice. 

Key words: freedom；morality；individual；market；environment；spontaneity； reflection；goodness-orientation. 

Contents

1.Introduction 1

2. The conflicts between freedom and morality 3

2.1.The relationship between freedom and morality 3

2.2 Personal freedom and morality 3

2.3 Free markets and morality 7

2.4Freedom and morality in environmental protection 8

3.Freedom and moral choice 9

3.1The spontaneity of moral choice 10

3.2. Goodness-orientation 11

3.3 The reflection on moral choice 12

4.Conclusion 13

References: 15