從自然到人：霍爾巴赫《百科全書》礦物史詞條對其自然哲學之影響

Abstract

本論文探究保羅-亨利・特里，霍爾巴赫男爵（Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d’Holbach）編纂之《百科全書》（l’Encyclopédie）自然史詞條，及這些詞條對他自然哲學發展之影響。這些條目揭示了一位「百科全書作者」（Encyclopédiste）如何思考自然知識與自然真理的界限。在礦物史條目中，霍爾巴赫引入當時德國和瑞典學術界的新方法論 ，宣稱礦物王國的自然史應建立在自然知識與人類技藝的互動之上，而非對自然真理的直接追求 。 他認為，自然的真理是一種超越理性掌握的廣闊實體 。接著，本文論證，這種對自然與理性的態度形塑了霍爾巴赫晚年的自然主義－無神論著作：《論自然之體系》（Système de la Nature ou Des Loix du Monde Physique et du Monde Moral） 。本文闡明了霍爾巴赫從「百科全書作者」向哲學家轉換的思想動態，重新釐定知識編纂對十八世紀思想史的積極意義。

The thesis explores the natural history entries of Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d’Holbach (1723-1789), in l’Encyclopédie. These entries, it argues, unveil how an Encyclopédiste pondered over the boundary between natural knowledge and the truth of nature. In his entries on minerals, d’Holbach introduced the new methodology that had developed in German and Swedish scholarships. By doing so, he demonstrated that a proper natural history of mineral kingdom was based on the interactions between natural knowledge and human arts, but not on the direct pursuit of nature’s truth. The truth of nature, so the Encyclopédiste believed, was an immensity beyond the grasp of reason. The paper then shows that such attitude to nature and reason developed in d’Holbach’s naturalism. As a result, the paper articulates d’Holbach’s divided roles as an Encyclopédiste and as a philosopher. On the other hand, the case of d’Holbach also helps revisit the image of “the Enlightenment” as convinced in the progress of reason. D’Holbach presented an alternative case, in which reason was not the power to conquer nature’s truth, but a capacity to reflect on our limited role in the general system of nature.