ABSTRACT

Faust, a cosmic drama with epic qualities, is the great epic of the Enlightenment. It turns on the problem of theodicy or vindicating divine goodness. Does Faust, in view of his crimes, deserve to be saved? In particular, the deaths of Philemon and Baucis, victims of the engineering works carried out in Faust II, Act v, have been condemned by critics, as has Faust’s project of founding a free society. In reply, it is argued that Faust is modelled on Enlightenment despots who engaged in land reclamation, often at human cost, for their subjects’ ultimate betterment. Faust’s ascent to heaven does not imply his exoneration, but initiates a process of purification, for which Goethe was indebted to the theologian Origen mediated via Gottfried Arnold.

摘要

《浮士德》是一部具有史诗品质的宇宙剧，是启蒙运动的伟大史诗。它打开了神义论或证明神圣良善的问题。浮士德，鉴于他的罪行，值得被拯救吗？尤其是菲利蒙和鲍西斯的死亡，他们是在浮士德 II第五幕中进行的工程工作的受害者，受到批评者的谴责，浮士德建立自由社会的计划也是如此。作为回应，有人认为浮士德模仿的是启蒙运动的暴君，他们经常以人力为代价进行土地开垦，以最终改善他们的臣民。浮士德的升天并不意味着他的赦免，而是启动了一个净化过程，为此歌德感谢通过戈特弗里德·阿诺德调解的神学家奥利根。