美國人價值觀及其成因（英文）-

1、收稿日期2007209230作者簡介郭贇(19862,女,內(nèi)蒙古師范大學外國語學院在讀本科生。2007年11月內(nèi)蒙古師范大學學報(哲學社會科學版Nov .,2007第36卷第6期Journal of I nnerMongolia Nor mal University (Phil os ophy &Social Science Vol .36No .6美國人價值觀及其成因郭贇(內(nèi)蒙古師范大學外國語學院,內(nèi)蒙古呼和浩特010022Abstract美國是一個移民國家,在其歷史上共有兩次持續(xù)時間較長的移民運動,來自歐洲、亞洲、非洲和美洲的移民不僅帶來他們的技術(shù),而且也將其文化帶入美國社會,這對

2、美國人價值觀和世界觀的形成起了很大的影響作用。追求平等自由獨立和自我是美國人價值觀的核心組成部分,這些價值觀的淵源既可上溯到清教文化,同時,獨立戰(zhàn)爭中發(fā)表的美國獨立宣言對其形成也產(chǎn)生了深遠的影響。KeyWords美國;移民;核心價值觀;獨立宣言中圖分類號D09文獻標識碼A 文章編號100127623(2007S1204042031Am er i can Va luesAmerica has been p laying an i m portant r ole in our world since World W ar II .A lthough its hist ory is only abo

3、ut three hundred years l ong,it still has great effects on many as pects on other countries .Unlike most other peop le,America is p ri m arily a nati on of i m m igrants .Their ancest ors e m igrated fr om many parts of the gl obe .This greatly influenced the ideas and values on which American are b

4、ased .11Devel opment of American Values .A s an i m m i 2grated country,American values are different fr om oth 2er countries .Vari ous ethnicities,different religi ons and s ome other peculiarities lead t o different values .W hat s more,the values als o change in different ti m e peri ods .So acco

5、rding t o the ti m eline,there are three mainstrea m values in American s ociety,which are Tra 2diti onal value,Modern value,and Post -modern val 2ue .Traditi onal Value .The ti m e fra me of traditi on 2al value is up t o 1700s .Priests are the most influential peop le f or those who hold this beli

6、ef .They believe that hu man being is God s creati on in God s i m age -bear 2er .So they are inclined t o p reserve the past and obey the authorities .They als o think that human beings are created good,but gradually has fallen and peop le havebeen separated fr om God by sin .So in order t o recon

7、2cile t o God by Jesus,they e mphasize more on morality and have very strict self -disci p lines .They sincerely believe that God and his words in the B ible have de 2fined their morality .Generally s peaking,Traditi onal value is more conservative and hierarchical .Modern Value .Modern value starte

8、d fr om 1875and now is very common in American .They be 2lieve in science and treat scientists as the most influen 2tial peop le .Comparing t o Traditi onal value,they think that hu man beings are just random chance beings,in 2stead of being created by God .So they want t o i m p r ove the past by t

9、heir own thinking .On the other hand,they als o dare t o questi on the authority .Because in their op ini ons,knowledge is fr om what peop le discover but not what God says .A s for the m ,chaos is humans basic p r oble m ,and in order t o s olve this,they want t o p r ol ong their life and seize ev

10、eryday .A s t o morality,they acknowledge it as a human construct,theref ore peop le can have their own moralities .Post -modern Value .Post -modern value be 2gins in 1960.It is als o called Pop culture,because s ome r ock stars lead the fashi on and influence peop le quite a l ot .For these peop le

11、,they are inclined t o ig 2nore the past and they don t count on authority for ob 2taining knowledge .They just want t o know everything404fr om their own ex periences.I n their op ini ons,every2 body is equal,no matter for a p resident or a homeless pers on.They treat the m selves as their o wn aut

12、horities, s o they do not need t o obey othersorders.However they are s ometi m e pessi m istic because they cannot know everything abs olutely.A s t o the m,the basic p r oble m is they do not have enough t olerance because they care t oo much about pers onal st ories and think that certain communi

13、ties can define morals.21Core Values.American s ociety is basically foun2 ded on the p rinci p les of equality,liberty,pursuit of happ iness and p i oneering s p irit.American peop le re2 gard these values very highly and cherish the m as their nati onal s p irits.Equality.Equality is the basic beli

14、ef in Amer2 ican values,just as the Declarati on of I ndependence said,“A ll men are created equal,that they are en2 dowed by their Creat or with certain inalienable rights”. So in their eyes all peop le are equal and have their own values,and no one is born superi or t o anyone else. Once a baby is

15、 born,he begins t o have value.God creates hi m,s o he is unique in this world.Even f or a homeless pers on,he is still in the sa me level as peop le with high status.God l oves every pers on.He will not l ook down upon s omebody only because of his status. They have their o wn understandings of thi

16、ngs that see m inequality:“Our wealth is unequaled,but Jesus taught that our faith should make wealth meaningless”.I n A2 merican hist ory,there are many s ocial move ments whose ai m is t o get equality,such as the womens move ment.It was started by three gr oup s of women, who thought women were d

17、iscri m inated in the s ociety and wanted t o fight f or their equal rights.The wo mens move ment gains many rights and opportunities f or women.However in the m id-1990s,the nu mber of women in leadershi p in govern ment and business cor po2 rati ons is still very l ow.But we can still see that wom

18、ens positi on has been i m p r oved a l ot since then. Most Americans dare t o s peak out all their ideas direct2 ly and need not consider about othersop ini ons.Eve2 ryone is equal,s o everyone can do whatever they want t o do,s o we can say that equality is one of the core values in American cultu

19、re.L iberty.The second core value of America is liberty,which is als o the basic point in the Declarati on of I ndependence and American hist ory.Since Christ o2 pher Columbus discovered the ne w land in1492,A2 merican peop le have been suffering a l ot fr om col onialrule for nearly300years,however

20、 they never st opped their struggle f or liberty during this peri od of ti m e.Af2 ter America gained independence fr om col onial rule, liberty is still a nati onal pursuit f or American peop le. The Civil R ightsMove ment and Free Speech Move ment both de monstrate this point.Legal segregati on en

21、ding in the South,the U.S.signing a peace treaty in1973, and peop le getting freedom of s peech are all achieve2 ments of American peop les pursuit of liberty.I ndependence and I ndividualis m.For most peop le,independence and individualis m are the first t w o words that come int o their m inds whe

22、n they talk a2 bout Americans.The one value that nearly every A2 merican would agree upon is individual freedom. W hether y ou call it individual freedom,individualis m, or independence,it is the corn of American values.It influences nearly every as pect of their s ociety.The concep t of individuali

23、s m als o affects the type of govern2 ment s o much that individual rights are als o guaranteed in the United States Constituti on.“These rights are s o p r otected in our judicial syste m that,even though A2 mericans may comp lain that cri m inals s ometi m esget a way with murder,most peop le beli

24、eve it is better t o free a fe w guilty pers ons than t o i m p ris on one pers on who is innocent”.Most Americans have their own pers onal s paces and usually they do not want others t o get involved in their pers onal affairs.I n general,most Americans ex2 p ress their ideas directly,without t oo

25、much considera2 ti on.They care more about their own feelings instead of othersop ini ons.I n additi on,American peop le p re2 fer t o rely on their own efforts.They are inclined t o create everything by them selves,s o they highly value self-reliance.Of course its different fr om what we call selfi

26、shness.It is an exp ressi on of equality,liber2 ty,and independence and the reas on why American peop le care s o much about this is just their pursuit of equality and liberty.Privacy is als o of great significance t o Americans. The individual p rivacy may make it difficult t o make friends.Because

27、 Americans res pect their own p rivacy, they may not like t o go t o a pers on and say“hell o”.A lthough many Americans are much opener than Chi2 nese peop le,they are still not s o friendly and hos p ita2 ble as Chinese.The p i oneering s p irit.The p i oneering s p irit of the early i m m igrants

28、is als o an i m portant American trait.A l w ays attracted t o the ne w and fresh things,A2 mericans constantly move a l ot.They not only travel54fr om p lace t o p lace in search f or a better life,but als o try t o raise the s ocial hierarchy because they cherish the American D rea m s o much.1The

29、 O r i g i n s of Am er i can Va luesAmerican mainstrea m culture is devel oped fr om what is known as“WASP”culture,which is W hite Angl o-Sax on Pr otestant.So generally s peaking,there are t w o main fact ors that affect American values quite much,and they are the i m m igrati on of Puritans and t

30、he Declarati on of I ndependence.11The I m m igrati on of Puritans.I n17th century,a gr oup of peop le thought that the Church of England was t oo Catholic and they wanted t o purify the Church. However their beliefs were heretical t o the Church of England,s o they had t o leave there because they

31、were religi ously persecuted.I n1620,one hundred and t w o peop le reached North America and began ne w life there fr om then on.They hoped t o build a city upon a hill-an ideal community,which was equal,free,and with2 out persecuti on.After they ca me,they struggled very hard t o survive in the com

32、p letely strange envir onment. Nowadays Puritans are no l onger in existence there, but their legacies are still shown in American s ociety and values.W hats more,they established a string of int olerant moralis m.They believed that govern ments should enf orce God morality.The Puritans have left ri

33、ch culture heritage t o future Americans.So the Amer2 ican values such as individualis m owe very much t o the Puritan beliefs.I n American s ociety,peop le think highly of Amer2 ican D rea m:It is the belief that any individual,no matter how poor,can achieve wealth and fa me thr ough diligence and

34、virtue.It sy mbolizes the American belief in equalizing of opportunity.Besides this,American D rea m als o affects peop les hard working ideas.They all believe that diligence and efforts are the key t o get success.Anyone,no matter what his status is,can succeed by hard working.This is als o a reas

35、on why A2 merican peop le cherish ti m e s o much.They like t o fill their life with work and never waste ti m e,and s ome peop le even feel guilty when they have nothing t o do.W hats more,i m m igrati on als o br ought Puritan2 is m int o America,which has shaped American peop les worldvie w and phil os ophy a l ot.A lthough it does not make America a comp lete Christian nati on,it still changes