“中庸之道”:中西伦理学互鉴

"Golden Mean": A Mutual Reference of Chinese and Western Ethics

亚里士多德的“中庸”范畴不只是一种规则否定性,即强调区别不足和过度,而且恰是旨在求取行动中的“真”,内在地指向着柏拉图“知识就是德性”的理智德性命题。中国古代儒家的“极高明而道中庸”则与西方的这种古典德性伦理不仅在形式上而且在精神实质上十分相似,对于只强调“合法”的现代法性伦理(无论是功利主义还是义务论)均具有治疗性意义。

Aristotle's category of 'golden mean' is not only a negative rule to emphasize a distinction between inadequacy and excess, but also an exact aim at requiring 'truth' in action, and intrinsically pointing to Plato's intellectual and moral proposition of 'knowledge is virtue. ' The ancient Chinese Confucianism that 'reaching the acme and talking about the golden mean' is quite similar to the classical ethical virtue in the west, not only in the form, but also in essence. It has a significance of curing for the modern legal ethics, whether utilitarian or obligatory, that emphasizes 'legitimacy' only.