身与身外:儒家的一个未决问题

The Self and the Other: An Unsettled Paradox in the Confucian Theory

费孝通对儒家的“差序格局”分析,实际上揭示了儒家在社会合作理论中存在的一个内在困难,即儒家道德体系一直都没有完成普遍性的理论构造。也就是说,儒家理论并不是一种超越其实践情景的纯粹理论,其普遍原则总是消失在具体情景中。长期的主流话语地位使儒家未能反思自身理论上的不完善,但这个内在困难或悖论在儒家面对现代挑战时显露出来。

With an analysis of Fei Xiaotong＇s conception of the Confucian system of interpersonal relations, this paper tries to argue that the Confucian theory of social cooperation leads itself to an unsettled paradox, that is, there has been a lack of universal theoretical construction in the Confucian moral system. The Confucian theory is not a theory beyond practical circumstances, instead, its universal principle always disappear specific circumstances. The long established main-stream status made the Confucians fail to reflect its imperfection, and the unsettled paradox reveals itself in the face of the modern challenge.