韦伯新教伦理命题的世纪论争与理性反思

Disputes and Reflections on Weber's Proposition of Protestant Ethics

马克斯·韦伯关于新教伦理与资本主义精神关系的论述,20世纪引起了人们的巨大兴趣和学术争鸣。韦伯新教伦理命题的精深之处在于其研究经济蕴涵的伦理动因,为伦理寻找合理性的解释,以及他关于天职观念或人的职业责任心的论述。韦伯新教伦理命题的偏弊之处则在于他没有看到资本主义起源时期的复杂情况,将意大利文艺复兴时期的资本主义和天主教国家的资本主义排除在自己的理论视野之外;忽略了资本主义精神贪婪和追求享受的一面,含有为资本主义或者资本主义精神辩护的政治色彩;西方中心主义的价值情结使得他对非西方国家的伦理探究走向了"负面的理想型分析"。超越韦伯伦理思想的狭隘视域,要求我们在批判韦伯欧洲中心论价值观的同时正确认识西方伦理文明的合理因素;在批判韦伯欧洲中心论价值观的同时应当防止用华夏中心论取代欧洲中心论;最关键的是我们应在马克思主义理论指导下,批判继承祖国传统伦理文化的优秀成果,大胆吸收和借鉴西方伦理文明的合理因素,以开放的胸襟、兼容的态度博采众家之长,真正创造出一种既立足本国而又面向世界,既有民族特色而又充分体现时代精神的新型伦理文化。

The description of Marx Weber on the protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism has aroused great interests and discussions since the 20th century. The profound meanings of his proposition lie in its ethic motives,the pursuit of rational explanations for ethics,and his descriptions of human＇s vocations and duties. The deficiencies of his proposition include his overlooking of the complex situations with the birth of capitalism,the exclusion of the capitalism in Italian Renaissance and in Catholic countries,and the greed and indolence of capitalism. Meanwhile,the complex of Euro-centralism leads to his ＂negative ideal analysis＂ on ethics in non-western countries. Therefore,we should break through his narrow sights and have a correct view of the reasonable elements in western ethics while criticizing Weber＇s deficiencies. On the other hand,we should avoid the idea of China-centralism,inherit the rational theories from traditional Chinese ethics,absorb correct elements from western civilizations,and create a new ethic culture of distinctive Chinese features.