理性、合理与讲理——兼评陈嘉映的《说理》

Reason,Rationality and Reasonableness:An Essay Inspired by Chen Jia-ying's Dianoesis

陈嘉映《说理》一书的主题是"说说理之理",而不是一般意义上的"说理"。"说理之理"有什么内涵,"说理之理"为什么值得论说,可以通过对西方哲学从reason(理性)经过rationality(合理)到reasonableness(讲理)的思想演化过程的考察得到理解。把理性(reason)不仅理解为合理(rationality),而且理解为讲理(reasonable-ness),有助于克服当代哲学中理性独断主义和理性虚无主义的非此即彼。当代西方哲学家从不同角度论述的讲理(reasonableness),与梁漱溟先生进行中西比较时所说的中国文化的"理性",很值得做一深入比较。

The theme of Chen Jia-ying's Dianoesis should be understood as 'on the reasoning for reasoning' rather than simply 'on reasoning'.In order to understand 'the reasoning for reasoning',it may be better to review the history of Western philosophy,in which the focus of attention has been moved from 'reason' through 'rationality' to 'reasonableness'.Moreover,interpreting 'reason' not only as rationality but also as reasonableness may help us overcome the dilemma between reason-dogmatism and reason-nihilism.The idea of 'reasonableness' that has been discussed by various contemporary Western philosophers is very similar to the idea of 'li xing' that was proposed by Chinese philosopher Liang Shu-ming on the basis of his comparison between Chinese and Western cultures.For the sake of developing our tradition of li xing or reasonableness,however,we should not ignore some serious weaknesses in this tradition while cherishing its valuable elements.