论慈善与道德的关系及其他

On the Relationships between Charity and Morality

作为人性最显良知、最具光辉的一面,慈善从本质上是属于道德范畴的。无论从本意要旨、发生动机看,还是从文化源头、功能发挥看,慈善都被赋予了鲜明的道德意义。步入现代社会,人们慈善参与动机的日趋多元化、差异化,决定了慈善行为并非都是道德的。笼统将一切慈善行为当成道德范畴,是慈善洁癖,更是常识性的错误。用道德来衡量一切慈善行为,容易导致慈善"泛道德化"。不过,慈善却是最具广泛性的道德实践,不论持何种动机,只要参与了慈善,也就开始了道德积累和发展。厘清慈善与道德的关系,有必要对慈善与恩赐、同情、仁爱、人道主义等道德领域相关概念给予辨异,这是正确认识和理性判断慈善与道德的关系的重要前提。

As the most conscientious and shining part of humanity,charity essentially belongs to the domain of morality,and is endowed with a moral meaning from the aspects of its original intention,motivation,cultural source and functions. Nowadays in modern society,the motivations of people participating in charity become diversifying,and cannot be simply regarded as moral ones. It is moral oversimplification to measure all charitable acts with morality. However,charity is a kind of moral practice with the most extensive universality.Whatever the motivation,people who participate in charity begin the accumulation and development of morality. In order to clarify the relationships between charity and morality,it is necessary to differentiate charity from other moral definitions such as grace,compassion,mercy,humanitarian,etc.,which is the important prereq-uisite to make a good understanding and judgment for the relationships between charity and morality.