“门内”的儒家伦理——兼与廖名春先生商榷《论语》“父子互隐”章之理解

The“In-door”Ethics of Confucianism: An Interpretation of Fu Zi Hu Yin from Book XIII of The Analects

儒家在实践理性上强调门内与门外的区别,门内以恩为重,门外以义为重,私恩与公义有明确界限。"亲亲相隐"与"大义灭亲"这两个命题都是孔子及儒家所提倡的,但他们从不盲目地鼓励"大义灭亲",相反把"亲亲相隐"作为法律的根据。具体而言,《论语·子路》篇"父为子隐,子为父隐"之"隐"不能释为"檃"(矫正),它有两个含义:一是不公开告发、宣扬,"隐谓不称扬其过失也";二是微谏,"几谏谓之隐"。孔子的本意不是"隐匿错误"。事奉亲、君、师的"隐"、"犯"与"无犯无隐"的区分,反映出儒家在伦理角色和伦理情境上的分寸感。对亲人的"寻常之过",应当用"隐","几谏";但如有"大恶",则仍应犯颜,做"争子"。儒家伦理饱含着具体理性。

The Confucian ethics stresses the clear distinction between in-door and out-door situations,featuring loving-kindness and justice respectively. Confucianism advocates qin qin xiang yin( 亲亲相隐) and da yi mie qin( 大义灭亲),but never encourages the latter blindly. On the contrary,Confucianism takes qin qin xiang yin as the basis of lawmaking. The yin( 隐) in the sentence fu wei zi yin,zi wei fu yin( 父为子隐,子为父隐) from Book XIII of The Analects should not be interpreted as'yin'( 檃,to correct). It has two shades of meaning: firstly,do not publicize the fault of the father,or accuse him in public; secondly,to remonstrate with him suggestively or euphemistically. Confucius does not mean 'concealing the offences'here. The difference between yin,fan( 犯) and wu fan wu yin( 无犯无隐) in serving the parents,the emperor and the teacher reflects a sense of propriety in Confucianism in terms of ethical roles and ethical situations. If our relatives only made a small mistake,we should'yin'; but if they made a big mistake or committed a crime,we must remonstrate with them,not afraid of offending them. So we should avoid oversimplification,linear thinking and either-or mentality in addressing the complexities of this matter which is a concrete example of the rationality of Confucian ethics.