徐复观对西方经典自由主义的评析——兼与儒家政治思想比较

Xu Fuguan's Critical Analysis of the Western Classic Liberalism——In Comparison to Confucian Political Thoughts

徐复观认为,西方近代经典自由主义主张理性至上、伸张自然权利特别是财产权促成了西方民主与法治的形成;然而以洛克、亚当·斯密为代表的自由主义者强调资产阶级追求无财产的权利和自由,是以牺牲劳动者的权利和自由、牺牲平等和分配正义为代价的。他主张对自由主义取其精华、去其糟粕,并将先秦儒家思想包含的德治思想、民本主义和政治抗议精神等核心价值与西方政治文化的精华实行创造性的融合,以便在中国开创体现着民主与法治精神的新型政治文化。

According to Xu Fuguan, Western classic liberalism advocated the supremacy of reason and the natural rights of human beings, especially the supremacy of property right, and by doing so it played a key role in the development of democracy and the rule of law in the West. However, classic liberalism, with John Locke and Adam Smith as its leading exponents, championed the bourgeois property right at the expense of the working class＇s rights and freedom, and equality and distributive justice. Hence, Xu Fuguan proposed absorbing the essence of liberalism and discarding its dross, thereby realizing a creative integration of the core values of Pre-Qin Confucianism （i. e. , rule of virtue, supremacy of the people, and spirit of political protest） with the essences of Western political culture so as to create a new Chinese political culture with the spirit of democracy and the rule of law.