中西正义观之比较

A Comparison of the Concept of Justice in Chinese and Western Thoughts

中国传统正义观除了昙花一现的墨家外,主要是儒家对"义"(義)的宣扬和阐释,它相对于"仁"更偏重外在的制度设计,但其根源在于内心情感上的"合宜",是立足于自然亲情之上的天经地义的等级关系(礼)。与此相对照,古希腊的"正义"(dike)的特点,一是强调公平或一视同仁;二是强调对不公平的惩罚,不徇私情;三是在人间正义和神的正义之间拉开了无限的距离,使人间正义带上了神圣性,并承认从神圣正义的高度可以对人间正义的不足进行批判或纠正;四是由理性所建立起来的正义原则的普遍性和可操作性,"理治"是古希腊民主制的基本原则。正是这些特点为西方现代民主制提供了最原始的基因,同时也体现了与中国传统的"义"的思想的根本区别。

Besides the short-lived Mohist view,the Confucian advocation and explanation constitute the main stream of the traditional Chinese concept of justice（ Yi,義）. Even though the Confucianist theory of justice,in contrast to benevolence（ Ren,仁）,stresses on external social systems,it still originates from some specific moral sentiments and is equivalent to the so-called perfectly justified hierarchical relationship（ political ritual,礼） grounded on natural filial affections. On the contrary,the characteristics of justice（ dike） of ancient Greece are as follows. The first,it emphasizes fairness（ isos） or equal treatment to everyone. Second,it pays much attention to punishing the unjust behaviors without exception. Thirdly,the significant distinction between the worldly and the divine justice,which is profoundly illustrated by ancient Greeks,not only displays the sacred aspect of the former justice,but also makes it possible to criticize it from the perspective of the later one. At last,the very fact that the Greek principle of justice is based on reason ensures its universality and operability and signifies that ＂rule of reason＂constructs the keystone of democracy in ancient Greece. The above characteristics provide the original genes for western democracy in modern ages and showcase the profound differences between the concepts of justice in traditional Chinese and Western thoughts as well.