从杀身成仁到舍生取义——孔孟生死观发展研究

From “Die to Achieve Benevolence”to “Die for Righteousness”:Development of the Death View from Confucius to Mencius

孔子并不关注死后的世界,而是将生命的重心放在现实世界。他强调个体应珍惜自然生命,但亦主张在必要的时刻"杀身成仁"。不过"仁"的核心本质是爱人,"推己及人"的爱人思路并不能对现实中某些仁人志士为坚持理想而付出生命的行为进行囊括和解释。孟子在继承孔子生死观的基础上,一方面将"义"作为"仁"的补充凸显出来。另一方面通过性善论对"义"存乎于心进行了存有论证明,为个体"行义"奠定了道德自觉的基础。孟子对"义"的凸显,强调了人可以为了某种正义的价值取向而放弃自己的生命,实现"生不为苟得"、"患有所不避"的舍生取义之境界,进一步发展了孔子的生死观。

Confucius seldom positively talked about life and death issues. From his speech and act,we know that he doesn＇t care about the world after death. What he concerned is the value of life in the real world.In Confucius＇ view,death is not the end of the life,but the accomplishment of life. At the necessary moment he even advocated to ＂die to achieve benevolence＂. As we know the core essence of ＂benevolence＂is ＂loving people＂,we cannot imagine that people will sacrifice themselves because of ＂the empathy for others＂. To better explain at the necessary moment people will sacrifice themselves to pursue their moral values,On the basis of Confucius＇ ＂benevolence ＂, Mencius held that ＂benevolence ＂ and ＂righteousness ＂ are both important. On the one hand the ＂righteousness＂was the supplement prominent of ＂benevolence ＂. On the other hand,Mencius believed that ＂man is good in nature ＂. It means that pursue ＂righteousness ＂ was individual＇s moral consciousness. Mencius ＇ view emphasizes that people can give up their lives for＂righteousness＂which is further development of Confucius＇ conception of death.