关于桑德尔论共和主义德行的思考——对《民主的不满》的评论

On Sander's Idea of Republican Virtues: Comments on Democracy's Discontent

桑德尔《民主的不满》一书的主要观点和立场,基本上是我们所赞同的。但是,桑德尔此书所描述的美国200年来共和主义的德行主张却可以讨论和质疑,即共和主义的德行论未能区分公德与私德,强调公民德行而忽视人的德行;带有浓厚的新教特色,而未能涵盖基督宗教的善人伦理,未能在谈及公民德行的同时说明共和主义所理解的基本价值。因而美国历史上的共和主义强调的德行还是有局限的,即未能广泛涉及个人完善的德行,与之相比,儒家的德行主张更厚。

We mostly agree with the main view points and perspectives in Sander's Democracy's Discontent. However,the idea of republican virtues that has prevailed for 200 years in the US as it says in the book needs to be discussed and questioned.The problem lies in that the idea of republican virtues cannot differ civil virtues from personal virtues because it emphasizes the former while ignores the latter; with dense Protestantism hue,the idea of republican virtues cannot cover Christian good ethics and while mentioning civil virtues,it cannot elaborate the basic values understood by republicans. Therefore,the republican virtues in American history have their limits for they do not include personal consummation. In comparison,the personal virtues in Confucian tradition are much thicker.