国际政治关系理论的几个假定

Assumptions for a Relational Theory of World Politics

假定属于理论的核心内容。质疑现有理论的假定,提出新的假定,是理论原创性的一个重要标志。假定是预设为真的理论前提,往往是从实践共同体的背景性知识中提炼出来的。以文明为基础的文化共同体是自然形成的实践共同体,可以为理论假定提供丰富的思想资源。作者试图对中华哲学文化进行概念化提炼,通过与西方学理层面的对话和互鉴,提出国际政治关系理论的三个基本假定。一是关系世界的假定,将世界视为一个关系的世界,将社会世界视为人的关系的世界,基本特征是相互关联。二是知行合一的假定,强调实践性知识和表象性知识互为表里、内在统一。文化共同体的实践活动塑造了反映其思维方式和行为方式的重要概念,西方的理性概念如此,中国的关系性概念亦然。三是中庸辩证的假定,认为元关系的阴阳两极属一体两面、相辅相成、互为生命,和谐而非冲突才是社会的本原状态。这三个假定构成了国际政治关系理论的思想基础。

Assumptions are indispensable components of a theory. An important approach to develop an original theory is,therefore,to question the assumptions of an existing theory and make new ones accordingly. An assumption is what theorists believe to be true,often taken from the background knowledge of a community of practice. Civilization-based cultural communities are natural and typical communities of practice and may provide rich resources for making theoretical assumptions. By extracting relevant concepts from Chinese culture and through engaging in a dialogue with Western thoughts,this article puts forward three assumptions for developing a relational theory of world politics. The first assumes a world of relations. It sees the universe as one consisting of relations and the social world as one composed of human relations,emphasizing the connectivity and correlativity of all under the sun. The second postulates the unity of knowledge and practice,arguing that practical knowledge and representational knowledge are the two sides of the same phenomenon,for knowledge production is practice,too. A cultural community's practice produces important concepts that represent the ways of thinking and doing of its members. Just as rationality is such a concept growing out of practices of Western societies,relationality is a key concept reflecting practices of Confucian communities. The third is the zhongyong dialectics,holding that the relationship of yin and yang,or the meta-relationship,is one of coexistence and complementarity. It posits that the state of nature is harmony rather than conflict. These three assumptions lay the philosophical foundation for the proposed relational theory of world politics.