荀子人性论的历时性发展--论《富国》《荣辱》的情性-知性说

The Diachronic Development of Xunzi's Theory of “Enriching the State”

荀子一生可分为居赵、游齐、退居兰陵三个阶段,其人性论思想也经历了一个发展变化的过程。《富国》《荣辱》可能为荀子居赵时作品,反映了其前期的人性论思想,其特点是提出了情性-知性说,将情感欲望与材性知能都称为性。一方面认为顺从情性或情感欲望会导致争夺、混乱,因而蕴含有情恶的观点,另一方面又认为人的知性可以作出抉择判断,制作礼义,"知者为之分",实际是将知性看作善的来源。这为后来《正名》《性恶》篇中的性-伪说做了理论准备。后荀子通过对性的两重定义,将性主要限定为情性,同时又提出伪的概念,以概括能知和所知,一定程度上消解了前期思想中的矛盾。

Xunzi's life can be divided into three periods: living in Zhao 赵,travelling in Qi 齐,and retiring in Lanling 兰陵.His ideas on human nature also underwent a series of changes.Chapters of the eponymous work Xunzi were composed in different periods and accordingly reflect changes in his ideas over time.Based on the Xunzi's differing contents and the dates of their composition,Xunzi's ideas on human nature can be divided into four groups.The chapters 'Enriching the State'and 'On Honor and Disgrace'were probably composed when Xunzi was living in Zhao,and represent his early ideas on human nature.These two chapters focus on discussions of 'emotions and intellectual ability as nature,'treating one's emotions,desires,and intellectual ability as human nature.Such an idea proposes,on the one hand,that following one's emotions and desires will lead to fights,wars,and disorder,and thus implies that emotions are bad.On the other hand,it proposes that human intellectual ability can allow one to make value judgments and create rituals,and that 'the knowledgeable person can differentiate things.' This effectively treats intellectual ability as the source of goodness.The discussions of emotions and intellectuality in the chapters 'Enriching the State' and 'On Honor and Disgrace' provide a foundation for the ideas of 'nature and conscious effort,'which appear in the chapters 'Correcting Naming' and 'Human Nature is Bad.'The latter ideas are,however,different.First,in Xunzi's early period,there are no clear statements on the badness of human nature.Second,nature as a concept is used ambiguously: he not only treats both emotions and intellectual ability as nature,but also one's innate cognitive ability and cultivated intellectual ability.In the chapter 'Correcting Naming,'Xunzi redefines nature as having two layers.Here,he identifies nature as emotions and emphasizes that the idea of conscious effort includes one's innate cognitive ability and the cultivated intellectual ability; to some extent,this solves the contradiction that existed in materials from his early period.In the chapters 'Enriching the State'and 'On Honor and Disgrace,'there is no concept of 'conscious effort,'and as such we can argue that they belong to his early works.