民主的悖论——试析公意的权威性与抽象性之间的矛盾

The Paradox of Democracy:an Analysis of the Contradiction Between Supremacy and Abstractness of General Will

公意是卢梭解决民主合法性问题的核心概念,但同时它也饱受世人争议。笔者根据《社会契约论》的文本,对公意概念进行层层剖析,试图揭示出其内在的权威性与抽象性之间的矛盾。一方面公意在共同体中具有至高无上的权威性,是权力合法性的来源;另一方面它又具有绝对的抽象性,以至于对权力的任何行使都是对公意的违背。这一悖论产生的原因在于卢梭误将前文明的自然状态作为其理论的前提,由此导致了其理论中一系列无法弥合的矛盾。

General will is Rousseau＇s key idea in dealing with legitimacy of democracy. This article aims to uncover the contradiction between its supremacy and abstractness. General will is supposed to represent the supreme authority and provide the basis of legitimacy in a community, while it is an absolutely abstract idea that will not endorse any excise of political power. This article also tries to indicate that the contradiction is caused by the uncivilized state of nature which Rousseau takes as the premise of social contract.