公意的正当性、折损及其民情基础的培育——《社会契约论》的社会理论意涵

The Corruption of General Will and How to Rebuild Its Moral Foundation: The Social Theoretical Meanings of The Social Contract or Principles of Political Right

《社会契约论》历来被视为政治学名著,卢梭在其中提出了"人生而自由,却无时不身带枷锁"的著名论断。借助社会契约论,他试图从政治上把每个人"天然的自由"转换成"约定的自由"。"约定的自由"之所以比"天然的自由"更可取,其优势在于公意,以及在公意基础上形成的政治体带来的好处。卢梭从理论上保证了公意的正当性,这种正当性就其本质而言是不会出错的。但是,随着公意在实践中的一步步固化,它的正当性几乎处处面临着折损的危险。为了防止公意损失其正当性,卢梭步步设防,殚精竭虑。最终他认识到,仅靠政治设计不足以保正公意的正当性,还得借助民情,于是他设计了一套与之相应的"公民宗教"。但这种公民宗教的政治痕迹过重,不免有些严苛。后来涂尔干等社会理论家进而在此基础上努力为法国社会的治理寻找新的民情基础。

The Social Contract or Principles of Political Right has always been regarded as a political classic, in which Rousseau put forward the famous thesis： ＂man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains＂. With social contract theory, he tried to politically put each person＇s ＂natural liberty＂ into ＂civil liberty＂. The reason why ＂natural liberty＂ is better than ＂civil liberty＂ is general will, as well as benefits of the political body formed on the basis of general will. At the level of theory, Rousseau ensured the legit- imacy of general will, the essence of which is absolutely right. However, its legitimacy is facing the risk of impairment almost every step of the finalizing process. In order to prevent the loss of its legitimacy and for- tify each step, Rousseau exhausted his entire energy and thought. Finally, he realized that political design alone can not guarantee the legitimacy of general will without the help of mores, thus he designed a set of corresponding ＂civil religion＂. However, this civil religion is too political. So, it looks a little bit harsh. In view of this, what Durkheim and other later social theorists attempted to do is to find a new basis of mores for French society.