从“生”的角度看《论语》中的“仁”——兼论孔子仁学的生命伦理意蕴

To Interpret Ren in The Analects from the Angle of Sheng——The life-ethical Implication of Confucian Ren

孔子之"仁",本质上是有关"生"的道理,生是孔子仁学的根本精神。孔子提出仁的本体依据是他的天道观,而孔子眼中的"天道"即是"生之道",仁本质上就是将"天道之生"与"人之生"相统一的理论。孔子提出仁,是基于赋予礼以生命力的思想动机,而礼的生命力缘于礼的客观有效性与人之生命本质要求的合一。这促使了孔子对天道与人之存在本质与意义问题进行了深度思考。而仁,正是孔子这一思考的结果,故仁就其实质而言,正是对天道与人性同一性的说明。天以其"生道"、"生德"为人类的存在确立了本体依据,而人之所以为人,就其本质来言,乃在于人是天命或天道的领悟者、承担者和实践者。天性决定了人性,天德决定了人德,天道在生,故人之存在的本质意义也在于好生、重生、以生为本。以此释《论语》中的"仁",这些仁字不仅可以得到系统的合理解释,也充分体现了孔子以生为本的精神实质。

The Ren theory of Confucius is essentially a theory of Sheng, which is the fundamental spirit of the thoughts of Confucius. Confucius＇ viewpoint of the Law of Tian is the base that Confucius proposed his Ren theory and the Law of Tian in Confucius＇ view is actually the Law of Tian＇s creating. The theory of Ren is in essence the theory of unifying the law of Tian and the life of human being. That a person has the capability of realizing and understanding the es-sence of the Law of Tian and practicing it consciously is why a person can be taken as a person. Acting on the principle of Sheng is not only the emblem of the nature of human being but also the real spirit of Ren theory of Confucius. Those words about Ren in the Analects are exactly some explanation to Sheng.