仁则寿——儒家仁爱观念对老年人心灵建设的启发

Benevolence Leads to Longevity:Inspirations from the Confucian Ideas on Benevolence for Spiritual Construction of the Elderly

老年人的价值观念对其晚年生活有着极其关键的作用,如若引导不当则会导致老年抑郁、老年自杀的状况。而现有的研究往往关注老年人心理问题的发生机制,缺乏针对老年人群体提供的精神支持的系统理论。分析中国传统儒家哲学表明,在宗教之外,老年人的价值感与意义感可以通过儒家提供的道德价值实现,即克制自我、奉献他人,以完善道德人格的方式追求个人的道德境界。基于此,从儒家仁爱观念中择取自爱、亲人、仁心三个概念构建理论框架,并以此为基础阐述儒家哲学对老年人心灵建设的启发,从而为老年人的心灵建设提供哲学意义上的精神支持。

The thoughts of the elderly have an extremely crucial role in their later life,which may result in depression and senile suicide if they are not properly guided. However,existing literature tends to focus on the cardinal principle of psychological problems among the elderly and lacks systematic theory on the spiritual support provided to the elderly population. Analysis of the traditional Chinese Confucianism indicates that the senses of value and meaning for the elderly can be realized through the moral values provided by Confucianism,which include self-restraints,altruism and the pursuit of personal ethics through the improvement of moral personality. On this basis,this article constructs a theoretical framework on the pillars of three concepts of self-love,intimacy to others,and kindness of mind from the Confucian ideas of benevolence. Thereafter,the article elaborates the inspirations from Confucian philosophy and provides philosophical spiritual support for the spiritual construction of the elderly.