辨识儒家社会的高次元自由精神——兼论儒家规范与自由主义的相容性

A study of the lofty spirit of freedom in the Confucian society——Also on the compatibility between Confucian norms and liberalism

相对于西方社会推崇个体权利优先的价值观,儒家社会却强调个人的社会责任和义务,推崇个体责任优先的价值观;由此,儒家社会往往也被视为缺乏个人自由,儒家规范被视为是对个人自由的严重制约。但实际上,儒家的社会规范建立在"尽其在我"的责任观之上,它不是对个人权利的剥夺和对个人自由的损害,相反,它有助于自律性自由的培养和发展,有助于克服权利至上的个人自由主义之间的冲突和困境。因此,要真正发展实质性自由,还需要从儒家社会的责任文化及其相应的社会规范体系中汲取丰富营养,这也是有为政府的社会基础。

The Western society advocatesthe values that individual rights are prior to all others,while the Confucian society emphasizes individual responsibilities and obligations,and advocates the values that individual responsibilities are prior to all others. As a result,the Confucian society is often regarded as one lack of personal freedom,while Confucian norms are severe constraints on personal liberty. However,Confucian social norms are established on the view of responsibility that ＂everyone should do his duty＂. Obviously,it does not deprive individual rights or damage personal freedom. On the contrary,it helps totrain and develop the self-disciplined freedom,and helps to overcome the conflicts and dilemmas between individual liberalism and supremacy rights. Therefore,in order to develop the substantive freedom,it is necessary to absorb nutrients from the responsibility culture and its corresponding social norms in the Confucian society,which is exactly the foundation of a capable government.