顾宪成论良知——以“无善无恶”之争为中心

Gu Xiancheng's View of Conscience——Focusing on the Debate of “Non-good and Non-evil”

顾宪成是晚明心学修正运动的领军人物,他对良知学说基本持有同情态度,认同良知"为善去恶"的面向,但对良知"无善无恶"的批驳不遗余力。其批评可归纳为以下三个方面:从本体论来说,"无善无恶"当下便是"空",直接瓦解了儒家性善论的根基;从境界论来说,"无善无恶"过分强调不著于善恶,却著于"不著"本身;从工夫论来说,"无善无恶"的流行导致道德实践无法落到实处。因此,顾宪成以"性善"为立言宗旨,强调"小心"的笃实工夫,以期扭转晚明流于玄虚、不尚实学之世风。顾宪成视"无善无恶"为时弊之根源,对心学的批评有一定的合理性,但也偏离了阳明良知本体的理论预设。

Gu Xiancheng is a leading figure in the revisionary movement of the late Ming dynasty. He had sympathy for the doctrine of conscience. He agreed to the idea of conscience’s removing evil friendly, but disagreed with the nature of conscience as being “non-good and non-evil”. His criticism can be summarized in the following three aspects. In ontology, “non-good and non-evil” leads to emptiness and destroys the foundation of the Confucian theory of original goodness of human nature. From the perspective of spiritual realms, “non-good and non-evil” overemphasizes no clinging to good and evil, but itself clinging to “no clinging”. From the theory of cultivation, the popularity of conscience’s “non-good and non-evil” leads to the separation between theory and moral practice. Therefore, based on the principle of original goodness of human nature, Gu Xianchen highlighted careful practice. He believed that “non-good and non-evil” was the root of all social evils. His criticism to the Philosophy of Mind is reasonable, but it also deviates from Wang Yangming’s theoretical presupposition of conscience.