论“民可使由之,不可使知之”的合宜性

A Decent Interpretation of the Saying “People Should Obey,but not to Know”

从孔子的学说内部来看,"民可使由之,不可使知之"具有一定的合理性。这一政治主张以获得民众的信任为基础,追求民众对政治举措的自愿服从。孔子认为"民"认知能力有限但易被教化,这种抽象与理想化的处理与西方政治哲学中对"公民"的理想化方向相反。"民可使由之,不可使知之"实际上暗含了通过贤能来治理民众的政治理念,这一理念与精英治理有相似之处。在孔子选举贤能的构想中似乎存在一种反馈机制,但是"民"的权力并不足以有效限制管理者。

From the inside of Confucius’theory,the saying“people should obey,but not to know”has certain rationality.This opinion is raised on the background of political philosophy contained in The Analects of Confucius,which is based on the trust of the public and pursues the voluntary obedience of the public to the political action.Confucius believed that“people”had limited cognitive ability but were easy to be cultivated.This abstract and idealized treatment was on the contrary to the idealized direction of“citizens”in western political philosophy.The saying implies an idea that a nation can be governed by the sages,which is similar to elite governance.Although a feedback system can be seen in the idea of electing sages,“people”have not enough power to restrict the rulers effectively.