法律东方主义的规范性判断及其回应方式——以孟德斯鸠、韦伯与昂格尔的中国法律研究为中心

Normative Judgment and Responses of Legal Orientalism——Focus on the Study of Chinese Law by Montesquieu, Weber and Unger

孟德斯鸠、韦伯和昂格尔都对古代中国法律进行了专门研究并认为"中国无法治",这是一种法律东方主义的规范性判断。国内学界从政治理想和论证逻辑视角对此作出积极的回应,这两种回应方式能够从西方中心主义观点和二元对立思维角度解释西方学者作出这种判断的原因,但未能解释这种判断所具有的规范性特征。面对这一问题,需借鉴吉尔兹文化诠释的观点,从中国与西方生活方式比较视角出发进行研究,这样既揭示西方学者因忽视中西方生活方式不同而对中国法律作出误判的现实,又揭示西方学者因受限于其自身的文化前提而在作出"中国无法治"判断时体现了顽固的规范性特征的规律。

Montesquieu,Weber and Unger have all made a special study of Chinese law and held that“China does not have the rule of law”,which is a normative judgment of legal orientalism.Domestic academia has responded positively from the perspective of political ideal and logic of argument.These responses can explain the reason why western scholars make the judgment;but they fail to explain the normative characteristics of the judgment.Drawing on the viewpoint of Geertz's cultural interpretation,this paper,from the perspective of comparative study,not only reveals the reality that western scholars make a wrong judgment on Chinese laws because they ignore the differences between Chinese and western life styles,but also reveals that western scholars,limited by their own cultural preconditions,show their stubborn normative characteristics when making the judgment that“China has no rule of law”.