由“父子相隐”揭示的仁礼关系再论中西伦理之别

On the Difference of Ethics between Traditional China and the West——Based on the Relationship between Benevolence and Rites Revealed by the Story of“Father and Son Conceal Misconduct Mutually”

把“容隐制”视为中西法律发展史中的共同现象,并与现代法治建设中对“私权”的保护相关联的观点,虽然有一定的道理,在当前也有积极意义,但实际上恰恰遮蔽了孔子的智慧,并忽视了中国传统与西方传统在核心理念上的差异。对孔子而言,道德实践的情境化和具体性是一个必然。在父亲偷羊这件事情中,儿子到底选择哪一种处理方式,要看具体的情况,最终目的都是最大限度地实现“仁”。每个人要根据自己对仁的体认决定此刻的行为,根据仁来决定如何执行“礼”、如何调整“礼”、如何把互相冲突的“礼”在现实中落实。而西方基于理性和信仰的法律具有神圣性和稳定性。中西方是两种不同的文明模式,西方文明实现的是空间维度价值,中国文明实现的是时间维度价值。

Generally,people are inclined to regard the concealment system as a phenomenon existing in the development of legal systems in both China and the West,and an idea related to the protection of“private rights”in the construction of modern laws.However,such an opinion obscures Confucius’s wisdom and ignores the difference between the tradition in China and that in the West.From Confucius’s point of view,the contextualization and concreteness of moral practice are necessary.In the case of the father stealing a goat,the son’s moral choice,which depends on concrete situations,is to maximize people’s realization of benevolence.Everyone should decide his behavior at a particular moment according to his own understanding of benevolence.He should decide how to implement“rites”,how to adjust“rites”,and how to implement conflicting“rites”in reality.On the contrary,based on reason and belief,Western laws are relatively sacred and stable.The mode of Chinese civilization is different from that of the Western civilization.Western civilization emphasizes on the fulfillment of the value of space dimension,while Chinese civilization the value of time dimension.