人性论视域中的当代儒家政治哲学发展趋向问题

The Development Trend of the Third Period of Confucianism in the Perspective of Human Nature Theory

当代儒学的新开展,主要是儒家政治哲学的发扬创造问题。当代儒家政治哲学研究领域中的“贤能政治”与“民主政治”之争,实质上是在追问儒家政治哲学的学术发展方向到底朝向何处去的问题。人性理论是重思当代儒家政治哲学发展趋向的逻辑起点。《中庸》提出“以人治人”解释原则,引导我们将对政治的思考指向更为根本的人性问题。在儒家政治思想发展的内在逻辑中审视“人性观念”与“政治理念”之关系,我们发现,儒学在其自身观念发展的逻辑中已经形成可以作为今天重新理解儒家政治哲学发展趋向的两个基本前提,即人性平等的自我理解理论和现实的政治实践应以实现人人平等作为它的基本追求之一。在此基础上,我们主张将儒家在人性论上所取得的平等意识视为反思“贤能政治”与“民主政治”之争的逻辑起点。

The new development of contemporary Confucianism is mainly about the development and creation of Confucian political philosophy.The debate between“meritocratic politics”and“democratic politics”in the research field of contemporary Confucian political philosophy essentially asks where the academic development direction of Confucian political philosophy should go.The theory of human nature is the logical starting point of rethinking the development trend of contemporary Confucian political philosophy.The interpretation principle of“governing people by human nature”proposed in The Doctrine of the Mean leads us to direct our political thinking to more fundamental human issues.In the logic of its own concept development,Confucianism has formed two basic preconditions for re-understanding the ideological development trend of Confucian political philosophy,which are the self-understanding theory of the equality of human nature and the political practice of reality which should take realizing the equality of all people as one of its basic pursuits.On this basis,we hold that the equality thought of Confucianism in the theory of human nature should be regarded as the logical starting point to reflect on the debate between“meritocratic politics”and“democratic politics”.