王阳明的“去人欲而存天理”及其与朱熹理欲论之比较

Wang Yangming’s Theory of “Removing Human Desire and Preserving Nature” and Its Comparison with Zhu Xi’s Theory of Reason and Desire

王阳明的"去人欲而存天理"来自朱熹的"存天理,灭人欲",且二者又存在诸多差异,主要有三:其一,朱熹讲"性即理",既讲人之性又讲物之性,并且认为人、物之性都是禀赋天理而来;与此不同,王阳明讲"心即理",以为天理即人之道心,人之良知。其二,朱熹认为,"存天理,灭人欲"首先在于"即物而穷其理""格物致知",然后"为善以去恶",从而"克尽己私,复还天理";与此不同,王阳明反对朱熹所谓"即物而穷其理"之说,认为"去人欲而存天理"只是就心上讲求,"存天理"只在于"去人欲"。其三,朱熹认为,"存天理"与"灭人欲"是先后不同且又相互统一的两种工夫;与此不同,王阳明认为,"去人欲"与"存天理"是同一的,"去得人欲,便识天理",并且特别强调去除人欲。然而,他们都讲天理与人欲的对立,要求去除人欲,因而又是一致的。

Wang Yangming’s theory of"removing human desire and preserving nature"comes from Zhu Xi’s theory of"preserving heavenly principles and destroying human desire",but there are many differences between them.First,Zhu Xi says that"human nature is principle",which emphasizes both human nature and material nature,and believes that they come from heavenly principles;unlike this,Wang Yangming says that"human mind is principle".That is to say,heavenly principles are man’s Tao mind and conscience. Secondly,Zhu Xi believes that"preserving heavenly principles and destroying human desire"lies first in"absorbing the truth from things",and then"eliminating evil by doing good",thus"conquering selfishness and restoring heavenly principles". Unlike this,Wang Yangming opposes Zhu Xi’s so-called"absorbing the truth from things",believing in"removing human desire and preserving nature"is merely to do in mind,and as long as human desire is removed,human nature can be preserved. Thirdly,Zhu Xi believes that"preserving heavenly principles"and"destroying human desire"are two different and unified efforts. Unlike this,Wang Yangming believes that"removing human desire"and"preserving nature"were the same,and particularly emphasized "removing human desire". However,they all advocate the opposition between heavenly principles and human desire,demanding the removal of human desire,so they are consistent.