《韩非子·解老》“德”论锥指

A Discussion on the Conception of Virtue in“Xielao”from Han Feizi

前贤针对《韩非子·解老》篇的“德”的释义多有分歧,其义若回到篇文“身全之谓德”的表述上,释为身心的健全,在全篇皆可说得通。其篇论“德”之处,有内在的矛盾:篇文先提出“德”的维持需避免动用身心官能,保持“意无所制”的超脱状态,后又言“仁”是“德”的表征,故有德之人会以仁慈的态度对待外界。此种态度使人试图护佑他人他物,为后者致福除祸;而试图达到这一目的,其人又须体认与所慈爱的对象相关的“道理”;然不论所慈爱的对象,抑或所须体认的“道理”,皆会形成思虑或行动上的羁绊,使有德之人无法维持“意无所制”的状态。《解老》“德”论为我们提供了一个较为新颖的考察角度。针对此问题的探究,将引领我们发现《解老》乃至今本《韩非子》某些尚未被关注的问题,如《解老》虚静无为、休养蕃息、以慈爱对待民众的政治思想,与《韩非子》其他篇目将民众作为统治者达成目的的工具有深层次的抵牾。

Concerning the conception of virtue(德)in“Xielao”(解老)from Han Feizi(韩非子),intellectual forerunners had maintained different interpretations of its implications.By reevaluating the concept in the original text,it refers to the physical and moral integrity of the mind and body(身全之谓德),a theme which runs throughout“Xielao”.The conception on virtue in“Xielao”was inherently contradictory:in the beginning,it argued that the maintenance of virtue should circumvent physical and mental reaction,being detached from the control of your own intention(意无所制);however,it claimed later that benevolence was the expression of virtue,thus those who were virtuous treated others benevolently.The conception of virtue in“Xielao”provides an alternative perspective for the study which leads to the discovery about some unidentified issues in“Xielao”,even in the contemporary version of Han Feizi,such as the political ideas of non-interference,civic recuperation and benevolent treatment of the masses.These political ideas are identified as being in conflict with his beliefs that the masses were utilized as tools by rulers for their political goals in the other essays of Han Feizi.