德治的时间之维:“为政以德”的时间难题

The Temporal Dimension of Rule by Virtue:The Temporal Problems of“Governing by Virtue”

时间是政治的重要维度,考察德治就需要将时间维度考虑进去.“为政以德”是儒家的基本政治理念,是儒家治道的核心.“为政以德”的时间难题包括四个方面:长期过程难题、时序选择难题、时滞性难题、持续性难题.这四个难题是互相关联的,增加了统治者“为政以德”的难度,也增加了儒家士大夫劝说统治者实施“为政以德”的难度.“为政以德”的时间难题在君主专制政体下难以解决,“为政以德”在君主专制政体中很难实现.只有解决了统治权力的专制性和政治继承的无序性,“为政以德”才有可能克服其时间难题,为塑造政权的政治合法性做出积极有效的贡献.

Time is an important dimension of politics.To examine the rule by virtue,we need to take the temporal dimension into consideration.Governing by virtue is the basic political concept of Confucianism and the core of Confucian governance.The temporal problems of governing by virtue include four aspects:long-term process problem,timing selection problem,time-delay problem,and sustainability problem.These four problems are interrelated,and they increase the difficulty for the rulers to rule by virtue and the difficulty for Confucian scholars to persuade the rulers to rule by virtue.The temporal problems of governing by virtue are difficult to solve under the autocratic monarchy,and it is difficult for governing by virtue to be realized in the autocratic monarchy.Only by solving the autocratic nature of ruling power and the disorder of political inheritance is it possible for governing by virtue to overcome its temporal problems and make positive and effective contributions to the shaping of the political legitimacy of political power.