关系本体论:儒家“仁”与西方关怀伦理

A Comparative Study on Relational Ontology:Confucian“Ren”and western care ethics

关怀伦理学家在解释关怀的道德基础时使用了“关系本体论”这一概念,但是这一概念并不指一种严格的哲学本体论承诺,而是指一种社会心理角度对关系之重要性的认识。对于关怀关系的现象描绘并不能直接推出道德的普遍“应当”,其中缺乏了哲学反思的关键步骤,因此关怀伦理内部仍然存在着“是”与“应当”之间的断裂。此前关于儒家“仁”与“关怀”的比较多从“仁”之“用”的维度入手,忽视了二者道德本体层的差异,儒家“仁”的本体论本质上也是一种基于关系的本体论,但是儒家“仁”的关系本体论具有“体用合一”的特征,集“是”与“应当”为一体,具体体现在其两层的关系本体论架构中:先秦儒家同样以家庭中富有情感性的“孝悌”关系作为“仁”之根基,与关怀伦理重视原初家庭领域的关怀关系相似,但是儒家以“孝悌”为核心的“亲亲”关系已经内蕴着伦理的“应当”法则;其次,宋儒以后更加强调“万物一体”关系为“仁”的宇宙论本源,解释了以家庭关系为根基的伦理关怀,何以能推扩至一切宇宙万物。儒家“仁”的两层关系本体论对于克服关怀伦理“是”与“应当”断裂问题具有启发意义。

The concept of“relational ontology”is used by care ethicists to explain the moral ground of care,but this concept does not refer to a strict philosophical commitment of the ontology.It refers to a social psychological perspective on the importance of relationships.The phenomenon description of the caring relationship cannot directly deduce the universal“ought”of morality,which lacks the key step of philosophical reflection.Therefore,there is still a gap between“is”and“ought”within care ethics.Previous comparative studies on Confucian“Ren”and“care”mostly start from the dimension of the“Yong”of“Ren”,which ignores the difference of their moral ontology.The ontology of Confucian“Ren”is essentially a relation-based ontology,but it is featured by the“integration of Ti and Yong”,which indicates the oneness of“is”and“ought”.It is embodied in its two-layer relational ontology framework:the Pre-Qin Confucians also take the emotional relationship with“Xiao Ti”in the family relation as the foundation of“Ren”.This is similar to that the care ethicists value the caring relationship in the natural family field.However,the Confucian“Xiao Ti”as the core of the“Qin Qin”relationship already contains the ethical“ought”;secondly,after the Song Dynasty(960 A.D.-1297 A.D.),the Neo-Confucians emphasize more on the relationship of“the oneness of everything”as the cosmological origin of“Ren”,explaining how the ethical care based on family relationship can be extended to all beings in the universe.The two-level relational ontology of“Ren”in Confucianism is of enlightening significance to overcome the gap between“is”and“ought”in care ethics.