作为人权主体的“自我”观念及其东西方差异

A Difference in the Conceptions of the Self as the Subject of Human Rights between the West and Japan:Can Confucian Self be Strong Enough to Exercise Positive Liberty in an Authoritarian Society?

作为现代西方国家人权核心理念的"自我"观念很难成为日本等东亚国家人权话语的哲学根基。有必要找到或创制一条"东方主义"的观念进路。在东亚传统中,儒家伦理是可欲的智识资源,但日本却并非严格意义上的"儒式国家"。明治以降,神道儒学思想便补位日本的"精神轴心"、构筑民众的"启蒙心态",成为一股能够比肩西方"基督之爱"的强大社会凝聚力。这种功能上的耦合,正是寻访东方人权哲学根基的关键所在。神道儒学能够驱动善行,也能够帮助现代日本的"自我"观念以吻合于人权主体的方式被描摹和表达。还需引入"多元文化的自由主义原则",促使这种伦理规约实现创造性转化,成为更加开放、包容的社会规范与人权规范。

It is difficult for the notion of"self",the core concept of human rights in the modern western world,to become the underlying philosophical foundation of Japan and another East-Asian countries,generating the need to seek for or create an path to an orientalist conception of human rights.In the traditions of East Asia,Confucian ethics are the desirable intellectual resources.Nevertheless,Japan has never been a strictly Confucian state.After the Meiji period,"Shinto"Confucianism took the place as the axis of Japanese spirit and brought out the enlightenment state of its people.It became a strong force of social cohesion that could be compared to the western"Christian love".This functional linkage is the very key to unmasking the underlying philosophical foundations of oriental human rights philosophy."Shinto"Confucianism not only evoke human beneficence,but also help the modern Japanese conception of the"self"to be expressed in a way that corresponds to the notion of the human rights subject.Furthermore,multicultural liberal principles should also be introduced in order to accelerate the creative transformation of the aforementioned ethical rules into more open and comprehensive social and human rights norms.