孔孟之间的儒家人性世界

Confucian Thoughts on Human Nature from Confucius to Mencius

孔孟之间的儒家人物从总体上讲都把人性问题看作道德问题,因而都集中讨论人性的价值指向问题,给人性作善与不善或者说善与恶的价值判断;都认为人性在本质层面是人的先天的本性,而在人性的内容的层面,有的则认为人性是同一的,有的则认为人性是不同的;都从“性”字的结构的维度讨论人性的内容,有的认为人性的内容是“情”“欲”,论及“性”中的“生”,有的认为人性的内容是“仁”、是“德”,论及“性”中的“心”,有的认为人性的内容由“情”“欲”与“仁”“德”所构成,包括“性”中的“心”“生”两个方面;在人性的形上根据方面,有的认为人性根源于人自身的阴阳,有的认为人性根源于“气”“天”。此外,有的孔孟之间的儒家人物将“心”作为与“性”并列的概念引入其人性学说中,这对儒家心性论的形成有直接影响。

Generally speaking,the Confucianists between Confucius and Mencius regard human nature as a moral problem,so they all focus on the value orientation of human nature,and make value judgment of good and unkind or good and evil.They all think that human nature is the innate nature of man.At the level of the content of human nature,some think that human nature is the same,but others think it is different.They all discuss the content of human nature from the dimension of the structure of the word“nature”,some think that the content of human nature is“emotion”and“desire”,and they talk about“life”in“nature”;while others think that the content of human nature is“benevolence”and“virtue”.Some people think that the content of human nature is composed of“emotion”,“desire”,“benevolence”and“virtue”,including“mind”and“life”in“nature”.In terms of the metaphysical basis of human nature,some think that human nature is rooted in the yin and yang of human beings,others believe that human nature is rooted in“Qi”and“Heaven”.In addition,someone introduce the concept of“mind”and“nature”into their theory of human nature,which has a direct impact on the formation of Confucian theory of mind.