人类的道德意识是进步的吗?--一种以中国先秦时期道德意识的演变为个案的研究

Is Human Morality Progressive?-A Case Study of the Evolution of Moral Consciousness in Pre-Qin China

人类的道德意识是进步的吗?本文通过对中国道德意识的演变逻辑的梳理发现,答案是肯定的。先秦时期的伦理情感呈现一种由特殊到普遍、由浅层次到深层次、由外部强制到从心所欲的演变规律。在西周初期,作为一种巫术情感的“敬”还没有摆脱禁忌的束缚,还主要是一种对“天”以及由此衍生出来的“德”的敬畏之情。作为一种伦理情感的“孝”则由于囿于氏族血缘的狭小圈层,不具备成为普遍伦理情感的资格。春秋末期,孔子通过对前面二者的改造发展出了“仁”这种伦理情感。《中庸》将“仁”扩充成了一种涵盖所有宇宙成员的伦理情感——诚,孟子则通过设置情境,借助外部突发事件对人的强烈震撼将人的本真情感逼迫出来,从而一劳永逸地找到了人的道德情感本体——恻隐之心。“敬”→“孝”→“仁”→“诚”→“恻隐之心”,这就是先秦时期巫术、伦理情感的逻辑演变过程。

Is human moral consciousness progressive?Through the analysis of the evolution logic of Chinese moral consciousness,this paper finds that the answer is yes.In the Pre-Qin period,the ethical emotion showed a law of evolution from special to universal,from shallow to deep,from external compulsion to desire.In the early Western Zhou Dynasty,as a kind of witchcraft emotion,“respect”was not free from the bondage of taboos,but mainly a kind of reverence for“heaven”and the derived“virtue”.As a kind of ethical emotion,“filial piety”is not qualified to be a universal ethical emotion because it is confined to the narrow circle of clan consanguinity.In the late Spring and Autumn Period,Confucius developed the ethical emotion of“benevolence”by reforming the former two.The doctrine of the mean expands“benevolence”into an ethical emotion covering all members of the universe—honesty.Mencius forced out people s true feelings by setting up situations and making use of the strong impact of external emergencies on people,so as to find people s moral emotional noumenon—the heart of compassion once and for all.“Respect”“Filial Piety”“Benevolence”“Sincerity”“Compassion”this is the logical evolution process of witchcraft and ethical emotion in the Pre-Qin Period.