孔子对西周以来传统“德”观念的继承与超越

Confucius’Inheritance and Transcendence of the Traditional“De”Concept since the Western Zhou Dynasty

从先秦时期“德”观念的动态演变历程来看,孔子顺应了西周以来“德”观念向内面化发展的历史趋势,在充分继承传统之“德”所蕴含的政治理性因素的同时,更加突出强调统治者自身的内在道德自觉。孔子将“仁”从隶属于“德”的众多子目中拣择出来,其关于“仁”的学说之创立,是对传统“德”观念进行超越的重要表征,把“德”改造为真正意义上的伦理道德概念。

From the dynamic evolution of“De”concept during the pre-Qin period,it was clear that Confucius conformed to the historical trend of the internalizing development of“De”concept since the Western Zhou Dynasty.While fully inheriting the political rationality of the traditional“De”concept,Confucius highly emphasized the inner moral awareness of rulers.Confucius selected“benevolence”from the numerous sub-categories of“De”concept.The establishment of his doctrine on“benevolence”was an important representation of transcending the traditional“De”concept and transformed“De”into a concept of ethics and morality.