儒学工夫视域下王艮“反求诸己”的向度

On the Dimension of Wang Gen’s Seeking the Cause in Oneself from the Perspective of Confucian Practice Approach

工夫论是宋明理学明确提出的哲学范畴,其内涵是指道德主体为提升修养境界而付出的行为实践。“反求诸己”作为工夫范围内贯穿始终的线索,自然成为关注的重点。“反求诸己”的明确提出最早见于孟子,他认为在面对物欲对本心的遮蔽中,“反求诸己”是求其“放心”的根本手段。在承袭孟子的基础上,王艮的工夫论明显带有“反求诸己”的思维指向,具体表现在以身为本的修己成人的“成圣”观、于日用流行之中践行天理良知之道的实践观以及反躬内向的乐学思想中。在儒学工夫视域下探讨王艮“反求诸己”的向度对于理解和把握其工夫内蕴具有一定的意义。

The practice approach is a philosophical category of the Confucian school of idealist philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties,and its connotation is the moral action of moral subject to improve the realm of self-cultivation.Seeking the cause in oneself is treated as a consecutive clue in the scope of the practice approach.It is natural to become the focus of attention.Seeking the cause in oneself was first explicitly put forward by Mencius,who thought that seeking the cause in oneself was the fundamental means to search for the lost heart in the face of the material desires’obscuring of one’s own heart.On the basis of inheriting Mencius,Wang Gen’s theory of the practice approach obviously has the thinking direction of seeking the cause in oneself.It is embodied in the idea of“turning saint”by cultivating one’s moral character,the idea of practical viewpoint in the scope of daily routine,and the thoughts of practicing the natural principle of the conscience’s method bonded between true happiness and realization.It is of a certain significance to understand and grasp the connotation of the dimension of Wang Gen’s seeking the cause in oneself from the perspective of Confucian practice approach.