融合与创新:严复与亚当·斯密经济伦理思想比较研究

Comparative Analysis of Economic Ethical Thought between Yan Fu and Adam Smith

19世纪末,中华民族危在旦夕。为此,严复将亚当·斯密的经济伦理思想引入中国,旨在“图强”。一方面,严复对亚当·斯密的经济伦理思想赞赏有加,主要表现为二者在义利观、本末观、贫富观和奢俭观上的一致和相似。义利观上,严复对亚当·斯密提倡自利的原则大加赞赏,并将进化论思想引入经济伦理;本末观中,严复赞成本末兼重,不应顾此失彼,这一点与斯密的观点相吻合;贫富观和奢俭观上,严复与斯密都强调俭有道,奢有节,尤其重视积累的作用,并提出将节省的钱用于投资的新的消费观。此外,严复又将斯密的经济伦理思想进行创新与发展,把西方功利主义理论与中国传统的进步经济伦理思想进行融合,并受赫胥黎和斯宾塞社会进化论的影响,形成了自己的经济伦理思想体系。

At the end of the 19th century, the Chinese nation was in danger. Therefore, Yan Fu introduced Adam Smith’s economic ethics into China, aiming at“strengthening”. On the one hand, Yan Fu appreciates Adam Smith’s economic ethics, which is mainly reflected in the consistency and similarity of their views on righteousness and interests, origin and end, wealth and poverty, extravagance and frugality. In the view of justice and profit, Yan Fu praised Adam Smith for advocating the principle of self-interest, and introduced the theory of evolution into economic ethics. In the view of“origin and end”, Yan Fu agrees that the origin and end should be both important and should not lose the other,which is consistent with Smith’s view. In terms of the concept of wealth and wealth and the concept of extravagance and frugality, Both Yan Fu and Smith emphasized the virtue of frugality, extravagance and frugality, especially the role of accumulation, and put forward a new concept of consumption that saves money for investment. In addition, Yan Fu innovated and developed Smith’s economic ethics, integrated western utilitarian theory with traditional Chinese progressive economic ethics, and formed his own system of economic ethics under the influence of Huxley and Spencer’s social evolution theory.