作为目的和方法的人类

Humanity as Purpose and Method

在现代化过程中,关于“作为方法的亚洲”和“作为方法的中国”的讨论实质上是强调从“世界作为方法”到“世界作为目的”的转变,凸显了“非西方”世界的主体性及其建构。然而,无论是“以世界为方法”还是“以世界为目的”,在根本处都是存在无忧的。“世界怎么了、我们怎么办”的实质是“人类何去何从”,人类面临整体性生存危机,亟需我们转向“人类”的叙事。当今时代,个体与类一定程度上已互为本体,“人类”必须同时作为“目的”和“方法”。“以人类为目的”意在凸显群体、个体的主体地位,它与那些不“以人类为目的”而只是本能地“以自己为目的”的狭隘个人主义、民族主义、地域主义有着本质的区别。不过,当今时代人们更需要自觉地“以人类为方法”。作为方法的人类,意味着一种人类整体的视野和情怀、人类共同主体的自觉、人类原则高度的规范。中国提出弘扬全人类共同价值、构建人类命运共同体、创造人类文明新形态等主张,都贯穿着“人类”逻辑,是“以天下观天下”“以天下为天下”的智慧结晶,是既“以人类为目的”又“以人类为方法”的行动方案。增强中国哲学社会科学的主体性,不应被简单地理解为增强民族性及其对人类性的贡献,而是要自觉地加强基于人类性的民族性提升,实现更高层次的民族性与人类性的统一。或者说,“以中国为方法”的最高境界乃是自觉地“以人类为目的和方法”。

Discussions of Asian and Chinese methods for managing the processes of modernization underscore the transformation from taking the world as a method to taking the world as a purpose,and such discussions also highlight non-Western subjectivity and the ways that it has been constructed.For China,the notions of“China as a method"and“the world as a purpose"are both necessary and inevitable.Most of the current studies on Chinese modernity,the Chinese path to modernization,and the philosophical and social sciences with Chinese characteristics are dedicated to more deeply interpreting and understanding such notions.However,these interpretations are faced with two interrelated dilemmas:how should the Chinese approach be distinguished from general ideas about nationalism,and how should the universal concerns that are central to the Chinese approach respond to Western accusations that this represents a kind of China threat theory?For the whole world,there is an additional dilemma concerning how to take the world as both a method and a purpose while maintaining the world's rootedness in existential carefreeness.Thus,the question“What is wrong with the world and what should we do about it?"should be changed to“What is the proper course that humanity should follow?"because humanity is facing a crisis of overall survival that compels us to turn to human narratives.