论阳明后学对“良知即乾知”的诠释及其争论

The Interpretation and Debates of “Conscience is Qian Zhi” by Yangming School

“乾知”出自《易·系辞上》,汉唐易学多以“知解”“知觉”释“知”,并未将“乾知”看作一词。阳明心学兴起后,浙中王门的王畿使用“良知”这一阳明学的核心概念解释“乾知”,提出“良知即乾知”这一命题。王畿此说的用意在于借助大生广生之“乾知”证明“良知”亦属实体性存在。也就是说,“良知”既是道德领域无善无恶的心性概念,同时也是具有超越性的、宇宙万物的终极实在。这一思路在阳明后学以及现代新儒家处引发了一定争论。如何界定“乾知”与“良知”的关系,折射出学者对“良知”概念的不同理解。

The concept of“Qian Zhi”(乾知)came from The Book of Changes.Scholars studying The Book of Changes generally interpreted it as“Perception”since the Han and Tang Dynasties rather than taking it as an independent word.Since the rise of Yangming School,Wang Ji,the favourite disciple of Wang Yangming,interpreted it for the first time as“Conscience”,the core concept in Yangmingism,and proposed that“Conscience is Qian Zhi”.Wang Ji attempted to use the universally existing“Qian Zhi”to prove that“Conscience”is physically existent.“Conscience”is not only a concept of holy mind in the field of morality,but also the ultimate reality of the universe with transcendence.This argument had caused huge controversy among Yangming School’followers and modern neo-confucianists.Different views of the relationship between“Qian Zhi”and“Conscience”has reflected different understandings of the concept of“Conscience”.