先秦儒家义利观探析

Analysis of the Pre-Qin Confucianists’Concept of Justice and Benefit

以孔子、孟子、荀子为代表的先秦儒家,在义利观上的深刻洞见奠定了中国古代儒家伦理思想的基本路向。先秦儒家认为,礼义与利益并非单线统摄,而是双向互动的关系。义利既可两有,又会相互冲突。面对义利冲突,先秦儒家主张通过礼义的方式去解决和调节公私、群己、人我的利益冲突,并针对性地提出了“义以为上”“义之与比”“见利思义”“义然后取”的义利抉择原则,其内在根据是“义以为质”,把义视为人之所以为人的本质规定,从而将人是什么、应该做什么人、怎样做人这些根本问题统合到如何做一个仁人义士的问题上,为儒家君子成德之教的展开奠定了基础。先秦儒家对义利观的思考,对于新时代社会主义义利观的建构具有重要的借鉴意义。

Represented by Confucius,Mencius and Xunzi,the profound insight into the pre-Qin Confucianists’concept of justice and benefit has laid the foundation for the basic orientation of the ancient Chinese Confucian ethics.The pre-Qin Confucianists believed that justice and benefit were not controlled by a single line but by two-way interaction.Justice and benefit can coexist and conflict with each other.In the face of the conflict between justice and benefit,the pre-Qin Confucianists advocated solving the conflict of benefits between the public and the private,the group and the individual,as well as oneself and others by the means of justice.The pre-Qin Confucianists put forward the principles of“giving priority to justice”,“being on the side of what is right”,“being not tempted by riches”and“taking when it is consistent with righteousness to do so”.The internal basis of this concept is to take justice as essential,to be exact,justice is regarded as the essential definition of what makes a human being.Thus,such fundamental questions as what a man is,what a man should be,and how to be a man are all integrated into the question of how to be a righteous man with lofty ideals,which has laid the foundation for the development of the Confucianists’paideia for virtue.The pre-Qin Confucianists’thought on the concept of justice and benefit is of great significance for the construction of the socialist concept of justice and benefit in the new era.