德性与权利:《大学》的政治之道

Virtue and Rights:The Way of DAXUE

近代以来,无论中西,以个人的权利为核心建构政治法律,成为了核心的理念。然而,随着20世纪中期开始对自然权利论的检讨,以及近年来亚里士多德的德性观念和美德法理学的兴起,德性在政治法律建构中逐渐开始成为与个人权利具有竞争性的概念。但两者之间似乎水火不容,非此即彼。中国古典政治法律思想向来被视为以德性为导向,具有集体主义的道德倾向,而忽略个人之权利。而事实上,儒家要典《大学》,并非如旧时所认只是心性之学,而更具有深刻的政治思考。从《大学》历来的两种解释传统和其文本中分析可得,其明德、修身之论,并非仅止于个人的身心性命之学,亦广及于家国天下人类公共秩序的建立。其所欲建构的家国天下的公共秩序,是以修身为核心而展开的个人生活为根本所回应的人生困境,既包括对身心而言的人之为人德性的实现,也包括对家国天下而言的个人属身生活的权利保障。因而,中国古典政治法律思想并非向来所认定的忽视个人,其公共秩序的构建恰恰以个人生活为中心,只是其思想同时指向了个人的德性与权利。《大学》的政治关怀将个人的德性与权利糅为一体,以回应人在世间生活的双重困境,既有关于人的德性完满,又有关于个人权利的保障以实现良善的公共生活。

Since modern times,China and The West have constructed politics and Law with individual right as the core.However,with the review of the theory of natural rights in the mid-20th century and the rise of Aristotle’s concept of virtue and virtue jurisprudence in recent years,virtue has gradually become a competitive concept with individual right in political construction.But the two seem to be incompatible,either one or the other.Chinese classical political and legal thoughts have always been regarded as virtue oriented and collectivist moral tendency,ignoring individual rights.In fact,is important,and Chinese classic Daxue in Confucianism is not only the study of mind and nature what we know in the past,but more profound political thinking.From the two interpretation traditions and the text analysis of Daxue,we can see that the theory of morality and self-cultivation is not only limited to individuals,but also extends to the establishment of human public order in the country and the world.It includes not only the realization of human virtue in the public order of the world what it wants to build,but also the protection of the right of individual life in terms of family,country and the world.The political concern of Daxue integrates individual virtue and right to respond to the double dilemma of human life in the world,which is not only about the perfection of human virtue,but also about the protection of individual rights.