西塞罗“人民”“共和”思想的哲学考察及其意义研究

A Philosophical Exploration of Cicero's Ideas of“People”and“Republic”and Their Significance

在继承和批判古希腊政治哲学思想的基础上,结合古罗马“王制”和“共和”的发展历史,西塞罗提出了一套以自然法理论为基础,以正义观念为原则,以基于权利的一致和利益的共同而结合起来的共同体为内容,以“混合制”政治制度为形式的“人民”至上“共和”思想,目的是为人类社会构建一个真正理想的“共和国”,为人类社会的发展指明方向。在西方政治哲学从传统转变到现代的复杂发展过程中,西塞罗的“人民”“共和”思想对后来基督教神正论的产生和近代的社会契约论等政治哲学理论的提出,乃至当代西方政治哲学的发展,都产生了极大的影响。当然,西塞罗的政治哲学思想并非完美无缺,其对于“理想”社会的追求,多少带有“乌托邦”的性质,如对为什么“混合制”是最好的,它是如何可能的?“人民”的内涵外延是什么?“人民”至上需要什么限制条件等关键问题缺少有效论证等。这些正是后来者应加强研究的。

Since its very beginning Western political philosophy has attached importance to the study of the􀆵"public sphere", especially the study of the􀆵"city-state" and􀆵"citizenship".It has put forward many ideas that have been influential in later Western political philosophy.However in Cicero's view these studies were no longer able to explain the political situation of Rome.In this regard based on the ancient Greek political philosophy and the history of the development of the Rome􀆵"kingship" and􀆵"republic", Cicero proposed a set of principles based on the theory of natural law, the concept of justice, and a community based on the unity of rights and common interests, the form of􀆵"mixed" political system, and the "supremacy of the people" as the core, with the purpose of showing the direction for the development of human society.For the first time, Cicero clearly regarded􀆵"natural law" as the foundation of Western political philosophy.He believed that the Romans were firmly convinced that􀆵"nature" had its own laws and that people could only live happily if they lived in accordance with these􀆵"natural laws".Thus, "natural law" became the theoretical basis of Cicero's political philosophy.Such a life must be a􀆵"public life" in which people gather together in accordance with the principles of justice.Therefore the􀆵"principle of justice" becomes the prerequisite and condition of􀆵"public life".However such􀆵"justice" is no longer an􀆵"idea" related to abstract relations such as“good and evil”but a“principle”that guides life.This inevitably leads to a connection with the concrete content of people s“rights”and“interests”.On this basis,Cicero put forward his famous republican idea,taking into account the unique history of Rome's development,especially the shift from“imperialism”to“republicanism”.He believed that only a“mixture”of“monarchy”,“democracy”and“republicanism”would be the best political system.The key to this is to reflect the idea of“supremacy of the people”.Such a“mixed system”and the idea of“supremacy of the people”have had a great influence on the emergence of Christian theism and modern political philosophy such as the social contract theory,and even on the development of contemporary Western political philosophy.However,Cicero's political philosophy is somewhat utopian in its pursuit of an“ideal”society,and lacks concern for realpolitik.On some key issues,effective arguments are still lacking.For example,why is a“mixed system”the best,and how is it possible?Another example is that the concept of“the people”is not clear,because“people first”may lead to“mob”politics and,under some conditions,to“totalitarianism”.There is no clear understanding of what“people first”means.Therefore,Cicero does not discuss enough the restrictive conditions of the“supremacy of the people”and so on.