西学视野下先秦儒法间所谓“德治”之辨

The Debate on the So-called“Rule by Morality”or“Rule by Law”between the Pre-Qin Confucianism and Legalism from the Perspective of Western Learning

所谓儒家主张“德治”与法家主张“法治”,是20世纪初西方法理学在中国刻意建构二元对立的概念范畴的结果,“先秦法家反‘德治’说”与中国古代法哲学的实际生态相抵触。“敬德保民”是先秦儒法二家共同的思想渊源。先秦法家反对过分强调忠、孝、贤、行等个人品德,是反对泛道德主义,而不是主张非道德主义。先秦法家的反儒家倾向及西方法理学对道德和法律关系的争论,直接导致“先秦法家反‘德治’说”在近代中国的产生与流布,梁启超等人为此负有责任。“德”是先秦儒法二家共同诠释的概念,法家倾向于将“德”视为物质,从“德”的衍生意义看,其反对的“德”是私德而非公德。其始终倡导与追求“治”,即稳定的统治秩序,不支持暴政,而是提倡最基本的政治道德以作为约束恶政的条件。为此,法家尝试重构“德”的内涵,将“法”作为表征,提倡更加高效的“法治主义”以迎合富国强兵的总目标。近代西学对中国法学界的“斧凿”,以“德治”为适例,必须予以反思与破除。

The so-called“rule by morality”advocated by Confucianism and“rule by law”advocated by Legalism is the result of the western jurisprudence deliberately constructing the conceptual category of dualism in China at the beginning of the 20th century.Pre-Qin Legalists'anti-rule by morality theory contradicts the actual ecology of ancient Chinese legal philosophy.“Revering morality and protecting the people”was the common ideological origin of Confucianism and Legalism in Pre-Qin period.The Pre-Qin Legalists opposed the overemphasis on personal virtues such as loyalty,filial piety,virtue,and good behavior,which was against pan-moralism rather than advocating non-moralism.The Pre-Qin Legalists'anti-Confucianism tendency and the western jurisprudential debate on the relationship between morality and law directly led to the emergence and circulation of the Pre-Qin Legalists'anti-rule by morality theory in modern China,for which Liang Qichao and his friends were responsible for this.“Morality”is a concept interpreted jointly by Confucianism and Legalism in Pre-Qin period.Legalists tend to regard“morality”as material.From the derivative meaning of“morality”,the“morality”they oppose is private morality rather than public morality.They always advocate and pursue“wellgovernance”,that is,stable ruling order.They do not support tyranny,but advocate the most basic political morality as a condition to restrain bad governance.To this end,Legalists tried to reconstruct the connotation of“morality”,took“law”as a symbol,and advocated more efficient“rule by law”to meet the overall goal of enriching the country and strengthening the army.Taking"rule by morality"as a fitting example,Chinese scholars must reflect on and destroy the“artificiality”of modern western learning on Chinese legal circle.