新中国法与自由关系研究七十年述评

A Review of the Research on the Relationship Between Law and Freedom in the Past 70 Years of the People’s Republic of China

新中国成立以来,对法与自由关系的讨论经历了扬弃、进一步反思和精细化阶段,逐步走向科学化。在概念和关系问题上,与消极自由和积极自由的分类相关,自由概念可以区分为作为“人的解放”的自由、作为“权利”的自由和作为“自由权”的自由,法律与不同的自由表现为不同的关系。在合理性和位阶问题上,三者都有置于最高价值的合理性;但只有作为“自由权”的自由,即外在的行为自由,在某种意义上才可能与其他价值同等重要。正是在概念问题上向“外在的行为自由”的转向,我国在21世纪开启了对法律限制自由的原则与限度的讨论。外在的行为自由又可以分为无序的、需要规制的自由以及优良的、值得追求的自由,对两种不同概念的使用实际上推动了“法律限制自由”和“法律保障自由”哪一个是主要关系的讨论。而对自由限度的讨论仍然会随着社会生活的变迁及新挑战的不断涌现而成为法伦理学和政治哲学的核心议题之一。

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China,the discussion on the relationship between law and freedom has gone through a stage of sublation,further reflection and refinement,and has gradually become scientific.On the question of concepts and relations,related to the classification of negative freedom and positive freedom,the concept of freedom can be divided into freedom as“liberation”,freedom as“rights”and freedom as“liberty”.In the question of rationality and rank,all three have the legitimacy to be placed at the highest value,but there is only the third kind of freedom,that is,external freedom of action may in some sense be as important as other values.Moreover,it is the turning to“external freedom of action”in the concept that opens the discussion on the principles and limits of legal restriction of liberty in the 21st century.The external freedom of action can be divided into disorderly liberty,the liberty that needs regulation,and the good liberty that is worth pursuing,the use of the two different concepts actually promotes the discussion of which is the main relationship between“laws are used to restrict liberty”and“laws are used to guarantee liberty”.With the changes of social life and the emergence of new challenges,the discussion on the limits of freedom will become one of the core issues of legal ethics and political philosophy.