从“不安”到“不忍”——孟子对孔子人己思想的发展

From“Uneasiness”to“Intolerance”:Mencius'Development of Confucius' Thought on Other-and-I Relationship

历史上人们将孔孟并称,忽视了二者思想之间的差异。孔孟思想之间的一个重要差异就体现在人己关系问题上,而这又可以通过“不安”与“不忍”两个概念反映出来。孔子认为正是“不安”使得我们能够仁义地对待他人。虽然“不安”与“不忍”都涉及自我与他人以及二者之间的关系,但是二者之间存在差别:“不安”是以他者为中心的,正是他人的悲惨处境激发了我的不安,我为他人感到不安;“不忍”则是以自我为中心的,不忍是一种自我的内在能力,我们之所以不忍心看到他人受苦,之所以对他人做出仁义之举,是因为我们怀有不忍之心。因此,孟子把孔子的“不安”转换成“不忍”,实际上是强化了自我的道德主体地位,使得自我在道德上具有主体性。不过,这也容易使道德变成自我对他人的强加,这些都对中国伦理产生了深远影响。

Historically,people regarded Confucius and Mencius as equally significantly great thinkers,ignoring the differences between their thoughts.A key difference lies in their ideas on the Other-and-I relationship,which is fully demonstrated through the concepts of“uneasiness”and“intolerance”.Confucius believed that we treat others with kindness and justice out of“uneasiness”.Although both“uneasiness”and“intolerance”involve the individual and others and the relationship between them,there are some differences.“Uneasiness”is others-centered,and it is others'misery that inspires our uneasiness and makes us feel uneasy for others.At the same time,“intolerance”is self-centered,and a kind of inner ability of our own,the use of which is subject to us.The reason we cannot tolerate the suffering of others and we treat others with kindness and justice is our intolerance.Therefore,Mencius strengthened the moral subject status of the individual while making him morally self-dominant by changing Confucius'“uneasiness”into“intolerance”.However,this also tends to make morality a self-imposed act on others and profoundly impacts Chinese ethics.