论孟子“推扩”现象的心理运作机制

On the Psychological Mechanism of Mencius’s Philosophy of“Extension”

“推恩”一词首见《孟子·梁惠王上》“以羊易牛”章。字面上,“推恩”是指对“恩”的“推扩”,因此为了澄清“推恩”的含义,有必要首先对“推扩”做出解释。概括地说,作为一种心理现象,“推扩”是指人们在相似的情境中产生相似的情感反应。这个过程即孟子所说的“举斯心加诸彼”。“举……加诸……”的形式表明,“推扩”是一种人们主动发起的行为。为了理解这种主动性,有必要区分出情感的当下呈现与主动呈现。一个完整的“推扩”过程是一个情感以其当下呈现为起点而主动呈现的过程。为了实现“推扩”,人们需要实现情境的转化,亦即需要与自己曾经经历过的触动事件建立某种联系。情境转化的前提,在于人们以自身本有之四心为对象的“内省之思”。

The term“Tui En”was introduced in Mengzi 1A7.Literally,it means“the extension of kind-ness”.Therefore,to elucidate the meaning of“Tui En”,it is essential to understand the concept of“extension”first.Psychologically,“extension”refers to the process where individuals elicit similar emotional responses in analogous situations.This process is precisely what Mencius described as“taking this heart-mind and applying it to other occasions”.This implies that extension is an action that individuals actively make.To understand this activeness,one must distinguish between the immediate emergence of emotions from those deliberate ones.A complete process of extension includes the deliberate expression of emotions that were initially spontaneous.Achieving extension requires one to transform the current situation:to associate the present occasion with some past events where they were touched.The foundation for such transformation of situation lies in introspective reflection on the inherent“four hearts”that all individuals possess.