性命之辨:儒家思想中的道德运气问题

The Discussion of Xing and Ming: The Issue of Moral Luck in Confucian Thought

性命之辨是中国哲学中的一个重要议题,不仅具有浓郁的道德意蕴,而且与现代道德运气问题内在相通。儒家虽然承认命运对人生具有重要的影响甚至是决定作用,但是将其限制在如贫富、寿夭等向外追求的领域,而坚决否认运气对于道德品性的决定作用。从德性生成的角度来说,所有人都具有仁心善性,因此并不存在所谓生成运气的问题;从德性养成的角度来说,虽然德性养成的过程中会遭遇原因运气、环境运气、结果运气,但是儒家认为这些运气因素都是外在于内在德性的,它们只会影响人们的行为,不能影响更不能决定人们内在的道德品性。因此,儒家在道德运气问题上实际上与西方伦理走上了一条不同的道路。

The discussion of Xing and Ming is an important topic in Chinese philosophy,not only with rich moral implications but also intrinsically connected to modern moral luck.Confucianism,while recognizing that fate had a significant impact on,or even played a decisive role in one’s life,limited it to external pursuits such as wealth and longevity,and firmly denied that luck had a determining role in one’s moral character.From the perspective of virtue generation,all people possessed benevolent hearts and good natures,so there was no phenomenon of the so-called generated luck;from the perspective of virtue cultivation,although moral character cultivation may encounter causal luck,circumstantial luck,and resultant luck,Confucianism held that these luck factors were external to one’s inner moral character,which only affected people’s behaviors,and can’t exert effect on or determine people’s inner moral character.Therefore,Confucianism actually took a different path from Western ethics on the issue of moral luck.