亚当·斯密的同情概念解析

同情是亚当·斯密伦理学的核心概念,但在其定义上仍有争议,表现为两个问题:其一,同情是否是情感;其二,同情是否是情感理解能力。从斯密的文本看,同情是旁观者的情感,来源于想象的处境转换;然而,旁观者在同情过程中不一定会转换为当事人的心理状态,因此,同情不是对情感的理解或理解能力,而是为评价当事人的情感是否具有合宜性提供参照。虽然否定同情是情感理解能力,但这并不代表斯密主张忽视他人的实际情感。相反,同情为有差异的个体情感创造了交流的基础,自我和他人在相互同情中达成一致,这也是道德生活的基础。斯密通过对同情概念的不同诠释,开出了一条不同于利己主义和利他主义的道德建构之路。澄清同情的含义,不仅有助于理解斯密的理论,也为涉及这一概念的其他研究(如镜像神经元)提供了清晰的理论资源。     

自然情感与道德原则的双向涵摄——儒家之仁对传统中国人的型塑

仁是儒家思想的核心,对仁的研究是学界恒常的热点,但多将仁视为道德原则。本文认为,儒家的仁作为道德原则的意义和价值是不容置疑的,但同时不能忽视仁的情感层面和实践层面。完整的仁的思想是人的自然情感、现实生活中人的情感—道德实践和道德原则—境界三者合一的有机体。自然情感是仁的起点和基础;人的情感—道德实践是仁从自然情感之仁向道德原则之仁的趋近与提升。在儒家仁的思想中,人与仁在一定阶段中是重合的,人从自然人向社会人、道德人的趋近的过程也是仁从自然情感之仁向道德原则和道德境界之仁趋近的过程。可以说,是仁在不断地对自然人加以约束、限制,使之趋向于社会人和道德人,是仁塑造了传统中国人及其生活样式。     

论亚当·斯密同情理论的发生机制

18世纪的英国道德哲学家亚当·斯密构建了以同情为基础的道德哲学体系,试图解决道德判断的本质问题,他尤其凸显了想象在整个同情过程中发挥的关键作用。以往的研究者们大都已经注意到了这一点,但本文旨在通过深入阐述想象在情感传递中的运作机理,进而更清晰地呈现斯密同情理论的发生机制。"公正的旁观者"在斯密的同情发生机制中扮演着最终审判者的角色,它是斯密在经验观察的基础上抽象出的一个理想概念,也是斯密追求道德判断客观化的一个逻辑结果。     

“同情”的政治哲学诠释:定义、性质与类型

同情,是指看到或想象到他人的不幸经历或处境时,由于感同身受而引起的难过情感。从定义上看,同情与怜悯、同理心、移情、伙伴感等近义词不尽相同。从性质上看,作为一种政治美德的同情是一种善的情感;从类型上看,同情大致能划分为情感的、意志的与德性的三种类型。作为德性的同情,是作为情感与意志的同情的升华。它强调同情的内心私密体验与外在共同道德经验的统一性与完整性,包含了对善的动机与实践的共同考量。作为自然情感与社会道德结合的载体,成为美德的同情具有重要的正义指向。     

德性悖论及其消解之道

美国汉学家倪德卫提出了一个类似于美诺"知识悖论"的"德性悖论":如果一个人愿意接受道德教育,他一定已经有了德性;如果他没有德性,就根本不会去接受道德教育。如此,则道德教育和学习似乎要么不必要,要么不可能。"德性悖论"对儒家思想提出了某种挑战:不"欲仁"者如何可能转变为"欲仁","小人"如何可能"立乎其大"?但是"德性悖论"预设了错误的前提,道德教养可以在没有明确的道德意向的时候就发生,它可能是出于理性自我利益的考虑,也可能是先天本性的自然流露,或者习焉不察地受到社会影响。伴随着道德经验和反思能力的发展,人才会对道德和自我形成一种总体性的理解,发生自我作为道德主体以及道德意向的顿悟。孟荀殊途而同归,可以消解"德性悖论"的挑战。     

“休谟问题”再思考——基于同情、旁观者和效用原则的考察

休谟提出了从“是”到“应当”何以可能的问题,但并没有否定人们道德判断和道德哲学作为一门精神科学而得以建立的可能性.相反,他孜孜以求的目标恰恰是要以同情原则为基础,并辅之以旁观者与效用原则来弥合“是”与“应当”之间的断裂,从而建立一门科学的道德学说.20世纪情感主义者对这一问题的“发挥”显然是休谟本人始料未及的.     

共同体感与道德赋能——论共同善的情感基础与实践机制

共同善是伦理学的一个重要范畴,但公共与私人、共同体与自我之间的冲突常常会导致现实中面对"共同善"时难以回避的道德两难困境。对共同体与个人何者优先的不同回答,会导致对"共同善"概念的不同理解。若把共同善建基于个体自我关切的互惠互利,则容易陷入"单元论"的谬误;而在交互主体性的视角中强调共同体之优先性,虽在概念上更为完备,但同样难以回应多元文化"不可通约性"的诘难。因此,要回应这一诘难并为共同善进行辩护,其中一个方案是论证"共同体感"的先天价值,为共同善建构稳固的道德情感基础。而在实践中,共同体感的先天存在无法避免共同善所遭受的冷遇及不同个体在实践中所呈现的特殊性,这一难题的解决需要我们进一步探索共同善的道德实践机制,这为激发道德感知与规范情感的道德赋能概念创造了理论和实践空间。     

略论郭店楚简《五行》思想

郭店楚简《五行》首先对“五行”一词进行了更内在的分析与理解,认为仁、义、礼、智、圣五行,形于内则谓之德之行,未形于内则谓之行。德之行五和谓之德,四行和谓之善。德,天道也;善,人道也。二者所适用的范围与所成就的境界是不同的。而如何为善,如何成德,如何集大成以成君子？简书认为仁、义、礼、智、圣五行是与心之用紧密不可分的。所以为善成德,乃在于涵摄四行、五行之心自体的和乐一同。这也就是所谓“为一”、“慎独”的工夫。君子成己亦成人,涵德兼善而集其大成。此外,《五行》还比较突出了圣智的全体作用,认为是仁义礼乐之本源。     

儒家生生伦理学对仁性的诠释

仁性即是孔子之仁、孟子之良心。仁性有两个来源:一是生长倾向,二是伦理心境。这两个来源的性质不同:生长倾向来自天生,是人的自然属性;伦理心境来自社会生活和智性思维,是人的社会属性。生长倾向是仁性不可缺少的部分,没有它,没有办法说明伦理心境以什么为根基的问题,更无法证明成德成善是一个自然的过程。伦理心境是仁性最重要的部分,是整个研究的枢纽。失去这个枢纽,既无法划分人性的自然属性与社会属性,也无法解释生长倾向在发展过程中何以能够成为道德的根据,更无法回答同样是人,但其仁性在不同文化背景下何以会有不同表现等一系列问题。生长倾向在正常情况下一定会发展为伦理心境,伦理心境也一定要建立在生长倾向的基础上。二者只是一本,不是二本。无论是生长倾向还是伦理心境都具有先在性,正是这种先在性保证了仁性可以成为道德的根据。在这一根据中没有恶的位置,恶只是善的缺乏。     

孟子对“善”观念的改造与重建

孟子将"善"纳入人性论,通过明确人本原的自发的道德倾向,"性善"成了道德所以可能的基础。在"性善"观念中,"善"的含义就是"道德善",它是人类共同体秩序和道德的表达,因此道德的含义就是人自然的道德倾向与人类"共同善"之间的统一。以"向善"的共同趋向为基础,人类的"基本善"就是一种实存的价值,"公义"也因此成为可能。基于此,建立一个"善的"人间秩序不仅是可欲的,而且是可行的。     

Mencius’ refutation of Yang Zhu and Mozi and the theoretical implication of Confucian benevolence and love

Confucianism defined benevolence with “feelings” and “love.” “Feelings” in Confucianism can be mainly divided into three categories: feelings in general (seven kinds of feelings), love for one’s relatives, and compassion (Four Commencements). The seven kinds of feeling in which people respond to things can be summarized as “likes and dislikes.” The mind responds to things through feelings; based on the mind of benevolence and righteousness or feelings of compassion, the expression of feelings can conform to the principle of the mean and reach the integration of self and others, and of self and external things. The “relations between the seven kinds of feelings and the Four Commencements,” however, was not developed into a theoretical idea in Confucianism. After Confucius, the relationship between the universality of natural sympathies and the gradation of love for relatives gradually became an important subject in Confucian ideas of benevolence and love. By “refuting Yang Zhu and Mozi,” Mencius systematically expounded on this issue. Love had two ends: self-love and natural sympathies, between which existed the love for relatives. These two ends were not the two extremes of Yang’s self-interest and Mozi’s universal love. Love for relatives not only implied a gradation, but also contained universality and transcendence that came from self-love. Love for relatives, natural sympathies and self-love had a kind of tension and connectivity between two dynamic ends. The Confucian idea of benevolence and love hence demonstrated differences and interconnectivity. An accurate understanding of such “feelings” and “love” is important for us to grasp Confucian thoughts on benevolence and its realization.     

Perceived Morality and Antiatheist Prejudice: A Replication and Extension

Recent evidence suggests that, although moral distrust drives antiatheist prejudice, certain types of morality are central: Perceived atheist moral capacity for caring and compassion appears to be central, whereas perceived atheist moral capacity for fairness, in-group loyalty, deferential respect, or purity/decency is not (Simpson & Rios, 2017). Here, we extend this research. First, we conceptually replicated experimental effects: Manipulating the perception that atheists strongly versus weakly value morality affects antiatheist prejudice much more strongly if the type of morality relates to caring/compassion rather than purity/sanctity (N = 162; U.S. Christian theists recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk). This finding was particularly strong among White participants. Second, we provide evidence for cross-national replication of correlational findings among Australian undergraduate theists (N = 85; recruited from the University of Melbourne) as well as evidence to suggest that the type of perceived morality that predicts prejudice differs according to the social group in question. Specifically, only perceived atheist concern for caring/compassion reliably predicted antiatheist prejudice, whereas perceived Jewish concern caring/compassion and in-group loyalty predicted anti-Jewish prejudice. Results reinforce existing evidence that increasing perceptions of atheist benevolence will help reduce antiatheist prejudice and provide novel support for social-functionalist theories of prejudice.     

Rediscovering compassion

There is a growing concern in our society that compassion is a dying virtue, gradually being strangled by narcissism, competition, prejudice, and revenge. Yet psychologists, philosophers, and theologians agree that compassion is at the heart of the behavior that keeps individuals, families, institutions, and societies alive, namely, caring, altruism, justice, morality, and love. This article is meant to be a step in the direction of rediscovering compassion in the light of current knowledge so that the virtue, resuscitated, will once again be seen to be alive and well in our world. To this end, the article discusses the nature, types, and development of compassion.Michael E. Cavanagh, Ph.D., is a pastoral consultant and conductor of workshops. He makes his home in Tiburon, California.     

Communication for Life in Cyberspace

Cyberspace communication is a key driving force of the neoliberal globalization that has led to worldwide crisis. Despite some positive perspectives, cyberspace communication has played a crucial role in the dominance of global markets by transnational corporations. The ethical foundations of the problematics of cyberspace communication lie in a social Darwinism that leads to ruthless competition based on egoistic morality. This article posits the notion of love as an alternative ethics, drawing on perspectives of Christian love (especially those of US ethicist Paul Ramsey) as unselfish love for others, as well as on East Asian traditions of love (such as Buddhist compassion, Confucian jen, and Korean jung). The article argues that unselfish love offers a perspective to overcome an anthropocentric perspective of communication. In this way, human beings can build a community with all living beings and develop harmonious relationships with them to live together on the earth.     

The Values of Confucian Benevolence and the Universality of the Confucian Way of Extending Love

The spirit of Confucianism, which holds benevolence as its core value, has positive significance in the dialogue between civilizations and in the construction of global ethics. The values represented in Confucian benevolence are similar to the values in Christian Charity. Confucian values such as the doctrine of magnanimity, the idea of putting oneself in the place of another, and the Confucian way of extending love and favors, are crucial resources to hold in close connection with the relationship between human beings and nature, individuals and society, self and others, and one and oneself. The Confucian idea of “differentiated love” is a concrete and practical idea, which can be extended to be “universal love.” Furthermore, the Confucian way of extending love can also be interpreted as eco-ethical: On the one hand, Confucianism affirms the intrinsic value of the universe and calls for a universal moral concern for the ecological world; on the other hand, it recognizes a distinction between human beings and the nature, revealing an eco-ethical awareness of distinction and a consciousness of the differentiation between different ethical spheres. In extracting the instrumental value of ecological resources, Confucians never disregard the intrinsic value of animals and plants. Confucianism puts emphasis on subjectivity, especially the subjectivity of morality. Relationships between man and himself, between self and others, however, are inter-subjective. For Confucians, the universe exists and grows in the process of perfecting oneself, others, and the world. Such an understanding is of modern significance for the exchange and dialogue between civilizations, and the growth of personality and the mental regulation of gentleman today.     

On Luo Congyan’s Ethics

Luo Congyan put forward the idea that benevolence is the substance while righteousness is its function, which placed the intrinsic value of human beings on a more fundamental position and affirmed the unity of benevolent principle and universal norms from the perspective of the relationship between substance and function. The unity of benevolence and righteousness involves the connection between value and norms, and the latter relate to the relationship between morality and law in the broader sense. On the basis of the idea of using both benevolence and righteousness, Luo Congyan examined the relationship between morality and law. Corresponding to the emphasis on the role of both law and political power, Luo Congyan concerned himself with how to establish rational interpersonal relationships in various ways. Furthermore, Luo Congyan emphasized the significance of behavior in everyday life, while he affirmed that the universal principle should be followed. In this way, he developed the earlier Confucian thought. Translated from Studies in Ethics by Xiao Mo     

谈《疏五过论》的五种过错对当今医生的教育意义

传统的医学道德观认为：“医乃仁术”、“生命至贵”等就是“‘大医精诚”。医者要做到“大医精诚”,就要避免《疏五过论》中医者的五种过错,使患者保持健康的生命。所以,医生要以严谨认真的工作态度,充分了解患者的病情;以生物心理社会医学模式来处理患者;不能急功近利,追求名誉,应常怀仁爱之心建立和谐的医惠关系。医生处理患者的态度及自身的道德修养直接影响患者的健康和生命,这种理念应该成为医生终生追求的目标,这样才能顺应新医改的要求。     

Effectiveness of a moral and benevolent leader: Probing the interactions of the dimensions of paternalistic leadership

Paternalistic leadership has three dimensions: authoritarianism, benevolence and morality. Although it is important to understand how these dimensions interact to impact leadership effectiveness, previous studies have failed to identify consistent interaction effects of these dimensions, probably because of the high intercorrelations among the three dimensions. By manipulating the three dimensions independently in an experimental study ( N  = 265 Taiwanese employees), we found that: (i) benevolence and morality increased subordinates' deference to supervisor and work motivation, although authoritarianism was unrelated to these outcomes; and (ii) benevolence and morality interacted to affect the same employee outcomes. Specifically, benevolent and moral leaders elicited more favourable employee outcomes than leaders exhibiting other leadership styles.     

论"孝"与"仁"的关联维度

在儒家的理论体系中,“孝”与“仁”之间具有深层的关联维度。“血缘亲情”是二者关联的现实起点,“人性本善”是价值基础,“能近取譬”是思维方法。“孝”与“仁”之间的层级性的差异与连续性统一,生成一种认识、价值与实践层面的必要张力。     

The Mandate of Empathy

Confucian thinkers seem to have had something like our present concept of empathy long before that notion was self-consciously available in the West. Wang Yang-Ming’s talk of forming one body with others and similar ideas in the writings of Cheng Hao and, much earlier, of Mengzi make it clear that the Confucian traditions not only had the idea of empathy but saw its essential relation to phenomena like compassion, benevolence, and sympathy that are constitutive of the altruistic side of morality. Nowadays, there is increasing interest among Western psychologists and philosophers in the phenomenon of empathy, and it would be lovely and welcome if, having originated these ideas, Chinese philosophers would now take up and help develop what has recently been said and done about empathy, and its relation to altruism, in the West.