Intention and Action——A Philosophical Interpretation of Wang Yangming' s Doctrine of “Uniting Knowledge with Action”

“知行合一”被看作王阳明标志性的哲学观点之一.王阳明有关知行合一的思想比较复杂,它由很多命题构成.文章着重讨论知行合一这个命题所包含的一个一般性的哲学问题:在道德行动中,意向与行动究竟是什么关系?通过逐一分析王阳明的相关论述:好恶属行,念动是知亦是行,意是行之始,知是行之始,我们发现,在意向与行动的关系问题上,王阳明的理解已经涉及作为行动的意向、作为善良意志的意向这些层面.前者有将有意识的行动与用以行动的意向融合的倾向,后者则注意到意向与意欲或意愿的联系.由于王阳明在使用“意”这个名词时并未自觉地意识到其不同面向,在其论述中产生了一定的混乱或自相矛盾.王阳明的思路是:假设人都有行善的善良意愿,从而使得行善就变成听从或顺应自己内心召唤的简单之事,对于当代道德哲学、行动哲学的相关讨论不无启发,也许行动的最终源泉既不是理性计算,也不是感性冲动,而在于行动者固有的美德.

Intention and Action——A Philosophical Interpretation of Wang Yangming’s Doctrine of “Uniting Knowledge with Action"

The doctrine of "Unity of Knowledge and Action" is regarded as one of representative philosophical insights of Wang Yangming.This essay focuses on a general philosophical issue which is embodied in the accounts of this doctrine,i.e.what is on earth the relationship between intention and action in moral acts? The essay investigates in details the related propositions of Wang Yangming.The intention Wang Yangming refers involves the intention as act and intention as good will.In the former tense,Wang inclines to corporate conscious action with the intention to act.In the later sense,Wang actually see the relation between intention and desire or will.The main idea of Wang Yangming is that doing morally means doing according to one’s own conscience if everyone has the good will to do morally,which suggest that the origin of moral acts does not lie in the rational calculation or the impulse of sensibility but the innate virtue of agent.