全球伦理的儒家诠释

1 993年世界宗教大会发表的普世伦理宣言中明确指出 ,孔子思想是普世伦理基本原则的源头活水之一 ,但儒家的缺席实为一大遗憾。同年 ,亨廷顿提出“文明冲突”的构想 ,把儒家文化与伊斯兰文明相提并论 ,作为当代西方民主世界的对立面。在文化宗教领域内沉默而在经济政治领域中曝光 ,使儒家的优点黯然不彰而缺失则暴露无遗 ,这对新儒家的发展是极为不利的。孔汉思深信宗教之间的相安无事是人类社群得以和平共存的先决条件 ,其普世伦理便是通过宗教对话而消解矛盾冲突的权法 ,但其淡化和削弱的诠释策略必然导致抽象的普世主义。亨廷顿的“文明冲突”论 ,从西方 ,特别是美国的战略立场设思 ,有着浓郁的冷战情结 ,视儒家为权威主义和中国威胁论的理据。我们认为儒家具备关切政治 ,参与社会和重视文化三种属性。世界宗教集会领导小组曾提出持续性、进步、差异和了解四大议题作为构建全球伦理的基础。面对文明冲突的危险 ,我们务必强调对话的重要 ,通过文明对话来考虑生态环保、社群整合、文化多元及相互参照的可能 ,这比以抽象的普世主义为前提的伦理宣言更切合实际 ,这就是全球伦理的儒家诠释

A Confucian Explanation of the Global Ethics

Confucianism has three attributes: concerning for politics, participating society and attaching importance to culture. The leading group of world religion assembly has suggested four topics--sustainability, progress, difference and understanding--as the base to construct global ethics. In the face of the danger of conflict between civilizations, we must pay attention to the dialogue, considering the possibility of ecological environmental protection, integration of social groups, cultural multiplicity and mutual referring through dialogue between civilizations. This is more practical than the ethical proclamation based on the abstract universalism and this is the Confucian explanation of global ethics.