以义节利:社会主义市场经济建设的文化基础

先秦儒家并不认为“义”与“利”是完全冲突的,逐利就一定不顾仁义,讲仁义就一定要放弃逐利,二者不可兼得,而是认为“利”和“义”是可以统一的,统一的前提条件就是“先义后利”。儒家讲“以义节利”并不是以“义”排斥和否定“利”,而是防止个人自私自利之心的恶性膨胀,导致人与人之间的争斗,造成社会的动乱,最终导致全体社会成员皆不利的局面。儒家“以义节利”思想与市场经济的文化要求在本质上是一致的,提倡“以义节利”,可造就“经济人”与“道德人”相统一的市场主体,保证市场经济的健康发展。“以义节利”应该成为有中国特色的社会主义市场经济建设的本土文化资源之一。

To Emphasize Righteousness and Belittle one's Interests: Cultural Basis of Building a Socialist Market Economy

Confucians in Pre-Qin Period did not think that "Righteousness" conflicts with "interests" completely.It was denied that if one looked for one's interests and profits,one must ignore righteousness and being benevolent and righteous,one must give up one's interests,and the two could not co-exist.On the contrary,they believe that the two could be unified on the condition that "righteousness" goes ahead of ones' interests and profits.Confucians hold that emphasizing righteousness does not mean to resist against and negate " interests".Instead it means to prevent the evil expansion of individuals' selfishness,which caused the fights among individuals,the social chaos and created an inharmonious society in the end.The idea of emphasizing righteousness and belittling interests meets the demands and requirement of the market economy.The advocacy could help create a market where "economic development" is consistent with the "social morality" to ensure the healthy development of a market economy.Emphasizing righteousness and belittling one's interests should be regarded as major cultural resources in our building Chinese style socialist market economy.