全面认识个人与社群的关系--评自由主义与社群主义的争论

社群主义者认为自由主义的权利和功利概念只是理论上的虚构 ,但他们并未能证明政治哲学是否有必要完全排除理论假设 ,事实上 ,自由主义者特别是晚期罗尔斯已经认真讨论了个人权利的理论假设与实际多元化社会中形成重叠共识的关系 ,论述了保障公民权利和基本政治观念、制度设计的宪法共识的产生过程。社群主义者正确地指出了以个人主义为根本价值观的负面影响 ,但他们在立论中也忽视了如果没有个人的理性判断和自由选择 ,集体选择很可能是盲目的。自由主义者并没有否认社会合作、和谐和社会福利的意义 ,只是要求以明确个人权利为出发点。社群主义的文化观也存在道德相对主义和否认公共理性普适性的危险。

The Disputes Between Liberalism and Communitarianism

Communitarianists hold that the liberalist concepts of rights and utility are theoretical fictions. But, they do not prove the necessity that theoretical hypotheses should be completely got rid of in political philosophy. As a matter of fact, liberalists , especially later Rawls, have discussed the relationship between the theoretical hypothesis of individual rights and the formation of overlapping consensus, and have argued for the process in which constitutional consensus of guaranteeing fundamental political conceptions of citizen rights and institutional design is produced. Communitarianists correctly reveal the negative effects of basic individualist values, but they neglect that collective choices will be blind if there are no rational judgements and free choices by individuals. Liberalists do not deny significance of social co-operation, harmony and welfare, but only require individual rights be taken as starting points. The cultural views of communitarianism also bear some danger in advocating moral relativism and denying the universality of public reasons.