孔子“仁”的终极观及其功用的心理机制

终极观是人的意义和价值观系统的核心,讨论中国人的终极观在很大程度上离不开儒家思想,分析儒家思想要从孔子开始。孔子因"德命"受挫而形成"时命"观,"时命"观挑战了"以德配天"的思想,这需要更为本源的终极观来应对。孔子在内外心理框架的互动中,反思体悟而形成"仁"的终极观。在此理念的支配下,向内修德凝道而"内圣",向外践行"仁政"而"外王",内外并重以获得充沛丰盈的生命意义感。无论后儒如何发展,儒家皆没有放弃"仁"的终极观,它在历史的长河中长久地为中国人提供"安身立命"的功用。

"Benevolence" : Confucius’ Theory of Spirituality and Its Mechanism of Functioning

Spirituality lies at the heart of man’s meaning and value system.The Chinese opinion of spirituality is largely attributable to Confucianism ; and Confucius should be the point of departure for the analysis of Confucianism.Confucius’ suggestion that destiny depends on virtue proved to be unrealistic , so it gave way to the view that destiny depends on the times.The challenge posed by this point of view to Confucius’ original position necessitated a more fundamental theory of spirituality. Amid the interactions between internal and external psychological frameworks , Confucius’ reflections and meditations finally gave rise to his theory of "benevolence" , which arises from the way of nature (Tian Dao).A benevolence- oriented person seeks inwardly to cultivate morality and become a sage so as to rule the outer world , and thus obtained rich meanings of life.Regardless of how Confucianism was developed by later generations , Confucians have never lost sight of benevolence as a view of ultimate meaning.Benevolence has furnished the Chinese people with an enduring foundation on which to build their lives and live in peace.