儒家道德修养学说的人性论基础

儒家一直重视和强调道德修养问题,并把道德修养视为齐家治国平天下的基础和前提,而其道德修养学说是与其人性理论密切相关的。儒家学者尽管在人性问题上的具体观点各不相同,存在着性善、性恶、性无善无恶,以及德性的先天、后天等方面的争论,但都在其人性论的基础上,在"性可教养"的观点上基本达成一致。他们一方面肯定和承认人之为人的本质在于礼义道德,一方面又肯定和说明了人在礼仪道德方面的品性通过后天的教育和修养是完全可以获得的,这也就从不同的方面肯定了道德修养的必要性和可能性。

Humanist Foundations of the Confucian Morality

The Confucian scholars attach great importance to moral cultivation of the individuals,believing it to be the basis for domestic and societal harmony.The author holds that their moral cultivation theory is closely linked to a humanistic concern and that it can be achieved through arduous education,despite their differences in opinions on such matters as whether man is born good or evil,and whether moral virtues are inborn or later adopted.They acknowledge the ritual moral to be the nature of man on the one hand,and capable of being achieved through hard work on the other.