退出國家──從文獻反思中國民主化的意義

An Ontological Exit for Chinese Democracy: Beyond the State-Society Divide

本文提出一種在近代中國語境下對民主化的新詮釋，並認可人們對於有關國家、現代性、傳統價值、民主、主體性、群眾、公平等論述加以實踐與詮釋的能動性，正在獲得提昇與普及的過程。所謂民主，即是每個人都被容許賦予他人的主體性以同情的詮釋，從而建構自己作為詮釋者的主體意識。但並不是每一個人都真的能自信地成為無所不在的詮釋者，故民主化所要求的，是每個人都有可能成為他人所同情地詮釋的對象，從而獲得主體性的認可，即使認可的內涵與意義會因人而異，甚至必然而且應該因人而異。本文檢討了共產黨、自由主義者、新左派、白魯恂、王德威的觀點。歸納比對後所得的民主，是透過有實踐性的論述來創造主體性，而不是在假定已經存在的主體性上，設計互動的規範或制度。

Indeed Confucian societies including China are often seen as lacking in selfconsistency. Lucian Pye, who makes this observation, argues that this lack is a cultural, not political, question. If this is true, then China's democratic prospect should be a matter of cultural reformation. This means that the assumed subjectivity in each Chinese citizen reflects more of a political advocacy than of reality. Therefore, democratization as a political discourse interferes in the creation of a 'correct' subjectivity in Chinese citizens. In the following discussion, I will also explore the meaning of democratic subjectivity, based on the following works: literature by Lucian Pye, David Dewei Wang (a Taiwan-born literature critic in the United States), and the debate between the Chinese liberals and the so-called new leftists. I hope to open up the meaning of democracy to allow agency for every Chinese practicing and interpreting subjectivity at the ontological level. In the end, this paper will attempt to provide an analytical scheme that preserves fluidity concerning the future relationship between the Chinese state and the society, thus testifying to a democracy, in the Confucian context, that cannot be defined.