隱喻與自由：立命在民主與科學聯合脈絡中的新意涵

Metaphor and Freedom: New Implications of Li Ming in a Joint Context of Democracy and Science

本文以實踐觀點下最小方案的立論取徑，來說明當事人的選擇自由及其涉入的因果性。以此立論方式入手，本文闡述並探索孟學的立命觀點，對於兼取民主與科學時，所能有的新意涵。循此所要建立起的主旨是：能明白地顯示出當事人選擇自由的實踐觀點，與適合於揭露因果秩序的理論觀點，不是分別獨立的觀點；更貼切來說，此二觀點是相即連動而展開的觀點。

This article proposes a practical minimalist account of free agency and its relation to causality. The proposal draws upon the Mencian idea of li ming through exploring as well as explicating its implications for modes of coupling democracy and science. The main thesis is that the practical perspective that renders free agency intelligible and the theoretical perspective that makes causality comprehensible are not separable from, but dynamically coupled to, one another.