「下學上達」與「仁義內在」

Value Consciousness in Confucianism: “Xiàxué Shàngdá” and “Rényì Nèizài”

儒家思想是構成中國文化的主軸，而「道德哲學」又是儒家思想的核心，因此，以「價值意識」為特色的傾向，當即是我們探索中國文化時，必須重視的地方。以此觀之，強調價值意識、價值活動的儒家立場，便是構成中國文化的具體人間性格的源頭。事實上，中國文化對於「人」的興趣高於對「物」的興趣，同時也注意到「天」的因素之重要，也就是說，我們在重視「人」的具體現實生命的同時，也企盼一種超越力量的介入，希望透過此種力量保證了人間理想的落實。這種思想的形態，用傳統的話語來說即是「天人思想」之型態。然而，上述這些現象當然反映了古代中國文化的一個面向，但現象背後的哲學之建構究是如何？恐更應加以處理。尤其，當這樣的思考方式影響了中國人的文化傳統、思維方式與價值行動系統時，更是值得我們深入思考。因此，基於此，本文乃從「下學上達」與「仁義內在」的角度，分析儒家思想的道德哲學與超越性的關係，藉此說明儒家學術的特徵。以下將分成三個部分進行討論，首先，分析古代儒者心中的理想人格形象特質，並說明此形象保留了「理性化」之痕跡，而其關鍵則在於「道德意識」。其次，從「學」的角度討論儒家思想重在人事之學，但此「學」實貫串歷史文化傳統與永恆之超越性。最後，點明「下學」之能「上達」的主張，必須建立在「自覺」的內在道德主體，所以，古代儒者盛言「仁義內在」之思想。

Confucianism is the main axis of Chinese culture where its core is comprised of moral philosophy. Thus we see that the concept of value consciousness plays a significant role when exploring Chinese culture. If we emphasize value consciousness and value activities as the standpoint of Confucianism, a Confucian personality can be structured as a source of Chinese culture. Chinese culture is a culture that places more emphasis on human being (ren) instead of on an object (wu), and one that the element of heaven (tian) would play a key role. It means that the Chinese not only stresses the aspect of human life but also on the force of heaven in the hope that one's ideal can be fulfilled through the transcending power. This pattern of Confucian thought, in the traditional term, is called the Confucian thought on Heaven and Humanity (tiānrén sīxiǎng). This article aims to analyze the relationship between the Confucian moral philosophy and transcendence from the aspects of “xiàxué shàngdá” and “rényì nèizài”. It will be structured as follows. First, the ideal personality of the ancient Confucians will be analyzed and so as to explain the moral consciousness within this image. Second, there will be a discussion on the Confucian learning process with a transformation of what is learned into virtues. Finally, it can be seen that the belief of “xiàxué shàngdá” is built upon the value consciousness of a moral subject, which is the ancient Confucian scholars celebrate as the thought of “rényì nèizài”.