儒家的人權觀－－古典孟子學的觀點

Human Rights' as Heavenly Duty--A Mencian Perspective

儒學傳統在現代世界，所遭遇的重大挑戰之一就是：儒學傳統中是否有類似近代西方的「人權」（Human rights ）的概念？如果有的話，這種儒家式的「人權」概念，如何展開論述？這些問題不僅牽涉到儒家思想的本質，而且也涉及儒學在現代世界中的定位問題，值得我們深入思考。這篇論文寫作的主旨，在於論述：儒家文化中不但不缺乏類似近代西方的「人權」概念，而且儒家式的「人權」概念並非如近代西方之將個人與群體視為對立之敵體，而是在其博厚高明的宇宙論與人性論基礎之上，在「個人」與「群體」之間以及在「人文世界」與「自然世界」之間建立連繫性關係，較之西方式的「人權」概念更具有高度與廣度。

On the theme of human rights, it is eminently important to note that the universal consensus among all thoughtful persons on the value of human persons is eminently more important than their cultural differences on the matter. We all treasure ordinary human persons qua person, and whatever we disagree among ourself on this point are its minor cultural variations. Unfortunately, the reason for writing this paper indicates that we are more interested in cultural differences than in substantial agreement.