陽明學與民主政治

Wang Yang-Ming and Democracy

儒家思想與民主政治的關係一直是清末以來中國知識分子所深切關注的問題之一。本文主要是以陽明學為切入點，來探討這個問題。全文可分成三部分。首先，作者指出，最早討論陽明學與民主政治之關係的，是劉師培，並將其論旨歸納為二點：一、陽明良知說涵蘊自由平等與民權之旨；二、陽明良知說中「以天地萬物為－體」或「以天下為－身」的意涵與民權之理相通。其次，作者探討本世紀五十年代，臺灣的自由主義學者與新儒家之間關於儒家思想與民主政治問題的辯論，指出其中的一項爭論點為「積極自由」與「消極自由」的問題。自由主義學者根據英、美自由主義的傳統，提倡消極自由，反對積極自由；新儒家則認為消極自由在邏極上必須預設積極自由，否則無法成立。最後，作者引述社群主義對自由主義的批判，認為前者的「個體」觀和陽明學有若合符節之處，並且指出，現代西方社群主義的出現提供我們一個有利的視角，來重新評估陽明學，乃至整個傳統儒學與民主政治間的關係，並且修正臺灣的自由主義在這個問題上的片面觀點。

The relation between Confucianism and democracy has always been a controversial issue in China since the late nineteenth century. This paper attempts to re-examine this problem with particular reference to Wang Yang-ming's thought. The paper is divided into three parts. Firstly, it points out that, as Liu Shih-p'ei (1884~1919) argued, Wang Yang-ming's doctrines of innate knowledge of the good (liang-chih) and the oneness of human beings and universe are compatible with the Western ideas of liberty, equality, and civil rights. Secondly, this paper argues that negative liberty must theoretically presurpose positive liberty. The argument is contextulized within the debate of two liberties occurred in the circles of Liberalism and New Confucianism in 1950's Taiwan. In the final part, by drawing on communitarianist criticism of liberalism, this paper concludes that the up-surging communitarianism can be taken as the best point of reference by which traditional Confucianism, including Wang Yang-ming's stance, can be in accord with the practice of democracy without the one-sidedness of Taiwanese liberalism.