曲當人情──王陽明論正人之道

A Winding Way to Transform People's Dispositions: Wang Yangming on the Way of Rectifying Others

「惡」的問題在儒學研究當中，尚多有值得開拓探索者。傳統上儒學主要著眼於「善」的培養，「惡」的剖析相對較少顯題化的處理。即使針對「惡」的研究，也大多落在自我修養的範圍探討「個人之惡」（「己過」）；對於如何面對及改正「他人之惡」（「惡人」），始終鮮少論述。本文即旨於開發王陽明哲學中，有關正人之道的思想資源。主要論證有三：一、在思考對待「惡人」的議題上，不理想的家庭關係是個關鍵的思考線索，由此可以奠定思考正人之道的理論基礎。本文將以舜對待「不仁家人」的案例為考察基礎，指出關注「惡人」在構成「自我」概念上的理論意義。二、本文將會從道德心理學的研究出發，探討改正他人的理想策略。筆者指出，嚴言指摘只會觸發「惡人」道德合理化的心理機制，鞏固並助長過犯的滋生；溫和感化的軟力量，反倒更能達致感化矯正的效果。三、在不同層面上，王陽明都主張一種一貫之道。作為心學的一員，種種論述始終圍繞「心」的概念展開。不僅「正人」與「修己」的道理如出一轍，在「家人」、「朋友」、「社會」的殊別領域中，改正他人的精神與策略同樣並無二致。期望本文開發王陽明的正人之道，能夠補足學界對「惡」的問題的理解，並為今人提供如何改正「惡人」的普世啟示。

The problem of evil has seldom received direct attention in Confucian studies. Traditionally, Confucian scholars have focused on the cultivation of human “goodness”; as a result, “badness” is not a fully-thematized concept. Even when scholars sometimes shed light on the study of evil, the focus is always on removing personal selfishness under the realm of self-cultivation, but not on rectifying others. This paper aims at investigating the way of rectifying others in the philosophy of Wang Yangming. There are three main arguments: 1. The non-ideal family relationship is the key to the issue. Rethinking the case of Shun's abusive family members, I will point out that concern with evildoers is significant to the Confucian concept of selfhood. 2. Based on recent research in moral psychology, the ideal strategy of rectifying others will be discussed. Condemnation triggers moral rationalization in the evildoers, and thus fosters their wrongness; the soft power of corrective influence is a more effective way to reform others. 3. Wang Yangming advocated a unified approach to diverse issues; as a member of the school of xin (heart-mind), his arguments are developed around that concept. Not only do correcting oneself and rectifying others share the same principle, there are also consistencies in the spirit and strategy of rectifying others in the realm of family, friends and society. It is expected that the problem of evil could be further explored by elucidating the way of rectifying others in Wang Yangming's philosophy, and fresh universal insights with contemporary relevance could also be offered.