從社會表演學詮釋先秦儒家的道德外化與修養表現

Interpretation of Pre-Qin Confucian moral externalization and self-cultivation presentation from the perspective of social presentation

儒家的道德哲學除了有其心性論面向外，對外的人倫互動以「禮」為節度。本文企圖從戲劇學的「表演／表現」觀念，重新理解古典儒家所架構出的人我互動，主張「禮」是一種「表演／表現」。此「表演／表現」的概念乃是一個價值中性的詞彙，「道德表演／表現」的善與惡，便是行禮的成功或失敗。對於「表演／表現」的要求在於「信」，亦即「表演的一致性與穩定性」。於此概念下，復以對己、對人的區隔，展現出道德表演的層次－－對己的自我要求，除了謹守表演的一致性，還必須謹言慎行；對人，則需要同情地理解他人在前臺與後臺的經驗會有不一致的情況。為了瞭解這樣的差異，我們必須要「知人」（卻不要求他人知己），並且謹守「非禮勿視，非禮勿聽，非禮勿言，非禮勿動」的原則，以成全他人的後臺經驗。以這樣的視角理解傳統儒家的道德觀，可以提供我們一個體貼人性的人我關懷與自我惕勵。

In addition to the theory of mind-nature, external human interaction in the philosophy of morals in Confucianism is based heavily on“formalities”. From the perspective of“presentation”in the study of drama, this article attempts to renew the understanding of human interactions structured by classical Confucianism, and asserts that these“formalities”are a type of“present”. This concept of“presentation”is a term with neutral value. The moral presentation of good and evil would be the success or failure in the implementation of the formalities. Moreover, the requirement for“presentation”lies in“trust”- that is“the consistency and stability of the presentation”. Based on this concept, a distinction between the attitude towards oneself and towards others is set up to present different levels of moral presentation. In addition to strict adherence to the consistency of presentation, the requirement for oneself also includes caution in speech and deeds. For others, it is necessary to understand others with empathy, so that they would experience situations of inconsistency publicly and privately. To understand such divergence, we need to“know others’’(but not ask others to know ourselves). Furthermore, we must adhere to the principles of“See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and do no evil”, to be tolerant of the experience of others on the backstage. Understanding the moral perspectives of traditional Confucianism from such a perspective can provide us with a caring attitude and motivation that is consistent with human nature.