禮之作為公共技術物：《荀子》中的自我轉化與政治治理

Ritual as Public Technical Object: Self-transformation and Political Governance in the Xunzi

本文的論述以三個階段進行。首先，筆者整理了英語學界圍繞荀子思想中「自我轉化」問題而產生的重要爭議，並聚焦在轉化前後是否存在「非連續性」的分歧性問題，以及其背後衍生的「平等化」問題。接下來，筆者嘗試分兩個步驟來處理「非連續性」與「平等化」的問題：第一步是在揭示出禮所同時指涉的「自我治理」與「國家治理」這兩個層面之後，透過援引漢娜鄂蘭的「公共居間物」觀念來理解「禮」的意義，從而將「自我轉化」詮釋為一種「公共轉化」；第二步則是借鑑當代技術哲學提供的線索，進一步思考荀子禮思想背後的「公共技術」觀，主張荀子「知天」論述對應著一種以製作、使用「禮」的屬人技術活動，來參與天地萬物整體秩序的獨特方式。

The discussion in this article is conducted on three levels. First, it analyzes the significant dispute regarding the issue of“self-transformation”in Xunzi’s thought within the English academic circle, focusing on the disagreement about the discontinuity during the transformation process. Second, rather than concentrating on the moral agency itself, it attempts to consider the problem of continuity from the perspective of“ritual”. By introducing Hannah Arendt’s idea of“public in-between”, it explores the double structure of“ritual”, which refers to both self-governance and national governance, thereby developing the“self-transformation”into“public transformation”. Finally, this article argues that the discourses about Heaven in Xunzi present an approach aiming to engage with the harmonious order of the heaven and earth through human technical activities of producing and using the“ritual”. This distinguishes Xunzi’s approach from the mainstream tradition of Western technical thought.