Chapter 15 Talking about Ethics and Morality
Now, the slogan of governing the country by virtue has resounded throughout the motherland.Everyone believes that this slogan was raised correctly, in a timely manner, loudly and clearly.But what is "virtue"?According to my observation, generally speaking, everyone understands the same.If you look into it carefully, I am afraid that everyone is different.
I don't want to be humble, but I want to give a new interpretation to the word "virtue".
However, I am neither an ethicist, nor am I interested in the redundant and awkward analysis and interpretation of philosophers, so I can only talk about this issue in the way I am used to.Since it is called a wild fox, it must have its shortcomings; but at the same time, it must also have its advantages. Itching is inevitable.There must be a lot of ethics books in the market, and I neither buy them nor borrow them, lest I "pollute" my views after reading them.
For the past few years, I have been thinking about a problem.In life, three relationships must be properly handled: first, the relationship between man and nature, that is, the relationship between heaven and man; second, the relationship between people, that is, social relationship; The relationship between right and wrong is also the question of self-cultivation.These three relationships are closely related, mutually causal and indispensable.Some people may think these statements are empty and too mysterious.I think it is necessary to explain each in detail.
First, let’s talk about the relationship between man and nature.Before humans were humans, they were an integral part of nature.After becoming a human being, he becomes independent from nature and puts himself on the opposite side of nature.What's more, especially in the West, since the industrial revolution, through the so-called inventions and creations, they have obtained some sweetness from nature, so they pursued insatiability, and finally put forward the slogan of "conquering nature".They have forgotten a basic fact that all materials for human clothing, food, housing, and transportation must be obtained from nature.Nature can't say, "Oh God!" But it can take revenge.Engels said:
We cannot get too drunk on our victories over nature, for every such victory nature has its revenge on us.
More than a hundred years ago, the revenge of nature was not very obvious. Engels was able to say such accurate and far-reaching words. He really deserves to be one of the great founders of Marxism!Today, the revenge of nature is very obvious and shocking, such as the ozone hole, the greenhouse effect, global warming, fresh water shortage, ecological imbalance, species extinction, population explosion, resource scarcity, new diseases, environmental pollution, etc. Wait, too many to list.If any one of them is not controlled, it can affect the future of human existence.At this critical juncture, some insightful people in the world came to their senses, held some meetings, and took some measures.The leaders of some countries in the world also know that they must pay attention to environmental protection issues, which is a good thing.But, in my personal opinion, neither is enough.We must strive to roar like a lion, deafening the world.
Secondly, I want to talk about the relationship between people.Since man has become man, groups have gradually formed, the organizations we now call societies.These groups are diverse, organized in different forms and organized on different principles.But it is the same as a group.Between people, sometimes the interests are the same, and sometimes conflicts are inevitable.To give an extremely simple example, talking about democracy and freedom cannot be said to be bad things, but they must be restricted.Take the traffic in big cities as an example. Absolute freedom is not feasible. There must be traffic lights, which are restrictions.Without this restriction, a big city cannot exist for a day.Cars hit here, people hit there, everyone is in danger, afraid to go out, social activities will stop completely, can this still be regarded as a society?This is just a small example, and there are a lot of examples of similar sizes.Therefore, we must emphasize the need to handle social relations well.
Finally, I want to talk about personal self-cultivation.A person, to nature, is its opposite; to society, it is its most basic component, its cell.Therefore, in the universe and in society, a person's position is very crucial.The right or wrong direction of a person's thoughts, words, and actions is significant.The importance of a person's self-cultivation is also obvious.
After writing this, some people may ask: Aren’t you talking about ethics and morality? How did you manage to correctly handle the three relationships?I respectfully replied: When I talk about correctly handling the three relationships, I am talking about ethical and moral issues.Because, if the three relationships are handled well, human beings can develop smoothly, society can make great strides forward, and personal life can be happy and happy.This is the highest morality, and the rest of the countless cumbersome moral dogmas are subordinate to this highest moral standard.This principle is not difficult to understand even if you think about it roughly.If these three relationships are not properly handled, it will be defined as morally deficient, immoral, or "wrong" according to the degree of "badness". Serious "badness" is a crime.This principle is also easy to understand.
The whole world recognizes that China is the country with the most developed ethics theory and practice.The foundation of Chinese ethics and morals was laid by Confucianism in the pre-Qin period. In the process of subsequent development, some Taoist and Buddhist ideas were mixed in, and finally formed the current ethical system, which still dominates our society. action.This system seems to be clear, but in fact it is a rather vague system.The creeds of the three religions: I am in you, and you are in me, and they are by no means clear-cut.However, it is certain that Confucianism is still dominant.
The Confucian ethical system can be represented by Confucius and Mencius when the foundation was laid in the pre-Qin period.The center of Confucianism, which can also be said to be the center of ethical thought, is the word "benevolence".This statement has been generally accepted by the academic circles.The center of Mencius's theory, and it can also be said to be the center of ethical thought, are the words "benevolence" and "righteousness".In this regard, there is no dissent in academia.We will not discuss the other Confucian theories in the pre-Qin period one by one.As for the ethical and moral thoughts of Confucian scholars thousands of years after the pre-Qin period, I will not discuss them here one by one.In a word, they basically followed the theories of Confucius and Mencius, with occasional additions or new explanations. This is an inevitable law of the development of things, and it is not surprising.Otherwise, it would be incredible.
For many years, I personally have an idea.In my opinion, the focus of Confucian ethics and morals is not theory but practice.The pre-Qin Confucianism has already arranged: investigation of things, extension of knowledge, sincerity, righteousness, self-cultivation, family harmony, state governance, and world peace are familiar to everyone.This arrangement is very layered and painstaking, but there is no color of theory at all.Some people may say that people don't want to talk about theory here, but only want to talk about practice.Even if we admit that this sentence is correct, what is "benevolence" and what is "righteousness"?In theory, there should be some explanation. However, although there are many places where "benevolence" and "righteousness" are mentioned, they can only be said to be vague language, and readers or listeners cannot get a clear concept.
After the Qin Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu, a great Confucian who claimed to be the inheritor of Confucianism, did not explain clearly the theoretical issues of ethics and morality.At the beginning of his famous article "Original Dao", he said:
Universal love is called benevolence, doing what is appropriate is called righteousness, following what is right is called Dao, and what is enough to treat oneself without treating others outside is called virtue.
The sentence read sonorously, but what was he thinking?He only gave a definition of "fraternity" to the word "benevolence", and this definition is also extremely shallow.The rest is almost all empty talk. "Yi" in "Practice and Appropriate" means "suitable". What is "suitable"?This is tantamount to not saying. The character "Zhi" in "from what is to what" means "to go". "Tao" is the road that people walk, which is tantamount to talking in vain.As for the word "virtue", the explanation is based on the Han Confucian saying that "virtuous people gain".Having said that, it is still puzzling.As for other Confucian scholars in other dynasties, their interpretations of benevolence, righteousness and morality are even more varied, and there is no consensus.I am not a scholar of ethics, and I am not writing the history of Chinese ethics now, so I will not list them one by one.
In the above, I talked about the Confucian views on benevolence, righteousness and morality from the pre-Qin period to Han Yu in a very general way.Now, it occurs to me that I must make a necessary addition.Since I believe that dealing with the relationship between heaven and man is of primary importance in the moral sphere, I must discuss how ancient China viewed this issue.In other words, I must explore how some representative philosophers in the pre-Qin period defined the concepts of heaven, earth, and nature.
Let’s talk about “Heaven” first. Some historians of Chinese philosophy believe that one of the main issues debated by philosophers in the late Spring and Autumn Period was whether “Heaven” is a god with personality and will?These philosophers can generally be divided into two camps: one camp argues that it is not, and they think that the sky is a material thing, that is, the sky above our heads.This can be represented by Lao Tzu.The "Shuowen Jiezi" of the Han Dynasty: "Heaven, Britain, is supreme", can be classified into this category.The claim of one camp is that they believe that Tian is God, who can determine the fate of human beings and determine the fate of individuals.This can be represented by Confucius.Some histories of Chinese philosophy used the method trafficked from the former Soviet Union to first label each philosopher, either idealism or materialism, which simplifies extremely complicated ideological issues.This approach is not acceptable to me.
In Laozi, heaven, earth, nature, etc. are mentioned in several places.He said:
Man follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, the sky follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature. (Chapter Twenty-Five)
In this passage, several important concepts of Lao Tzu's philosophy appear.He first put forward the concept of "Tao", which played an important role in his subsequent history of Chinese philosophy.The "heaven" here is obviously not a God with will, but a material thing opposite to "earth"."Natural" here is the highest principle.Laozi advocates "inaction", isn't "nature" just "inaction"?He added:
The world is not benevolent, and treats everything as a straw dog. (five chapters)
It is clear that heaven and earth have no will.He added:
Dao is respected, virtue is noble, Fumo's life is always natural. (Chapter 51)
Morality does not issue orders, but allows all things to grow freely.All in all, Lao Tzu believes that heaven is not a god, but a material thing.
It can almost be said that the opposite of Laozi is Confucius.There are many places where "heaven" is mentioned in Chinese.Although Confucius said that "the son does not talk about strange powers to confuse the gods", but in his mind there are gods, but he just "respects ghosts and gods and keeps them at a distance". In Confucius' view, "Heaven" is also a god with personality and will.Let me quote a few words of Confucius about "heaven":
Oh God!How the four seasons go, what the heavens say!
The heaven will lose the gentleness, and the deceased will not be able to give it to the gentlemen; if the sky has not lost the gentleness, how can the people of Kuang give it!
The innate virtue is in Yu, how can I give it!
etc.Confucius also advocated the "mandate of heaven", which is the will of heaven and the order of heaven.Mencius, who claimed to be the successor of Confucius, had the same view of "heaven" as Confucius.He has an oft-quoted quote:
Heaven is about to send a great mission to man, so he must first suffer from his will, exhaust his muscles and bones, starve his body and skin, empty his body, and disturb his actions.Therefore, to be tempted and forbearable has once (gained) what it cannot.
Here, "heaven" is also a ruler with will.
Xunzi, who is also considered a Confucianist, has a view of "heaven" that is close to that of Laozi, but very different from that of Confucius and Mencius.He does not recognize that Heaven is the supreme ruler with personality and will.Some historians of philosophy say that Xunzi directly interpreted "heaven" as the natural world.Personally, I think this is a very important and correct interpretation.Xunzi mainly made many materialistic explanations of "Heaven" in "Tian Lun", I will not copy them.I would like to specifically mention the saying of "nature nourishment": "wealth is not of its kind to support its kind, but the husband is what is called heaven's nourishment." It means that human beings use nature to support themselves.This is also a very important thought.How many years ago I wrote a paper "A New Interpretation of "The Unity of Man and Nature"". I didn't notice Xunzi's explanation of "heaven" at that time, so I called myself a "new interpretation", but it is not new.Xunzi has taught me more than two thousand years before me.My contribution is to combine the current world situation and classify "harmony between man and nature" as the highest moral standard.I have mentioned this point in the above section on the relationship between heaven and man, please refer to it.
I only talked about Laozi, Confucius, Mencius and Xunzi above.The views of other philosophers on "heaven" are also varied.Because it has nothing to do with the issues I want to talk about, I will not list them one by one.Let me just talk about Mozi. He believed that "heaven" has a will, which is similar to Confucius and Mencius of Confucianism.
My supplementary explanation ends here.
Although Xunzi's understanding of "heaven" has reached a very high level, Confucianism, which dominates the Chinese intellectual circle, is still conservative.I would like to go back and analyze the eight levels of Ge and Zhi mentioned above.The first five items are all related to self-cultivation, while the last three items are about social relationships, and none of them is about the relationship between heaven and man.What is the reason?According to my superficial opinion, the pre-Qin Confucians, like ordinary people, felt that the sky was far away from people, and they were a little trance-like, not easy to grasp. Note that it is not possible to solve.Our Han nationality is a practical nation.So I put most of my attention on solving social relationships and personal self-cultivation.
For thousands of years, in China's feudal society, there have been many moral dogmas that have formed a series, such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith, filial piety, brotherhood, loyalty, trust, integrity, shame, etc., etc. And feet.Everyone's status in society is also well-arranged, such as Wulun and the like.The names among relatives are also in an orderly manner, such as uncle, uncle, cousin, cousin, etc., which cannot be translated in any language in the world. Even in China today, except for some older people, young people themselves say Do not understand. Mr. Chen Yinke believes that the three cardinal principles and six disciplines in "Bai Hu Tong" are the essence of Chinese culture. It can be seen that these Chinese principles for dealing with social relations have an important position in his mind.
The above is about social relations and personal self-cultivation.As for the relationship between heaven and man, in addition to what the pre-Qin philosophers said, there is another saying in Chinese history, the so-called "son of heaven", saying that the emperor is the son of heaven.This statement is good for both the emperor and his subjects.The emperor used this to frighten the people and consolidate his position.The ministers can also properly use it to restrict the emperor, such as using "heavenly changes" such as solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, and comets to advise the emperor, asking him to pay attention to moral cultivation and his own actions. The people are more or less benefited.
Summarizing what has been said above, people have already noticed and paid attention to the three relationships mentioned in this article, the second is social relationship and the third is personal self-cultivation.As for the relationship between heaven and man, although it has been noticed, it is only one-sided, and the relationship between them is mostly ignored. In particular, it is relatively late to understand that nature can take revenge. This situation is the same in both China and the West.Only after the industrial revolution in the West, with the rapid development of Western science and technology, people got carried away and believed too much in the power of "man can conquer nature", so that they were retaliated by nature, and the situation Engels mentioned appeared.Today, some people of insight in the world, including some national leaders, wake up from a dream and exclaim "environmental protection".However, from a global perspective, not everyone is sober enough.The act of polluting the atmosphere and destroying the ecological balance can still be seen everywhere.My personal opinion is not optimistic.That's why I raise the handling of the relationship between heaven and man to a high standard of ethics and morals to judge.
From the perspective of a history of human development and progress, the respective opposites of the three relationships are not fixed, but changeable.Therefore, the ethical and moral dogmas that restrict these relationships cannot be static.Every age, every nation, every country has different situations, different requirements, and it is impossible to unify moral standards.Therefore, we must propose that the moral standards of the past must be critically inherited.What worked in the past may not work today.What is applicable today may not be applicable in the future.In moral dogmas some live long and some live short.Some may apply to all mankind, while others may only apply to certain regions.Applicable to all ages and all regions, the eternal moral dogma is probably unique.
The article has been written very long and must be concluded.Let me emphasize again that I am not an ethicist and have never studied the history of ethics.I'm just used to thinking wildly.I often feel that there are so many moral dogmas in China and in the world, shining like pearls.But they are all a bit fragmented and disconnected.I now take the liberty of proposing a thread through the beads, and threading these beads.Is it appropriate?I dare not say it myself.Please Fang's family don't hesitate to correct me.
Finished on May 25, 2001