荀學視域中的「自由」與「民主」之可能？

意志與理智、情感等均屬人的心靈能力，中國哲學討論此三大心靈能力通常有兩種方式：有些思想家會分別以「意」∕「志」、「知」∕「智」或「情」等概念語詞來稱說；有些思想家則可能以「心」一概念語詞來涵蓋三者，若要確切分辨其義則必須視其具體之上下文脈；也有些思想家兼採以上兩種方式，荀子基本上屬於後者。故本文在代表荀子哲學一手資料的《荀子》一書方面，首先考察「意」或「志」的出現情形，其次檢索「心」的出現情形。研究顯示，《荀子》書中所使用的「心」字，約可區分為四種意義的心，其中第二種「功能」義的心是最具特色的；本文擬從三個面向來談此「功能」義的心，其中第二個面向主要引文「出令而無所受令，自禁也、自使也、自奪也、自取也、自行也、自止也……」，正是荀子哲學中意志與自由的最佳說明。至於「民主」，《荀子》全書當然從未出現此一語詞，但是否有相近的概念？本文擬從相關篇章對「天下」以及「天下」的治理之核心關鍵人物、政治權力的擁有者——「天子」的討論，初步以為天子之有天下，既不依靠暴力，亦不依賴祖先，而在於民心之向背；也因此，荀子反對世俗所謂堯、舜「擅（禪）讓」的說法，也反對世俗所謂湯、武「篡奪」的說法。在政治思考上主張人民百姓作為政權更迭的重要指標，某種程度上體現了「民為貴」或「民為本」的政治原理。

關鍵字

荀子；荀子哲學；意志；自由；心；民本；政治哲學

並列摘要

Will, reason and feeing are the faculties of human mind. In Chinese philosophy, these three faculties are usually discussed in two ways: the first one is to discuss them as the three separate concepts of intent/will, knowledge/wisdom and feeling, while the second way is to unite all of them under the concept of ＂mind,＂ and the specific meaning of each concept is determined by its context. However, there are some thinkers who utilize both manners, and Xunzi is basically one of them. Therefore, this article is meant to inquire how ＂intent＂ and ＂will＂ show up Xunzi, the primary source of Xunzi's philosophy, and then search for ＂mind＂ in the text. Studies show that the appearances of the word, ＂mind,＂ are roughly divided into four different meanings, among which the most particular one is mind as a function. Here we mean to talk about mind as a function through three aspects, among which the second one-quoted from ＂It issues orders but does not receive commands. It forbids itself, orders itself, renounces itself, obliges itself, as well as initiates and stops on its own accord＂-is the best explication of intent/will and liberty as part of Xunzi' philosophy. As for ＂democracy,＂ this term certainly never exists in the text of Xunzi. However, are there are similar concepts? This article is to talk about the ＂kingdom＂ and the critical person in the governance of the kingdom-the ＂the son of heaven＂-the one who has power. It is assumed that the son of heaven wins the kingdom neither by violence nor by ancestry but by having the support of people. Accordingly, Xunzi rebukes such sayings as that Shun won this throne by Yao's demise and Tang and Wu won theirs through usurpation. In terms of politics, Xuzi argues that people are a critical index of the change of the regime, which to some extent embodies the political principle of ＂people being the most important and fundamental element of the nation.＂