「意志軟弱」與王陽明的「知行合一」

意志軟弱（weakness of will）作為日常生活的常見現象，當代西方哲學業已就其出現「是否可能」、「如何可能」展開豐富的討論。由戴維森（Donald Davidson）起始的古典模型指出：對於一個理性的人而言，若其行動的最終判決是建基於充分理由的話，則不可能知而不行。瑟爾（John Searle）則認為：意欲實現為行動的過程中，存在著不同的鴻溝，致使意志軟弱在實際行動中成為無可避免的可能。然而，方克濤與王啟義指出：中國哲學從道德實踐的角度入手，提供了解說意志軟弱問題的另外方案。本文旨在建基當前的研究成果，以王陽明的「知行合一」說為中心，探索宋明理學的心學傳統，如何能為意志軟弱的問題提供更進一步的理解可能。期望本文能夠辨明中西哲學不同的理論特質，並彰顯儒學思想對當代相關議題的普世價值。

關鍵字

意志軟弱；戴維森；瑟爾；王陽明；知行合一

並列摘要

Contemporary Western philosophical dialogue has covered extensively on both the ＂possibility of ＂ and the ＂manifestations of ＂ the daily occurrence of ＂weakness of will＂. The extended dialogue has come across Donald Davidson's classical model which establishes a rational person's impossibility for inaction on the basis of ＂proper knowledge＂ on given circumstances. In a more skeptical note, John Searle underlines the inherent rift separating will and action, and as a result human will's susceptibility to weakness in the real world. There is a third path, however, as Chris Fraser and Kai-yee Wong suggest, Chinese philosophy's traditional focus on the practical aspects of morality constitutes an alternative theoretical approach on the issue of ＂weakness of will＂. In this article, I shall examine new interpretations on ＂weakness of will＂ based on Wang Yangming's famous notion of ＂unity of knowledge and action＂. By further analyzing and examining the study of heart-mind in the Neo-Confucian tradition, this article intends to engage in the ongoing east-west philosophical dialogue while also seeking to evaluate the interactions between Confucianism and contemporary philosophical issues.