中國歷史上“公”的觀念及其現代變形－一個類型的與整體的考察

Conceptions of Gong: A Typological and Holistic Approach to the Chinese Version of "Public"

陳弱水(Jo-Shui Chen)

《政治與社會哲學評論》 7期 (2003/12) Pp. 87-144

摘要

本文試圖以最簡扼的方式，說明中國傳統「公」觀念的整體特色，兼及此觀念在近代的變貌。本文共整理出傳統中國「公」觀念的五大類型。類型一的基本涵義是朝廷、政府或政府事務，是五個類型中形成最早的。類型二的基本涵義是普遍、全體，尤其意指普遍的人間福祉或普遍平等的心態。這個觀念的倫理性強，描述功能少。類型三特別發達於宋明理學，特色是，「公」可以直接代表天理、道、義，但不一定意指整體的福祉或利益，另外也強調「公」存在於人合於天理的心。類型四是對類型二、三的反動，明末清初時表現最為明顯，主張「公」的境界是由所有個別的「私」得到滿足所達成的。類型五發達也晚，以共同、眾人為基本涵義，指涉政治、宗族、社會生活等場域的集體事務與行動，描述性較強。本文也略涉及「公」的相對觀念「私」。

關鍵字

中國政治思想 ； 中國社會思想 ； 公私觀念 ； 公

並列摘要

This paper attempts at a general account of the conceptions of gong公, the Chinese version of ”public”, through a typological analysis. Five types of gong have been discerned. The first type stands for the court or the government. It is the earliest meaning of gong as a sociopolitical concept, formed around the middle of the first millennium B.C.E. The second type has the connotation of ”universal”, ”whole” and ”equal”, referring particularly to the universal welfare of the humankind. Strongly normative, this conception is overwhelmingly influential in Chinese history. The third type was most visible in Song-Ming Neo-Confucianism. In this line of thinking, gong could directly represent the absolute rightness, and does not necessarily have the implication of general well-being. The fourth type was a negative reaction to types two and three. Ideas in this category held that the real gong was achieved by the satisfactions of the desires of all individual selves. Like type four, the fifth type also came late. It has the essential meaning of ”common” or the multitude, and was used to refer to various collective actions or common business in political, social and lineage lives. It is mainly descriptive in nature. Along with discussions of gong, this paper also touches upon Chinese notions of si, ”private”

並列關鍵字

Chinese ideas of public ； Chinese ideas of private gong ； kung

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