錢穆對《孟子》「性善說」之詮釋

The Interpretation of Ch'ien Mu's Philosophy of ＂Innate Goodness of the Individual＂ in Mencius

蔡育芳(Yu-Fang Tsai)

《屏東教育大學學報-人文社會類》 30期 (2008/03) Pp. 63-84

摘要

錢穆一生以宣揚中國文化為志業，特別對於儒家有一番深刻的體會，除了以孔子為論述中心外，錢先生對於孟子思想也多有闡述，因此本論文試以錢穆《孟子》「性善」學說為核心，將錢穆由性善而發的觀念做一番梳理。本文先以錢穆體會《孟子》「性善說」的本義為主，提出人類與禽獸相異的心性活動實為文化的進步，再疏通由心性到善的關聯，由善體現出仁心，最終達到「心性道」三者合一的境界。另外再從時代的角度來探討，在當時西學東漸的風氣下，錢穆為了提倡傳統文化的價值，遂以「性善」為依據開展出新義，透過中西方的比較與融合，凸顯中國傳統文化的獨特處。

關鍵字

心 ； 孟子 ； 性善 ； 時代思潮 ； 錢穆

並列摘要

Ch'ien Mu had devoted his entire life preaching the Chinese culture and he especially appreciated the Confucianism profoundly. Besides expounding Confucianism as his central focus, Mr. Ch'ien also discussed the philosophy of Mencius greatly. Therefore, this thesis aims to elaborate Ch'ien Mu's concept of nature kindness based on the philosophy of ＂innate goodness of the individual＂ in Mencius. The paper first concentrates on Ch'ien Mu's comprehension of the philosophy of ＂innate goodness of the individual＂ in Mencius, proposing that the mental activity of humanity, unlike the animals', is the evident reason that the culture progresses. The paper then interprets the connection from mentality to goodness, revealing humaneness from the goodness of the individual, leading to the unity of Conscience, Humanity, and Tao. Moreover, taking the perspective of the era, during the time when western study gradually influenced the eastern, in order to promote the value of traditional culture, it had come to mind to develop the new meaning according to the idea of ＂innate goodness of the individual＂ through the comparison and mergence between eastern and western cultures, thus presenting the characteristic of Chinese traditional culture.

並列關鍵字

Conscience ； Mencius ； Innate goodness of the individual ； Trend of thought ； Ch'ien Mu