當代新儒家「儒學開出民主論」的理論意涵與現實意義

Abstract

摘要 1950年代，港臺新儒家曾提出「儒學開出民主論」。在他們與臺灣自由主義者的辯論之中，此說也成為雙方爭論的焦點之一。對筆者而言，此說的意涵並不複雜難解，但奇怪的是：它卻不斷引起誤解與質疑。多年來，筆者曾針對這些誤解撰寫了一系列的論文，故本文不再重述相關的細節，而是從宏觀的角度申論一些未盡之意。 關鍵詞: 台灣新儒家, 儒學開出民主論, 自由主義, 政治思想, 良知的自我坎陷 Abstract In the 1950s, Contemporary Modern Confucians of Hong Kong and Taiwan have exposed the theory of the “Development of Democracy from Confucianism”. In their controversies with the Taiwanese liberals, this theory also became one of the main points of debate. The author of the present article believes that the contents of this theory are not too complicated to understand; however, it nevertheless often became subject of various misunderstandings and questionings. During the past years, the author has written several studies on this topic, aiming to clarify such misunderstandings and to responding to such questionings. Therefore, the present article does not restate the details of this theory, but rather aims to provide further explanations of its essential meaning.

Keywords

• Taiwanese Modern Confucianism
• the Theory of the “Development of Democracy from Confucianism”
• liberalism
• political theory
• Self-negation of Conscience.