当代自由主义宪政的困境与伦理重建

【作者】 肖明；

【导师】 曹沛霖；

【作者基本信息】 复旦大学 ， 政治学理论， 2006， 博士

【摘要】 迄今为止，人类依然面临着什么是美好生活，什么是理想国家等问题。这不仅是道德哲学，同时也是政治哲学一个经久不衰的话题。自由主义作为一套国家学说，其核心是关于个人、社会与国家关系的理论，同样离不开对根本道德问题的探讨。而自由主义理论之所以具有现代性内涵，在于自由主义在道德哲学最根本的问题上提出了与以往的政治学说完全不同的答案。自由主义认为“什么是美好生活”属于个人的理性选择，国家本质上是以个人权利或利益为出发点的政治制度，它并不是最高的善业，所以不具备道德教化的职能，更不能提供“什么是美好生活”的答案。立宪政治是自由主义的政治建构理论。自由主义宪政的核心理念是限制国家权力以保护个人的自由和利益。所以自由主义宪政将积极目标与消极目标结合在一起，使得宪政只是消极的抑恶而非扬善。宪政在两个目标发生冲突的情况下，选择任意一方都可能会弱化另一方，从而背离宪政的初衷，陷入困境之中。自由主义的宪政实践依赖于自由主义理论的发展，对于自由主义宪政所存在的困境，当代新自由主义作出了回应，而社群主义则从反对的立场提出了截然不同的政治方案。本文认为，宪政在个人与国家、个人与社会、自由与权威、权利与权力之间的关系上由两难导致困境，并最终背离自由主义宪政的初衷，最大的原因在于传统自由主义赖以建立的功利主义伦理基础。本文认为，自由主义宪政必须建立在与之相适应的道德哲学基础之上，正像历史不可能回到亚里斯多德时代一样，自由主义也不可能回到德性伦理政治。因此，宪政伦理应该是规范性伦理，而非德性伦理；是诉诸于底线规范的伦理，而非至善要求的伦理；它强调道德原则的普遍性，而非特殊的学说。对公共生活来说，宪政伦理提供最基本的道德共识，呼吁最起码的社会道德义务；对个人生活来说，宪政伦理以制度保障个人的权利与自由。自由主义宪政终究是政治领域的公共生活，因此，构筑广泛的政治共识，以规范和约束政府行为同样有着必要性。宪政共识是自由主义宪政得以扎根的社会基础，它以政治原则为内涵，以正义价值为取向，以底线为目标，寻求多元价值的“共识”与认可，是一切妥协与具体政治争议的规范基础。更多还原

【Abstract】 Up till now, the human kind is still facing the questions about the exact definitions of good life, ideal nation, etc. The questions are perpetual topics not only in the field of moral philosophy, but also of political philosophy. Liberalism, as a set of theories about the nation, whose core is the theory about the relationship among individual, society and the nation, can not be separated from the discussion about the basic moral questions. The reason why liberalism is endowed with modern characteristics is that it puts forth a substantially different answer to the basic question of moral philosophy. Liberalism holds that the question of "what is good life" is confined to the individual’s rational choice. Substantially, a country is a set of political rules based on individual rights and profits. It is not the loftiest course and can not function as a moral teacher; therefore, it can not provide the answer to the question of "what is good life".Constitutional politics comprises the political construction theory of liberalism. The core theory of liberal constitutional politics is to restraint national power to protect individual freedom and profits. So, liberal constitutional politics combines the positive goal and passive goal, making the constitutional politics passively suppress the vice rather than carry forward the beneficence. Under the conditional politics where the two goals conflict with each other, to choose one side will definitely weaken the other side, thus will run counter to the original purpose of the constitutional politics and get trapped in it.The constitutional practice of liberalism depends on the development of the liberal theory. The modern liberalism responds to the dilemma of the liberal constitutional politics. While communitarianism puts forth a different political plan from its opposition standpoint. The thesis holds that the dilemma of the constitutional politics concerning the relationship between individual and nation, individual and society, freedom and authority, right and power, etc, leads itself to a puzzle dom and run counter to the original purpose of the liberal constitutional politics. The main reason for this lies in the utilitarianism, which forms the basis of the traditional liberalism.The thesis holds that the liberal constitutional politics must be based on the corresponding moral philosophy. As the time of Aristotle cannot reappear, liberalism also cannot go back to the virtue ethics politics. So, constitutional ethic should be a normative one rather than a virtue one. It should be an ethic seeking for the basic standard, rather than being the one pursuing perfection. It should stress the universality of the moral principle and should not be regarded as a special theory. In the field of public life, the constitutional ethnic provides the basic moral common belief and calls for the basic social moral obligation. While in the field of individual life, constitutional ethnic should use its rules to guarantee the individual right and freedom.Liberal constitutional politics is substantially the public life of the political sphere. So, to build up wild political common belief and standardize and restraint the governmental activities are highly necessary. The constitutional common belief is the social base on which the liberal constitutional politics can develop. With political value as its content, justice as its value orientation and basic standard as its goal, it seeks the recognition and "common belief of multi-value. It should be the standard base for the conflicts between compromise and concrete political conflicts.更多还原