公共利益问题探究

【作者】 房德玖；

【导师】 陈晏清；

【作者基本信息】 南开大学 ， 马克思主义哲学， 2009， 博士

【摘要】 本文是对公共利益的规范性问题的研究。不同于传统理论对公共利益的描述、分析与解释,本文是从政治哲学视界对公共利益“应”是什么的一种理论论证形式。就一般性意义而言,公共利益指的是政治(共同体、国家)活动的根本目的或政府的职能,它的规范性含义指的主要是政治决策、公共决策及其效果的评价标准,即政治共同体、国家维护自身统一、安全和良序持久的运行以及满足、服务于其成员、个人的“好生活”标准。在上述意义上,不同时代的不同理论派别并无多大分歧。然而,由于公共利益概念包含了个人利益和社会-政治利益之间的复杂关系,而这些关系又随着社会历史的发展而不断变化,这就导致了对于公共利益问题的不同理解。近代以前,在社会-政治关系的基本特征上,个人作为从属于政治共同体的成员,并没有摆脱对政治共同体的依赖关系,这决定了政治理论在根本上是按照理性的概念来理解和确认公共利益问题的,即是以统治者利益、需要为根据,并借助于“公共善”、“公共福祉”术语来表达的;理论家们将公共利益具体规定为对政治事务的管理及其正义的秩序,并通过确立保障政治组织成员达到“好生活”的标准来规范政治活动。这是理解公共利益问题的共和主义的古代形式,它突出地表现了理解公共利益问题的道德性质。近代以来,资本主义工商业的发展使个人利益、私人利益与政治国家利益之间的矛盾日益暴露出来,这导致了人们更倾向于从个人或私人利益的立场出发来理解和确认公共利益问题。这是理解公共利益问题的功利主义倾向,它在某种程度上表达了个人、公民利益诉求的合理性。这一倾向既不同于共和主义传统,也不同于自由主义契约论传统。上述情况表明,历史上人们对公共利益问题的理解存在着理论根据、诉求主体及其立场上的差别,这在一定程度上反映出了公共利益问题所内涵的个人利益和社会-政治利益的矛盾。而要具体地理解公共利益的含义,我们就有必要从构成公共利益的“公共”和“利益"的复杂关联中,运用公共理性的方法来探讨公共利益问题,也就是要从利益的公共性维度来探讨公共利益的建构性内容及其性质,在公共利益的“公共性”中确认和论证“利益”的规范性意义。公共理性是启蒙时代以来理性自我反思批判和发展的产物。在处理现实社会-政治问题时,面对“理性多元论”文化背景,它越来越表现为认识论、共识论意义上的和对话的合理性形式。公共理性是民主国家的基本特征,是民主社会中公民的理性。作为共享平等公民身分的人的理性,它具体是指公民在面对宪政根本要旨与基本正义问题时,在公共论坛进行公共推理的能力,它的首要功能是公共证明。公共理性的理性目标是公共善,其主题为公共的善和根本性的正义。在价值多元的当代民主社会,尽管存在着合理多元论的事实,但在面对宪政根本要旨与基本正义问题时,自由平等公民仍然能够依据彼此认同的政治价值进行公共协商,宗教、哲学、道德、世界观这些完备性学说借助于公共证明,得以形成“交叠共识”从而支持一套政治性正义观。公共理性的本质与内容是公共的,其公共性是由借助于一组有关政治正义的合理性概念进行理智地思考并满足互惠标准的公共推理表现出来的。在面对宪政根本要旨与基本正义问题的争议时,合理的公民能够遵循公共理性的理念,排除个别的特殊观点,依据一套政治性正义观所提供的正义原则与政治价值来解决争议、制定决策、证明政治决策的正当性。从公共理性的视角考察公共利益问题可以发现,“利益”是“公共”的需要和利益,公共性是“利益”的本质规定。“公共”表现为社会中的个人和国家两种基本主体形式,前者需要的是利益、权利及其公平、合理的实现,而后者则是公共权力及其良序持久的运行。相应地,对公共利益的规范性意义的探讨就呈现为两个方面或层次:一是社会基本体制中的权利和义务与社会合作的利益和负担的恰当分配,或者说是作为人们期望目标的社会基本利益的分配,这一层面的公共利益在一定意义上就是按照正义原则而予以分配的社会基本利益;一是对于国家公共权力的规范性限制,这是政治权力的合法性议题,在这一议题中,政治的合法性本质上是公民对于公共权力的认可,也即国家通过满足公民的正当、合理的利益需要而赢得公民自觉自愿服从的理由。上述两个方面共同规定了公共利益规范性内涵的基本内容,而对于这一内容的理解,罗尔斯的正义理论和政治自由主义理论无疑为我们提供了重要的借鉴。更多还原

【Abstract】 Different from the traditional interpretation by means of description, analysis and interpretation of the public interest, the thesis will to investigate the normative meanings of the public interest such as a discursively theoretical form of which the political philosophy accounts its meaning of "Oughtness" of the concept of the public interest.In light of its normative meaning, the public interest is essentially the radical aims of political actions or the functions of government, corresponding to this definition, its normative meaning refers to political decision, public decision and the evaluative standard of its effect, namely, the political community or state not only maintain its union’s safe and its well-ordered proceeding but also provide its citizens with the standard of "good life". There’re little difference of the views in different times by the meaning mentioned above. However, the concept of the public interest contains complicate relations representatively among the social-political interest, and the relations arise continually and reduce to the different understanding of the public interest along with the historical development. Before the modern society, the individuals, at his characteristic in the social-political relation, is just such a member as belong to its community, who has to rely on the political community, and has no special interest at relative independence of the others, and then, their definition and understanding of the public interest is based on the concept of reason, so as based on the needs of ruler, they express the conceptions of public interest by means of "common good" or "common welfare". The theorists so defines the public interest as to obey the reason in order to manage the political matters and identify its just order, which regulates political action by establishing the standard that can guarantee members in the political organization to be up to "good life", and which will express political members’ happy life as to obey to the reason and order. This is the ancient form of republicanism understanding the question of public interest, that shows the morality of understanding the question of public interest prominently. Since modern times, capitalist industry and commerce made the conflict among individual interests, private interests, nation interests appear time and time, which reduce to incline to conform and justify the understanding the question of public interest from the position of individual or private interest. This kind of understanding shows the inclination of utilitarianism. In a sense, utilitarianism expressed the rational interest appeals of individual or citizens when it understands question of public interest. This tendency is not only different from the tradition of the republicanism but also the tradition of social contract theory. The conditions mentioned above show that people exist difference in the theoretical basis, subject and its position on the understanding the question of public interest. This kind of difference reflects the contradiction between the individual interest and social-political interest that are contained in the public interest. For understanding the meaning of the public interest concretely, we must use the method of public reason to probe public interest from the complex correlation between the "public" and the "interest" which structure the public interest, namely, we must research the constructive content and its nature from the dimension of Publicity, confirm and prove the normative meaning from publicity of public interest.Public reason is the product of self-reflection and development of reason after Enlightment. When processing realistic society-political issue, public reason displays rational form in the epistemology, the theory of consensus and discourse within the cultural context of reasonable pluralism.Public reason is the essential feature of a democratic state. It is the citizen’s reason in democratic society. As the reason of man equal sharing the citizenship, it refers the citizen’s public reasoning faculty in the public forum when they face the constitutional essentials and the basic just problems. Most of its main function is the public justification. The aim of the public reason is public good, and its subject is public good and radical justice. In contemporary modern society with pluralistic value, even though there is the facts of reason pluralism, when the free and equal citizens face the constitutional essentials and basic justice they could take public discourse on the political value, and then by means of the public justification, the comprehensive views of religion, philosophy and ethics will reach the "Overlapping consensus" to support the a set of view of political justice. The public reason is public in its essentials and contents, in light of a set of views of political justice, its publicity could manifested by means of reasonable thinking and providing the standard of reciprocity. Facing the debate of constitutional essentials and basic justice, the reasonable citizens could comply to the ideas of public reason so as to get rid of some special issue and settle disputes, make a decision, and justify the political decision according to the rule of justice and political value provided by a set of political justice.Studying the issue of public interest with the perspective of public reason, we’ll divide the public interest into two terms of "public" and "interest", and regard the essential of interest as publicity. "Publicity" show two subjective forms as individual interest and nation interest, what the former request is interest, right and just realization of them, and what the latter request is public power and its well-ordered proceeding. Correspondingly, the normative meanings of public interest show two levels: the one is the just distribution both the right and interest in social system and the profits and burdens within the social cooperation, which means the distribution of social primary interest as the desirable objects; the one is the regulation to the National public authority which is belong to the subject of the legitimacy of the political power that is essentially get the citizens’ recognition, namely, state obtain the reasons to which the citizens comply, by means of meeting citizens’ just and reasonable request of interest. The two respects above define the normative contents of the public interest, which means that Rawls’ theory of justice and his political liberalism undoubtedly are the most important reference for this thesis.更多还原