多面向慈悲：道德異化之東方解方

Abstract

無論古今東西，道德一直是重要社會議題。心理學家海德特為人類社會共通道德價值歸納出五大「道德基本原則」：關懷、公平、忠誠、權威和聖潔。但多位西方學者指出上述每一項原則皆有異化可能性，進而主張以「理性」節制之。然而東方儒家「仁學」和佛家「慈悲」理論另闢蹊徑，以整體觀點和情理交融的方式對治上述異化問題。本研究之目的乃以兩階段方式，透過實徵研究檢驗東方慈悲是否對道德異化有負向作用（即具緩衝效果）。在第一階段，透過研究一和二根據東方慈悲概念，編製「多面向慈悲量表」（multifaceted compassion scale）。因為過去西方慈悲構念多聚焦於幫助受苦者，但在東方慈悲概念涵蓋更廣，包含關懷受苦者的「助人慈悲」、關懷犯錯者的「教化慈悲」、有助情緒調節之「鎮定慈悲」和平等對待親疏遠近之「平等慈悲」。在第二階段，研究三到五透過自陳量表、實際行為和情境故事等方法，檢證東方的「多面向慈悲」確實對道德異化有負向作用（即具緩衝效果），且其負相關程度和「道德基本原則」有顯著差異，代表「多面向慈悲」和一般社會道德價值相比，更加不會產生道德異化問題。本論文研究結果顯示東方的「多面向慈悲」構念應能為人類社會普遍之道德異化問題提供一有效解方。

Morality has been an essential theme throughout history in both the east and the west. Jonathan Haidt categorizes human moral values into five 'moral foundations' (i.e., care, fairness, royalty, authority, and sanctity). However, many western social scientists point out that these five often alienate and accordingly propose 'reason' as a cure. In contrast, in the east, Buddhism advocates 'compassion' and incorporates reason and sensibility to solve moral alienation issues through holistic perspectives. This research adopts quantitative methods to examine whether Buddhist compassion in the east has adverse effects on moral alienation. In phase 1, the 'multifaceted compassion scale' is developed to capture the construct of Buddhist compassion, which has been inadequately contained in western psychology. Specifically, the concept of Buddhist compassion encompasses four aspects (helping both sufferers and wrongdoers in a calm and equal manner), while the definition of compassion in the west focuses mainly on helping sufferers. In phase 2, research results show that 'multifaceted compassion' originating from Buddhism is significantly negatively correlated with a wide variety of moral alienation issues and statistically differs from the five moral foundations. Study results indicate that 'multifaceted compassion' not only helps alleviate moral alienation but also comes with less moral alienation than conventional moral values. Results demonstrate that 'multifaceted compassion' offers an oriental solution to moral alienation issues prevailing in today’s human society.