周文中的老子與其政治哲學

Abstract

自出土文獻問世以來，開啟了老子承繼周文的研究路線。本文承續這條路線，把《老子》放在周代政治背景中重新詮釋。有異於以往的從老子的形上學概念來延伸出政治哲學的方式，本文只使用老子的政治性概念來建構其政治哲學。這架構中的政治概念，除了彼此融貫，還有彼此相互解釋的效果，證明老子的政治主張是如何出於理性的推演，而非對形上本體的宗教信仰。 首先，本文描述了周代的政治制度，並說明老子的哲學是該時代的產物，老子的政治哲學是周王治理天下的經驗總結。治天下跟治國、治家是很不一樣的，這也是他跟儒家很不相同的地方。治天下必須要先了解，天下的性質是多樣歧異的，所以聖人的治理只能去配合順應這一點。多樣天下的成員會有個別自身的意志，聚合成群體生活就會產生群體的互動規則。這是天下的自發秩序，也就是「自然」，是不待聖人本來就會發生的事實，所以「自然」是作為聖人作為的現實限制，而非理想價值。 天下的自發秩序呈顯出來的結果，就是文化、制度、刑罰，也就是「名」。本文論證《老子》中對「名」的態度，其實是正面肯定的。而《老子》著名的第一章，就是在論述一個「道」與「名」同時並行的政治世界結構。「名」正是「自然」運作的產物。 而要掌握老子的政治概念，有一個關鍵問題必須被克服，就是悖論式句子是否是「事物內在的變化規律」的概念？我以22章為分析對象，指出《老子》的這一類悖論式句子，是為了表達「前面聖人的作為會導致後面天下的效果」的意思。 以上面的說明為基礎，本文架構出老子的政治哲學圖像如下：聖人與王者必須具有「一」、「大」、「果」三種必要的底層思維；以「一」、「大」、「果」出發，所展現的政治行動與執行原則，就是「無為」跟「不爭」。最後，透過分析「母」、「水」、「根」、「輜重」四個理想政治的譬喻的共同點，確認老子的理想政治型態確實可以用「母性政治」稱之。

This research situates its subject of inquiry within the context of Zhou civilization, a trend of study spurred by archaeological discoveries. It delves into Laozi’s political philosophy by focusing on his own ideas concerning politics rather than considering them as a derivative of his metaphysics. This approach demonstrates that Laozi’s ideas about politics are consistent with and complementary to each other. It argues that Laozi’s political thoughts are based on reason rather than belief in any metaphysical entity. This research first argues Laozi’s thoughts as a product of Zhou dynasty and in particular, his political philosophy a crystallization of Zhou prince’s governance of tianxia 天下. In this regard Laozi differs from Confucianism by considering tianxia featured by diversity, unlike state or household. The sage-king, when ruling tianxia, needs to attend to the fact: man wills differently; as it comes to communal life, these wills shape the communal order through interaction. Spontaneity as such is described as ziran 自然, a state of being that precedes the sage-king’s intervention. Ziran sets the limit for his governance rather than embodies his the ideal he values, as the concept is usually understood. The spontaneity in tianxia community gains full expression in ming 名 which encompasses culture, institution, and punishment. This research considers that Laozi takes ming positively. Accordingly, the well-known first chapter of Laozi reveals a structure of Zhou political world incorporating dao 道 and ming. Ming results from the ziran state. To achieve the understanding above, a full grasp of the idea of the political, aporia in Laozi must be examined whether they refers to the law of change inherent in things. Through the scrutiny at the twenty-second chapter of the book, this research argues that the aporia of this kind indicates a certain causality: what the sage-king does brings tianxia into effect. Based on the above this research proposes a conceptual framework for our understanding of Laozi’s political philosophy. The sage or king should use yi一, da大, and guo果 as his fundamental principle to govern tianxia. Practically, they allow for political actions and deeds characterized by wuwei無為 and buzheng 不爭. All this resonates with the four allegories in Laozi, mu 母, shui水, gen 根 and zizhong 輜重. My analysis of them concludes that the “maternal politics” best describes the political institution Laozi advocates in his philosophy.