学术资讯｜比较哲学工作坊第三十九讲：对羞耻的儒家式辩护：道德、修身以及无耻的危险

Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai)，

Sun Yat-sen University

A Confucian Defense of Shame: Morality, Self-Cultivation,

and the Dangers of Shamelessness (Virtual）

Mark BERKSON

Professor, Department of Religion, Hamline 

Jun-Hyeok KWAK

Professor, Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University

Nov. 15. 2023

9:00-11:00 

899 118 043

Many philosophers and scholars in the West have a negative view of shame.  In much of post-classical Western ethical thought, shame is compared negatively with guilt, as shame is associated with the “outer,” how one appears before others (and thus is merely a matter of “face”), and guilt is associated with the “inner” realm of the conscience and soul.  Anthropologists and philosophers have used this framework to distinguish more morally evolved Western “guilt cultures” from Asian “shame cultures.”  Many psychologists also have a negative view of shame, seeing it as damaging to the self and “devastating in its consequences.” In this paper, I argue that the understandings of shame found in these philosophers and psychologists are misguided, and that their flaws can be revealed by looking at the understanding of shame in the classical Confucian tradition.  In response to philosophers who see shame as a “lesser” moral emotion than guilt, Confucius (孔子 Kongzi) and Mencius (孟子 Mengzi) will articulate an understanding of shame that has a deeply internal dimension and is more essential in the process of moral cultivation than guilt.  In response to the psychologists who warn about the harm of shame, the Confucians will help us distinguish between moral and pathological shame, showing us why the latter is harmful, but the former is something that no moral person can be without.  I will show that the Confucian perspective on shame and guilt is profoundly relevant to the historical moment we are living in, and that the Confucian view demonstrates there is something much worse, and far more devastating, than shame in its consequences – shamelessness. 

中山大学哲学系（珠海）

对羞耻的儒家式辩护：

道德、修身以及无耻的危险（线上）

Mark BERKSON

哈姆林大学 宗教系 教授

Jun-Hyeok KWAK（郭峻赫）

中山大学哲学系（珠海）教授

2023年11月15日

9:00 - 11:00

899 118 043

西方许多哲学家和学者对羞耻持有一种消极看法。 在后古典西方伦理思想中，相较于罪感而言，羞耻是负面的，因为羞耻与“外在”有关，即一个人如何呈现在别人面前 (因此仅仅是一个“面子”问题)，而罪感则与良心和灵魂的“内在”领域有关。 人类学家和哲学家使用这个框架来区分道德上更优越的西方“罪感文化”和亚洲“羞耻文化”。 许多心理学家对羞耻也持有消极看法，认为它会损害自我，并“造成毁灭性的后果”。 本文认为这些哲学家和心理学家对羞耻的理解是错误的，考察经典儒家传统对羞耻的理解可以揭示他们的缺陷。 针对那些认为羞耻是一种比罪感“次要”的道德情感的哲学家，孔子和孟子将阐明一种对羞耻的理解，这种理解具有深刻的内在维度，在道德培养过程中比罪感更必不可少。 针对心理学家对羞耻感危害的警告，儒家学者将帮助我们区分道德羞耻感和病态羞耻感，告诉我们为什么后者是有害的，但前者是任何一个有道德的人都不能没有的。 本文将表明，儒家关于羞耻和罪感的观点与我们所生活的历史时刻有着深刻的关联，儒家的观点表明，无耻在其后果上比羞耻更糟糕、更具有破坏性。