Abstract: The social ethics is an ancient topic.More than 100 years ago,the modern thinker Liang Qi-chao warned people seriously that China lacked social ethics. Since then,how to promote social ethics has still been a problem we face. In the project of social ethics practice,it is an essential topic for us to draw the ancient moral resources.Among the attitudes towards the issue,Confucian ethics is especially important,because it is one of the ideologies which has been playing dominant roles in China.In addition, the backbone of the Confucian moral virtues—Authority——is also apt to make people naturally link it with social ethics,which is a misunderstanding.Although Confucian lays emphasis on the norms of relationships between people,it is not an ordinary human relations but mainly a pursuit in blood relations,which reflects its self-centered values.Attaching importance to personal improvement is the natural blossom in that given value system.Even if there are some potential factors of social ethics such as"widely loving people",Confucian ethics is inclined to come to a premature end because of lack of driving factors itself.

Key words: social ethics, private ethics, Confucian ethics, Authority

摘要： 公德是一个古老的课题,从100多年前近代思想家梁启超警示世人公德严重缺乏至今,我们面临的一个问题仍然是如何推进公德。在实践的工程里,借鉴古代道德资源是一个必然的课题,其中儒家道德尤为重要,因为它一直是在中国起支配作用的意识样态之一,而且儒家道德的主干德目“仁”也容易使人与公德进行自然的联系,但这是一个误区。儒家虽然重视人际关系之间的规范,但不是一般的人际关系,而主要是血缘关系中的追求,体现的是自己本位的价值观,重视个人修养正是这一价值设定里开出的自然花朵,即使有“泛爱众”等公德的隐性因子,但也因儒家道德本身缺乏驱动因子而趋向夭折。

关键词: 公德, 私德, 儒家道德, 仁