國立臺灣大學政治科學論叢

Abstract / Chinese PDF Download

This essay intends to analyze how Chinese anarchists constructed ethicaltheory for their ideal society. The most influential aspects of anarchism are itscriticisms of social constraints. Its constructive aspects are conversely generallyregarded as utopian. But, if the Chinese anarchists were convinced that “utopia”was feasible, we must inquire why and how it was to be realized. By gaining afuller understanding of the plans of the Chinese anarchists, we can probe theirtheoretical defects and judge whether these plans really were “utopian.”

In the ethical thoughts in Chinese anarchists, we also find both critical andconstructive aspects. They criticized san’gang (three bonds) and religion harshlyas “fake morals,” and sometimes even denied the existence of “morality” itself.However, the “morality” they were referring to actually meant the moralcoerciveness from outside, and since they refused all outside restraints, order infuture society was all the more dependent upon “inside” morality.

When Chinese anarchists referred to ethics, they made maximum use ofscientific knowledge and insisted on moral improvement by the way of science.On the other hand, they also used such concepts as wuwo (anatta) or liangxin(goodness of mind) derived from traditional ways of thinking. This combinationof the two aspects often led to intellectual incoherence. This paper is mainlyconcerned with the traditional aspects. If finds that the thinking of the anarchistswas mono-dimensional, that is, they broke the existing diversity in the ethical order for the purpose of solving social conflicts. Therefore, the reality (diversity ofhuman existence) and the theory (uniformity) are separated, and in the endChinese anarchism shows its idealistic character.