Practical Wisdom And Good Governance Of Society

In the 1980s and 1990s,the academic circles at home and abroad began to attach importance to the exploration of the theory and practice of "good governance".At the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning the Comprehensive Deepening of Reform put special emphasis on the concept of"promoting the modernization of national governance system and governance capacity".In the resolution of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee,the concept of "good law is the precondition of good governance" was further put forward,and the concept of "good governance" has been formally incorporated into the goal system of governing our country in the new period.Since the emergence of various governance institutions such as the state in history,numerous scholars at home and abroad have put forward various ideals of "good governance".Pre-Qin Confucianism's thought of "benevolent government" laid an important theoretical foundation for China's tradition of governing state affairs,while Aristotle's theory of justice in ancient Greece became an important theoretical source for the West to seek "good" in individual and social governance.Practical wisdom,teleology of good and the mean are the core connotations and logical element factors of Aristotle's theory of justice,which are the inheritance and development of Socrates and Plato's thoughts.Socrates pursued knowledge of virtue or essence of virtue through specific dialogue activities,which profoundly influenced Aristotle's transformation of practical wisdom.The practical wisdom displayed in Socrates' dialogues attaches too much importance to obtaining universal knowledge through rational deliberation,while ignoring the influence of irrational factors and specific situations on moral activities.Aristotle's theory of justice also critically inherits Plato's idea of justice.Unlike Plato's idealized design,Aristotle emphasizes the dialectical relationship and interaction between the concept and the practice of"good".In Aristotle's theory of justice,practical wisdom is an important means and basis of individual moral cultivation.Practical wisdom means the interrelation of virtue,emotion and practice.It means to achieve the goal of acting well and living well through reasoning well.It also means to achieve the goal of virtue according to the criterion of the golden mean.Furthermore,Aristotle emphasized the importance of moral education on the basis of practical wisdom,that is,to cultivate moral disposition in habituation through the training of unwritten customs.Besides the cultivation of moral behavior and the promotion of moral accomplishment,the individual "good governance" based on practical wisdom also takes friendship and justice as the necessary foundation.Individual "good governance" in virtue also needs the subject's moral self-discipline,that is,the moral subject realizes the coordination and balance of emotion,ability and desire through practical wisdom,and thus obtains the free practical life through the self-restraint.In Aristotle's theory of justice,"good governance"is not only related to the cultivation of individual virtue,but also an important criterion for thinking about social justice.Aristotle advocates that "human beings are political animals",which shows that the "good governance"of society can't be separated from the effective implementation of social laws and the active participation of citizens in various social affairs.Aristotle made two understandings of justice:the general sense of lawfulness and the particular sense of equality.Justice is the ethical embodiment of the system,especially in the practice of legislation and adjudication.In the formulation and implementation of the law,equity with practical wisdom plays a quite important role.Through the realization of equity,justice can regulate the law justly,and eventually make justice a quality that citizens should possess in their individual virtue cultivation.Practical wisdom is a bridge between the idea of "good governance" and the practice of"good governance",and Aristotle applied practical wisdom to the theory of justice and social good governance,which had a far-reaching impact in ancient Greece.The strengthening of instrumental rationality in modern western moral practice results in the absence of moral in teleology.This is the reason why contemporary justice theory in the west appears the phenomenon of "Returning to Aristotle".Reshaping the inner logic of Aristotle's justice theory to achieve the goal of"good governance" by means of practical wisdom,it has important reference value for the development of theory and practice of "good governance" in modern society.Focusing on the two dimensions of individual virtues and social governance,Aristotle's theory of justice can be used in the modern reflection of governance practices and theories such as social management,technological activities,ecological activities and even the practice of socialist core values,through the perspective of practical wisdom and possible"good governance" approach.Also by comparing with the traditional Chinese concept of" good governance",and finding the similarities between Aristotle's justice theory and traditional Chinese cultural concepts,Aristotle's justice theory will provide theoretical and practical enlightenment to promote modernization of state governance system and governance capability usefully.