Study On The Ethical Thoughts Of Thoughts And Times

Thoughts and Times is a monthly academic magazine published from 1941 to1948 by ZheJiang University.The core authors of the magazine are Qian Mu,Zhang QiYun,Xie Youwei,Zhang Yinlin and He Lin.These authors were witnesses of Anti-Japanese War and the Founding of the Nation period.They were eager to build a modern nation-state,committed to solving these problems: how to build the national identity of the modern state;how to resolve the conflict between the authoritarian nature of traditional politics and the egalitarianism of modern politics;how to reconciled the conflicts between Chinese and Western ethical thoughts,the conflicts between old and new ethical thoughts and the ethical crises caused by the separation of natural and humanistic values.The ethical thoughts of the magazine Thoughts and Times were the response to the ethical questions above.XueHeng,GuoFeng,Thoughts and Times constituted the "Southeast School" together in the history of modern Chinese ethical thought."Southeast School" attached great importance to the exchange of Chinese and Western culture,adhered to the national character of a culture,and advocates "humanism in the age of science".The ethical interests and characteristics of Thoughts and Times were as follows:blending old and new,communicating with the east and the West;building ethical identity of the "national state" to achieve the goal of "winning Anti-Japanese War and building a new nation".The adherence to the traditional ethical value and the ethical enlightenment of the ethical value of modernity were the theory of their cultural conservatism ethical thought,the construction of the ethical identity of "national state" and their political ethical thought were the reality of their cultural conservatism ethical thought.On the level of adherence to traditional ethics,they pointed out that China needed to take a modern but not western road,denied the omnipotence of science,re-evaluated the humanistic values of traditional ethics,affirmed the "reasonable attitude of life" of traditional ethics.They used American New Humanism,western Irrationalism and New Hegelianism to defend Confucian ethics in terms of existence value,method and ethical value orientation.They believed that the ideal of personality in the traditional Confucian ethical thought and the social ideal ofemphasizing filial piety and loyalty to the country,and the abstract ethical spirit of normative ethics expressed as regulated etiquettes and ritualized music were worthy of protection.On this basis,they believed that only through "modern transformation",traditional Confucian ethics can be truly revitalized.On the level of ethical enlightenment,the author group held the opinion that Confucian ethics of morality above intelligence,intuition above analysis and logical inference,hindered the development of Chinese modern science.They thought that although it is difficult for Chinese traditional ethical culture to produce modern science spontaneously,Chinese culture still has the possibility of accepting science.They also discussed the principles of behavioral ethics within the establishment of the scientific community and the social ethical responsibilities of scientists.Their discussion of nuclear ethics showed obvious ethical color of responsibility.They also had an essential understanding of the transformation from traditional ethics to modern ethics.At the level of individual morality,they denied the authoritarian tendency of traditional ethics,paid attention to the transformation of the original "from heaven to man" of individual morality,emphasized the importance of individual independence and autonomy,and at the level of ethics,they denied the hierarchy in the traditional ethics,emphasized that equality is the basic ethical spirit of modern society.The cultural conservatives,represented by the authors of Thoughts and Times,had made a screening of the times and nationality of ethics,not only agreeing with the ethical values of modernity such as freedom,equality and democracy,but also adhering to the national character of ethics.They emphasized the deep relationship between ethical tradition and national identity,so their cultural conservatism was linked with the injured national feeling,which provided a solid emotional and cultural foundation for nationalism and strengthened the ethical identity of nation-state.The author's construction of the ethical identity of the "national community" lied under the background of the modern nationalistic trend of thought and the modern transformation of national state concept.Based on the concept of "Chinese nation ",they were committed to demonstrating the identity of the national ethnic group and the uniqueness of the Chinese nation.For the construction of national identity,theyfought for sovereignty and civil rights.The "national state community" they constructed was the unity of "historical-cultural community" and "legal-political community".The authors held the "ethical political theory" and believed that politics should have moral ideals,and the ethical system should also play a guiding role in supervising politics.Their international political ethics thought had undergone a modern transformation from cosmopolitanism to nationalism,emphasizing the supremacy of national sovereignty and opposing international political hegemony.They advocated the modern political and ethical values of freedom and democracy.Their view of democracy was a kind of "high-profile view of democracy",of which the spiritual significance of democracy far exceeded the procedural and institutional significance of democracy.Their view of freedom was an "organized view of freedom",emphasized that the development of individual freedom should not contradict the public interest.In addition,based on The Draft Constitution of The Five Powers at that time,they also discussed whether the formation of political system should follow the "separation of powers" or the "all-powerful government".The authors regarded people as "individuals in the realm".They took the stance of cultural conservatism,and believed that the national demands in individual human nature cannot be ignored,but individuals can reflect on the moral principles of their own culture by referencing to other cultures.Therefore,on the one hand,they attached importance to the national identity of the individual,on the other hand,they also emphasized the moral and political freedom of the individual.They strove for the freedom of their own people,but also respected the freedom of other peoples.In a word,the authors of Thoughts and Times,in that particular era,not only adhered to the excellent content of traditional Chinese ethical thoughts,but also absorbed the western modern ethical concept.They tried to construct an ethical system that combines tradition with modernity and facing the future.Due to the limitations of the times,their thoughts must have some shortcomings,but still have important academic value and enlightenment significance.