摘要
从法哲学的视角出发,法家经常被批评为鼓吹专制;或至多是法制,而非法治。这种判断出自概念混淆。本文在澄清相关法哲学术语的基础上,为最低限度的法治观念提供辩护。那些韩非子以及法家的批评者将法治误解为“良法之治”或者某种自然法,而“薄版本”的法治则更具有概念清晰性、普适性,并包含最低限度的善。通过考察从人治到自然法、特别是法制向法治的连续转变,我们会看到,不同的法哲学传统都共同认可以法治八原则为法治根本特征。基于这些原则,本文揭示韩非子的法律思想与法治是符合的,同时韩非子给出的最底线、彻底且内在一致的法治思想,与主流法学理论又有微妙的差别,对其研究有理论意义。并且,这种最薄版本的法治对处理当代所谓“失败国家”“脆弱国家”的问题,也有其现实意义。
The Chinese Legalists are often condemned as defenders of despotism,or at best“rule by law”,but not“rule of law”.However,such a claim is the result of conceptual confusion.This paper clarifies relevant terms in legal philosophy,and defend a minimum version of the rule of law.Those who are critical of Chinese Legalists,such as Han Feizi,often confuse the rule of law with the rule of the good law or a form of natural law,and a“thin”version of the rule of law has the merits of conceptual clarity and universalizability,while preserving some minimum goodness.Through examining the continuous spectrum from rule by man to natural law,especially the transformation from rule by law to the rule of law,the rule of law can be characterized by eight principles,which legal theorists from different schools may agree on.Based on these principles,this paper finds that Han Feizi’s understanding of the law is firmly in the camp of the rule of law.What Han Feizi offers is the minimalist,thorough,and coherent version of the rule of law,and it has some subtle differences from Western legal theories,so the study of it is theoretically significant.Moreover,this thinnest version of the rule of law has practical implications for addressing contemporary issues such as“failed states”and“fragile states”.
出处
《济南大学学报(社会科学版)》
2026年第2期5-15,F0002,203,共13页
Journal of University of Jinan:Social Science Edition
基金
国家社会科学基金重大项目“中国传统政治哲学观念体系的当代重构研究”(项目编号:23&ZD235)。
关键词
韩非子
法制
法律实证主义
法治
自然法
Han Feizi
rule by law
legal positivism
rule of law
natural law
