《荀子·天论》“制天命而用之”重探  

Restudy of "Making Use of Tianming( 天命 ) " in Xunzi-Tianlun

作　　者：张志强[1] Zhang Zhiqiang

机构地区：[1]内蒙古大学哲学学院,呼和浩特010020

出　　处：《孔子研究》2022年第1期75-84,157,共11页Confucius Studies

基　　金：内蒙古社科规划项目“《孟子》情理观研究及当代启示”(项目编号:2017NDC128)之阶段性成果。

摘　　要：《荀子·天论》"制天命而用之"的含义,通常认为是掌握自然规律而利用它,这种解释是把"制天命而用之"模糊化为"制天而用之",却没有对"命"字给出明确解释,既没有坚实的文本依据,也不符合《天论》主旨,合理的解释应为"裁制天所禀赋的自然材性而利用之"。《天论》乃至《荀子》全书认为,人在天面前并不能为所欲为,人只能在承认天所造就、原本就有的自然材性的前提下,进行裁制、改造、利用等活动,其核心逻辑是"天生人成"。"制天命而用之"被错误地理解为"掌握自然规律而利用它",一个重要原因是受到哲学史研究惯性的影响,潜意识地把"天命"理解为范畴、概念,却没有注意到"天命"首先是先秦诸子重要的观念用语之一,而对观念流变的忽略,往往是哲学史研究进路的盲点所在。In Xunzi-Tianlun,the meaning of"making use of Tianming(天命)"generally is thought of as grasping the laws of nature and using it.This interpretation blurs"making use of destiny(Ming命)"into"making use of Tian(天)",but does not give a clear explanation of the word"destiny"(Ming命),which has no enough literature basis and is not in line with the main idea of Tianlun.A reasonable explanation should be"making use of the natural material given by Tian(天)".Tianlun and even the whole book of Xunzi believe that people can’t do whatever they want in front of Tian(天).People can only engage in production and manufacturing activities on the basics that Tian(天)provides the materials.Its core point is that Tian(天)provides the materials and people process and use them.One of the main reasons why the phrase"Zhi tian ming er yong zhi"(制天命而用之)is wrongly interpreted as"to master the laws of nature and use them"is that it is influenced by philosophical research,which subconsciously understands"Tianming(天命)"as a category,but not as an important and changing concept of the pre-Qin scholars.It is a blind spot of philosophical research methods.

关 键 词：荀子 “制天命而用之” 天命 裁制 观念史 

分 类 号：B222.6[哲学宗教—中国哲学]