辨國族身分

On National Identity

隨着1997年香港主權回歸中國，「香港人」政治成員身分的變化這議題便變得重要而迫切；年前「愛國論」、新近「德育及國民教育課程」的出台和公民教育的重新定向亦帶來連番爭議。本文討論和初步疏理有關國族身分或認同在概念上和倫理證成上的一些問題。綜合而言，就「認同國族身分乃道德原則」的證成，迄今支持個人要優先效忠國族的論據還是比較薄弱。雖然國族仍有一定的內在價值和工具價值（特別是在其對個人的精神寄託和對整個社群的福祉上），但這些價值卻從屬於如公正等其他價值。況且，亦沒有證據證明要滿足某些需要便非國族不可。再者，在某些處境下，認同國族身分反過來可能害及個人、國族自身或其他社群。簡言之，僅有愛國心並不足夠，還須明智，才能愛得其值、愛得合宜。

Against the background of the controversies over patriotism and national education in Hong Kong during a period of political transition， this article examines some major arguments concerning the pros and cons of national identity (with patriotism also included). The debates at stake are discussed in light of conceptual clarification， empirical analysis， and normative justifications. Conceptual clarification is conducted on two groups of key concepts: nation and identity in the usage of Chinese and English. And the five major arguments in favor of the extrinsic and intrinsic values of national identity are discussed one by one. This article concludes that some arguments for national identity are supported， albeit with certain modifications.