《禮記‧大學》與希臘古哲論至善

The Highest Good in the Great Learning and Ancient Greek Philosophy

何謂「至善」？照字面上看來，即是至高無上、極致完滿的善。「至善」暗示著有一系列、高低不等善之價值，而其中最高之善，是其他次等之善所從屬者，於一切價值等差中居最高地位，也是人生所追求的終極鵠的。以此，「至善」概念可說是生命教育的核心。衡諸中西，「至善」的概念普遍存在於古典倫理思潮中，顯示人共通的精神信念。本文就中西古典倫理思想中的「至善」概念：《禮記•大學》提出的「止於至善」之說，以及古希臘哲學家蘇格拉底、柏拉圖、亞里士多德共同主張的「德福兼備」，分別論述，希冀為生命教育提供終極理念。

What is the highest good? Apparently, it is some surpassingly perfect good, which implies a hierarchy of goods, with inferior ones always being subordinate to the highest one. In the conventional ethical thought, both in China and the West, attainment of the highest good has been taken as the final end of being human. Seeking perfection in our lives, within the limits of human capacity, has long been regarded as the only way of acquiring happiness for its own sake. This paper is an attempt to explore some spiritual parallels in the conception of the highest good in the Great Learning and by the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The common ground, I argue, is that the necessary and sufficient condition of happiness (or the highest good) is virtue which should be essential for the promotion of life education.