孝与慈：家庭纵向伦理效用的闭路循环

摘要

The traditional society attaches importance to parent-offspring relation. The duty and kindness are established as the basic ethical norms, and the two are inter-affected so as to form a closed cycle of ethical utility. Ethical utility is nothing but the sanction of ethical norms, and the ethical utility of duty and kindness is the bidirectional sanction in which duty and kindness are put up in a cycle-by-cycle and generation-by-generation form. This bidirectional sanction, through the principle of ＂loving the close＂ and ＂respecting the respected＂, with the circulating system of differentiated time and ethical order, and the family-and-nation-integrated social system, successfully adjustes and specifies the interest relation between parent and offspring in traditional society. As a result, the value target for guaranteeing the existence and continuity of consanguinity life has been realized and its great contributions of self-pro- duction and prosperity of the Chinese nationality have been made.%综合大量史料，提示中华传统社会孝慈伦理效用闭路循环的基本内容，探讨其设计原则、运行机制，并追问其价值归宿。分析认为，孝慈之伦理效用就是孝与慈在亲子之间表现出来的环环相扣、代代相续的双向约束力；这种双向约束力凭借“亲亲”、“尊尊”的设计原则、差时与秩序的运行机制、家国一体的社会制度，成功地调节、规范了传统社会亲子之间的利益关系，实现了保证血缘生命存在与绵延的价值目标，为中华民族的繁衍与繁荣做出了重要贡献。