榆林学院学报

西方现代哲学对本质主义进行了深刻批判，但这一批判并未延伸到政治哲学领域，许多人还从这种批判中得出唯有实行自由主义政治方案才能避免和防止本质主义的结论。但自由主义难道不是本质主义哲学吗？它将作为有机整体的民族、国家还原为“非人”的原子化个体；将好政治归结为若干永恒、绝对、普遍的原理和原则；宣称尊重人的自由选择和价值中立，实际有着强烈的价值偏向并将之上升为“政治正确”；认为实施它所信奉的原理无需任何条件且只要实施了这些原理，一切社会难题都将从根本上得到解决；西方国家符合这些原理，是所有国家政治上的“模板”和必然归宿。这种本质先于事实、追求绝对确定性和同一性的政治哲学，难道不是本质主义？自由主义虽然与柏拉图、黑格尔那种本质主义哲学有所不同，但同样作为本质主义哲学，两者没有“好坏”之分，自由主义也不是什么“好的”本质主义。之所以人们认为自由主义可以防止本质主义，只是因为它曾经“做对了事情”。随着在与其他政治哲学的竞争中取得胜利和时代变化，自由主义政治哲学的本质主义性质愈发凸显：将“爱智慧”的哲学变成了“智慧”的固定答案；否定了其他文明的价值；堵死了探索不同政治形式和政治发展道路的可能；同样具有遮蔽、简化、解构等效应；本身仍然是一种独断论、决定论、唯我论。

Western modern philosophy has conducted profound critiques of essentialism, yet these critiques have not extended to the realm of political philosophy. Many scholars have concluded from such critiques that only a liberal political framework can avoid and prevent essentialism. But is liberalism not itself an essentialist philosophy? It reduces nations and states as organic entities to “inhuman” atomized individuals; reduces good governance to a set of eternal, absolute, and universal principles; claims to respect human freedom of choice and value neutrality while actually exhibiting strong value biases that are elevated to “political correctness”; asserts that its principles can be implemented without conditions and that all social problems will be fundamentally resolved once adopted; and posits that Western nations embody these principles as the political “template” and inevitable destination for all states. Is this political philosophy—prioritizing essence over facts and pursuing absolute certainty and uniformity—not essentially essentialism? Although liberalism differs from essentialist philosophies like those of Plato and Hegel, both share essentialist characteristics without inherent superiority or inferiority; liberalism is not a “good” form of essentialism. The belief that liberalism prevents essentialism stems solely from its historical success in addressing certain issues effectively. With its triumph over other political philosophies and the evolution of historical times, the essentialist nature of liberal political philosophy has become increasingly pronounced: it has transformed the philosophy of “love of wisdom” into a fixed answer to “wisdom”; it has negated the values of other civilizations; it has stifled the possibility of exploring diverse political forms and developmental paths; it likewise serves to obscure, simplify, and deconstruct; and ultimately, it remains an authoritarian, deterministic, and solipsistic philosophy.