孔子與弗洛伊德的文化沖突:為什么我們必須發(fā)展華人本土“心理治療”體系

鄭建國(guó)

雖然孔子與弗洛伊德之間相隔有二千五百多年的時(shí)間，但是他們兩人同是代表中國(guó)和西方文化的巨人。在我們大量向西方學(xué)習(xí)處理人性問(wèn)題的當(dāng)兒，我們須要小心查看他們心理學(xué)和心理治療學(xué)對(duì)中國(guó)文化的合宜性和適用性。因?yàn)楦ヂ逡恋率俏鞣叫睦碇委煂W(xué)的開(kāi)山祖， 所以由他開(kāi)始，也是理所當(dāng)然的。

雖然有關(guān)佛教與弗洛伊德的研究已經(jīng)很多。但是比較孔子與弗洛伊德的研究實(shí)在是罕見(jiàn)的。所以我們今天這個(gè)‘孔子與弗洛伊德的文化沖突講座將會(huì)把我們帶到中國(guó)心理學(xué)和心理治療學(xué)的最前線。

孔子與弗洛伊德同樣承認(rèn)人的天性是必須受制裁的，但是弗洛伊德認(rèn)為這些制裁是一種不能避免的禍害?？鬃訁s不同意這想法，認(rèn)為我們應(yīng)該利用這些制裁（禮教）發(fā)展人性的潛力，達(dá)成‘克己復(fù)禮為仁的理想?？墒?，經(jīng)過(guò)二千五百多年的系統(tǒng)性的‘克己中國(guó)人的‘自我意識(shí)也同時(shí)受到了嚴(yán)重的侵蝕。以至‘面具比‘真我，人際比內(nèi)心的價(jià)值更為重要。孔子與弗洛伊德的另一基本分解，就是在‘超我的問(wèn)題上。雖然超我這觀念是弗洛伊德思想體系的基礎(chǔ)，可是在儒家的人觀上，根本不存在。超我與自我的界限是渾成一片的。

中國(guó)人超我的缺失，主要原因是缺乏基督教的罪感。德國(guó)社會(huì)學(xué)家韋伯也認(rèn)為，因這罪感的缺乏，中國(guó)人就沒(méi)有內(nèi)在的道德‘杠桿。甚至‘罪這個(gè)字也是佛教輸入中國(guó)后才普偏化的，但是仍然與基督教對(duì)罪的意義相差很遠(yuǎn)。因?yàn)閺幕浇虂?lái)看，罪不只限于人際上的過(guò)錯(cuò)，并包括對(duì)神的過(guò)犯；不但是一種平面（人人）的道德觀念，也同時(shí)是一垂直（人神）的道德觀念。既然中國(guó)人沒(méi)有‘超我，也缺乏罪感，而超我及罪(疚)感又是弗洛伊德心理治療的主要解放對(duì)象，他究竟能從什么境況把中國(guó)人‘解放出來(lái)？

除了一個(gè)衰萎的自我 (psyche)和缺席的超我 (superego)以外，中國(guó)人更有另一文化特征，使我們相當(dāng)不適宜接受西方心理治療。那就是我們并沒(méi)有西方‘笛卡爾文化的人觀，把人的靈與體分割開(kāi)來(lái)。這傳統(tǒng)對(duì)西方文化和心理學(xué)都有深遠(yuǎn)影響。中國(guó)人的人觀是完整的，整體的。我們用‘身體性病癥和詞類表達(dá)我們的苦惱，也不知如何，用‘心理詞類來(lái)訴苦的。所以，西方的心理學(xué)家和精神病醫(yī)生很多時(shí)叫他們的華人病人‘身體性病人(somatisers)，因?yàn)樗麄兘?jīng)常用頭痛、腰痛等身體性病癥來(lái)表達(dá)他們內(nèi)心的哀傷和痛苦。

無(wú)論從人性的治理、自我的輕重、道德的分歧和病癥的表達(dá)不同角度看，西方心理治療對(duì)中國(guó)人的相關(guān)性和合宜性都提出許多嚴(yán)重的問(wèn)題。我們現(xiàn)在需要的是，從中國(guó)人的觀點(diǎn)開(kāi)創(chuàng)新的途徑，發(fā)展符合我們文化傳統(tǒng)的‘心理治療體系，充分反映我們?nèi)寮疑鐣?huì)的倫理和人際傾向，就算完全不提及‘內(nèi)心的問(wèn)題也沒(méi)有問(wèn)題。

我相信很多中國(guó)的心理輔導(dǎo)員已經(jīng)這樣做，我們現(xiàn)在需要做的是發(fā)展一套中國(guó)心理治療范式，為輔導(dǎo)員設(shè)定理論和實(shí)踐的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，讓他們可以名正言順、心安理得地使用本土化方法進(jìn)行他們的輔導(dǎo)工作。更重要的是，我們?nèi)舨皇紫劝l(fā)展一套中國(guó)人本土心理學(xué)體系，就沒(méi)可能系統(tǒng)地發(fā)展中國(guó)人的心理治療了。

當(dāng)孔子為國(guó)人提倡‘克己復(fù)禮為仁的時(shí)候，其實(shí)他已經(jīng)播下了中國(guó)本土心理學(xué)的種子，只是我們到現(xiàn)在才發(fā)現(xiàn)到。要使一個(gè)人能夠達(dá)到‘仁的理想，孔子了解到他必須首先在這人心里，自小培養(yǎng)一種強(qiáng)有力的欲望，能使他自動(dòng)自覺(jué)地抑制原本的自私天性。但是那時(shí)還沒(méi)有基督教，也沒(méi)有佛教，孔子唯一可以做的，就是另找方法。在論語(yǔ)為政篇，我們有證據(jù)證明孔子也曾考慮過(guò)以法治民的方法 (the rule of law)， 但決定那是徒勞而無(wú)功的，因?yàn)槿藗兛梢蕴颖芊桑酝耆恢獝u的: ‘導(dǎo)之以政，齊之以德，民免而無(wú)恥。

因此，孔子結(jié)果拒絕了法治的方法，而決定推廣自己的社會(huì)議程，把這種自我控制，抑制天性的欲望放在人們的心里。他了解到若要將這欲望植長(zhǎng)于人心里，它必須先將一套認(rèn)同他人，尋求稱許的價(jià)值 (approval-inducing values) 如孝道、禮教、和諧等透過(guò)父母和師長(zhǎng)從小灌輸兒童心里。培養(yǎng)他們，不但可以使他們自動(dòng)自覺(jué)地‘克己復(fù)禮，想做孝子賢孫，守法市民，爭(zhēng)取父母和師長(zhǎng)的稱許，并且會(huì)達(dá)成‘為仁的理想。

Cultural Clash—Confucius vs Freud:

? Why We Need to Develop An Indigenous ‘Psychotherapy for the Chinese

? 孔子與弗洛伊德的文化對(duì)峙：

為什么我們必須發(fā)展華人本土“心理治療”體系

? Introduction 1

? Even though nearly 2.5 millennia have separated Freud and Confucius, not only are they towering figures that characterise their own culture, they also represent two distinct approachesto the management of human nature.

? At a time when China is looking to the West for answers to our human problems, it is imperative for us to examine the roots of Western psychology, particularly that of Freudian ‘psycho-therapy, and their relevance, appropriateness and applicability to the Chinese people.

? In contrast to the studies on Freudianism and Buddhism, which have been voluminous, those done on Freudianism versus Confucianism have been very rare indeed. For this reason, our seminar today on the cultural clash between Confucius and Freud puts us right at the cutting edge of Chinese psychology and Chinese psychotherapy.

? Introduction 2

? While both Freud and Confucius recognise the need to impose sanctions on human nature, Freud sees any such sanctions only as a necessary evil that is more likely to do harm than good. In contrast, Confucius does not see them as harmful, but a means by which human nature can be harnessed to fulfil its destiny (克己復(fù)禮為仁).

? However, as a result of 2500 years of systemic ‘denial of the self (克己), there has also been an erosion of the Chinese awareness of the ‘self. In the process, the importance of the ‘persona (face/role) has overtaken the ‘person (psyche), and the interpersonal has overtaken the intrapersonal.

? Another fundamental difference between Freud and Confucius is that while the ‘superego (超我) plays an integral part in Freuds conception of the human psyche, it does not exist in the Confucian view of man.Instead, it only has the equivalent ofthe ‘reality principle (現(xiàn)實(shí)原則)in the form of parental instructions (家教) and prescriptions of the li (禮教).

? Introduction 3

? The absence of the superego in the Chinese is largely due to our lack of a Christian concept of sin, and hence the consciousness of ‘guilt. Even the word ‘sin (罪), which shares the same meaning of ‘crime, was first introduced to China by Buddhism, but that is still far from the Christian notion of sin, which means not only a violation against man, but also that against God: not only a horizontal morality, but also a vertical one.

? As the Chinese do not have a ‘superego—which, for Freud, is a major source of psychological problems, particularly that of ‘repression, the question is: what exactly can Freud ‘liberate the Chinese from?

? Apart from a diminished psyche and the absence of a superego, another cultural trait which has made the Chinese poor candidates for Western psychotherapy is our lack of a Cartesian (dichotomous) view of man--a dualistic split between the mind and the body, which has profoundly influenced Western culture and psychology.

? The Chinese conception of man is a holistic one. We express our distress in bodily symptoms, not psychologicalterms. That is why Western psychologists/psychiatrists often label their Chinese patients ‘somatisers,as they express their psychological problems in somatic complaints such as headaches and backaches.

? Implications to Chinese ‘Psychotherapy

? Whether you look at it from the control of human nature, the status of the psyche, or the way problems are interpreted, there are serious questions about the relevance, appropriateness and applicability of Western psychotherapy to the Chinese people.

? What is needed is for us to develop a completely new approach to psychotherapeutic/counselling interventions from a Chinese perspective. We may even have to change the term from psycho-therapy to something that would accurately reflect our cultural orientation towards the interpersonal rather than the intra-personal, even if we have tothe leave the psyche out altogether.

? I believe that for a lot of Chinese counselling practitioners, this is already happening. However, what we need is to do is to legitimise their practice by developing a new paradigm that would set the basic theoretical parameters for them.

? More importantly, I believe also that we cannot possibly develop a paradigm of Chinese ‘psychotherapy without first developing an indigenous Chinese psychology.

? Unlearning from Western Psychotherapy 1

? First, let us start with ‘psychopathology—what constitutes ‘sick ‘ behaviour. In the West, as independence is of paramount importance to a persons mental well-being, technically all approval-dependent behaviours (including all those in my Chinese samples) can be seen as ‘pathological.

? No Western psychotherapist would encourage their clients to lead a life dependent on the approval of others, but that is exactly what we are supposed to do. The first thing that we have to unlearn from Western psychotherapy is its view that approval-dependent behaviours are necessarily pathological.

? Second, in contrast to an internalised moral paradigm such as the Christian concept of sin and Freuds superego, we Chinese have been relying on an external paradigm--the opinion of others, as our moral gyroscope. The Western obsession of guilt as a major psychological issue is not a Chinese problem.

? Unlearning from Western Psychotherapy 2

? Third, as mentioned before, the term psychotherapy itself is actually a misnomer for the Chinese, since after 2.5 millennia of ‘克己復(fù)禮 , the Chinese ‘psyche has become so diminished that most Chinese are no longer even aware of its existence.

? The external character of propriety (禮教 ) that requires only external compliance, but not internal conviction, has also emasculated the ‘person (psyche) in favour of the ‘persona, to such an extent that psychotherapy would be better off changed to ‘persona-therapy— the restoration of ones ‘face (public image) rather than the healing of ones psyche.

? Fourth, from our Western textbooks, we have learnt an entire ‘psychological vocabulary. However, in our counselling practice, we may have to unlearn much of it, so that we could communicate more effectively with our Chinese clients most of whom only talk about their problems in somatic language.

? Psychotherapeutic Strategies for the Chinese

? Do not be afraid to question the cultural validity of Western psycholo-gical or psychotherapeutic systems, no matter how popular they are.

? The need for approval is the key to unlocking most psychosocial problems in China, but it can also cause a lot of problems, when it loses its original purpose of ‘仁. To prevent that from happening in a culture without an internalised arbiter (superego) such as a sense of sin, there is a need for religion to provide that moral sensor.

? Contrary to teachings in Western psychology, Chinese self-esteem is almost always enmeshed, particularly with that of the parents. A lot of psychological/behavioural problems stem from such enmeshment.

? We need to develop a strategy for somatisers, who represent most of our Chinese clients. I suggest nutritional intervention as part of this strategy, as there is strong evidence linking it to mental-well being.

? We need to use epigrams more widely in counselling: epigrammatic thinking is a prominent cognitive style of the Chinese.

? We also need to do much more research into the built-in psychother-peutic elements in traditional customs and ancient rituals, (e.g.求簽)

? Conclusion

? The Confucian social agenda has served the Chinese people well for 2.5 millennia by fostering in them a strong need for approval, and would continue to do so for a long time to come.

? However, China is rapidly changing from an agrarian society into a modern, industrialised nation. Our traditional values are threaten-ed by global changes and Western influences. The ‘dammed up libido is about to burst its banks.

? Mental illness is going to be an enormous problem. Unfortunately, we cannot solve the problem simply by importing more Western ideas. As we have shown in this seminar, the cultural chasm between Confucian China and Freudian West cannot be bridged by new theories and therapies from the West. There is no short-cut.

? We must develop an indigenous paradigm of Chinese psychology and ‘psychotherapy ourselves.As a 5000 year old civilisation, we have enough wisdom to solve our own problems, but we need to start with ourselves. We need to understand that even though we are driven by the need for approval, we must not be enslaved to it.

? I believe that when we lose sight of為仁 as our goal in life, we may be already at risk of becoming merely a slave to our own need for approval. Thank you.