Taking Dworkin Seriously
彭亚楠
【关键词】文化移植 人权 德沃金
【全文】
Professor FANG Liufang recently published his interesting review (Fang, 2002) of Professor Dworkin’s trip to China in 2002.
This article, “Taking Academic Games Seriously,” is extremely insightful and penetrating.I am deeply impressed.It rightly points out the awkward situations in which Chinese academic games take place.It also concerns itself with the strategies that Chinese scholars can use to promote the fundamental social transition in China.To this extent, I firmly stand by Professor Fang.
However, I hesitate to stand by his position towards Professor Dworkin, which may reflect a common Chinese response to foreign criticism and pressure.I would like to describe my opinions on this issue-how to take Dworkin seriously.I will argue that we should focus on the substantial content, not the moral and rational bases of foreign criticism, and that we need to promote substantive dialogue with foreigners without overthrowing the procedural foundation of their voices.
There might be an inherent contradiction in Professor Fang’s article, if I read it correctly.In the first three paragraphs, his criticism on Chinese academic games appears to be even much more diabolical than Dworkin’s. I extremely appreciate this insight.
However, Professor Fang begins to make a U-turn in the fourth paragraph.He starts to defend, though somewhat reluctantly,
the low-profile response to Dworkin’s “provocation” by Chinese scholars.
It may be seen as a subtle departure from his previous despairing picture of Chinese academic games.
After defending the Chinese side, Professor Fang begins to attack the American guest.He criticizes Dworkin''s comment on the Zhang Jianzhong case: he tries to take a neutral position and argues that Dworkin should not judge this “pure factual issue” on the bases of “news reports and Professor Jerome Cohen''s comments on the case.”To be sure, under the “principles of the rule of law advocated by Professor Dworkin himself,” judges must base their judgments on the litigants’ evidences, not on secondary sources.However, Dworkin is not a judge.Official records and informal reports are both secondary sources to him.The decision of whether or not to trust a source is a matter of faith and reliability.Different from Dworkin, Professor Fang chooses to believe the government and seems to be waiting sincerely for the judge’s ruling.
