Faith and Authority

Author: Zhang Yonghe
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: In general, faith is a value system and holds ultimate significance, representing a value demonstrated through inner certainty. Faith is a spiritual phenomenon of humanity, manifesting as the belief and adherence of social members to a certain system of ideas. Faith serves as the spiritual foundation of humans, aiming to alleviate obstacles in the mind and provide conditions for the realization of personal perfection, serving as a necessary condition and means for humans to regulate their relationship with the environment. However, beyond this level of faith, there exists pure faith. Pure faith possesses rational purity and is an inner determination of the human mind. Religion, as well as curses (swearing oaths) and vows, only have rational practicality. General norms with rational practicality still retain elements of faith. Although law is an embodiment of practical reason, since it is supported by state political philosophy, it no longer holds any significance of faith. "Legal faith" is a wrong proposition, and people's perception of Socrates' death as a typical example of legal faith is a mistaken understanding. Faith and authority are two completely different concepts. "Legal faith" is an unargued speculation that cannot become a reality in the West and should not exist in China either. "Legal faith" in China can only divert attention from the crisis of social values, confuse the concepts of faith and authority, and is a fundamentally unsuitable idea for China's context.