早期儒學究竟是德性倫理學？抑或是角色倫理學？這是目前以比較哲 學方式處理儒家倫理學中引發的哲學議題之一。戰國早中期儒家的倫理思 想，從根源上，尊崇天、天命；從思想探究上，確立人的基礎，而往心性 之路；從社會政治層面上，除了確立王的崇高外，也確立了倫常乃立基於 天，強調倫常的自然性與事實性的合一，亦即強調倫常的客觀性與價值的 普遍性。在社會制度與家庭倫理關係中，因著宗法制度與德性的轉向，君 臣、父子、夫婦，都有著不同的職德與位，因此也有著不同的德性要求與 價值。這一儒家倫理學的發展，至今很難說是一人獨立完成，若從既有的 文獻資料，尤其是郭店儒簡之資料的啟發與研究，可以發現戰國早中期的 儒家倫理學可以看作三向度的開展，一是心性之路的德性倫理之建構；二 是倫理之客觀普遍化的建構；三是倫理之角色職德的建構。三向度共同完 成了孔子後學的倫理學建構，也闡述了倫理網中之「人」的真實存在。

When comparing different methods of viewing the moral values of Confucianism, it is disputable whether early Confucianism — Confucianism in the early and middle Warring State Period — belongs to virtue ethics or role ethics. Early Confucianism reveres the Mandate of Heaven, centers around the disposition of human beings, and emphasizes on the nobility of rulers and the objectivity and generality of human relations. Within the patriarchy, rulers and the ruled, parents and children, husbands and wives, etc. have their respective social roles, duties and position. It is difficult to believe this way of thought is accomplished only by one person when studying the development of Confucianism shown on the Guodian bamboo slips. By enunciating the state, the content, and the practice of morality, scholars in the early and middle Warring State Period complete the construction of Confucianism and explicitly position man in the world of morality.