![]() ![]() In advising a disciple debating a Mohist, from a rival school to early Confucianism that critiqued Confucians’ insistence on elaborate rituals and other wasteful uses of material resources, Mengzi invokes the sense of respect by telling a story about a society in which people did not bury their parents, abandoning them in open ditches. Notice that Mengzi stresses that everyone would experience a spontaneous reaction to the situation and not experience the feeling as a result of ulterior motives or moral reasoning. Suppose someone suddenly saw a child about to fall into a well: anyone in such a situation would have a feeling of alarm and compassion-and not because one sought to get in good with the child’s parents, not because one wanted fame among one’s neighbors and friends, and not because one would dislike the sound of the child’s cries. CompassionĪnticipating disagreement with his claim that all humans have a sense of compassion, Mengzi asks us to ![]() Mengzi employs thought experiments to demonstrate the existence of these senses except for the ability to approve and disapprove: this ability was widely acknowledged among his contemporaries. Next, we explore Mengzi’s theory of ethical cultivation. Here we explore why Mengzi thinks we possess these four hearts and their relation to the cultivated virtues. Mengzi (372–289 BCE), or Mencius, an early Confucian whose thinking is represented in the eponymous Mengzi, argues that human nature is good and that all human beings possess four senses-the feelings of compassion, shame, respect, and the ability to approve and disapprove-which he variously calls “hearts” or “sprouts.” Each sprout may be cultivated into its corresponding virtue of ren, li, yi, or zhi. Categories: Historical Philosophy, Ethics, Chinese PhilosophyĮditor’s Note: This essay is the first in a two-part series authored by John on the topic of Mengzi’s moral psychology. ![]()
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