Mengzi
- (Meng Tzu)
- will try to defend the Confucian point of view against two other authors:
- Mozi
- Yang Zhu (Yong Gchu)
- Yangism 5th - 4th Century B.C.E.
- Emphasized nourishing one's Xing (shing)
- xing – your own human nature, your predisposition self
- live a long life, satisfy basic desires – food, drink, procreation
- avoid politics – gets you excited, it uses up your Qi (Chi – energy, of which you only have so much)
- don't worry about the affairs of the world, worry about yourself
- egoism – you ought to do your best in order to nourish you own nature
- “I would not try to benefit the world, if I would have to pluck out one hair”
- Mengzi is not an egoist, but does believe in human nature/human predisposition
- it makes sense to ask, “what is the nature of the human being?”
- we are naturally inclined to benevolence, to look out for others
- though our nature leans toward the good, it must be cultivated
- benevolence → 'sprouts'
- born with a sprout of Ren, if it does not grow, it can die and you will be evil
- one
- the nature in me (xing) is connected to heaven (tian)
- this microcosm of nature in me is connected to the macrocosm
- conjecture by corner -- the human being is a replica of the universe as a whole
- there is continuity between the human and heaven
- Mengzi makes no reference to 'bad sprouts' (or weeds)
- you might not need bad sprouts
- if you ignore compassion, your sprouts of good will not grow
- xing – human heart, mind
- blurs the distinction we tend to make between heart/mind
- four sprouts
- ren – benevolence, humanity
- li – observance of rites
- a natural instinct toward habit
- yi – propriety, righteousness
- zhi – wisdom
- human nature like water – flows downhill, we can keep water by building a dam
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