Mencius's Philosophy Of Mencius

Mencius (Mengzi 孟子 371–289 B.C.) was a Chinese philosopher who followed in the steps of Confucius. A major part of his philosophy was that human nature is fundamentally good. (Wing-cheuk 154) Mencius believed that “the feelings of commiseration, of shame and dislike, of respect and reverence, of right and wrong, are found in all men” and that these four beginnings give rise to principles of humanity, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. (Wing-cheuk 162) The oft-provided example of these feelings is that of a child about to fall down a well. As someone watching this, you feel worry for the child and will try to help, not because you want a reward from the parents or are afraid of the disdain of others for failing to help. Mencius claims that

The answer to this is in the fact of the four beginnings, as the name suggests these are merely beginnings and not the end. To properly virtues one must have suitable self-cultivation and grow their beginnings like one grows a tree. Only with appropriate care can one grow a mighty oak. Failure to do so will result in the tree withering and this is the creation of evils.

Mencius claims that trying to develop your four beginnings is similar to draw a perfect square. Even with great skill it is impossible to do so by hand. Instead, one must use a carpenter’s square and by with such a tool, one can create as many squares as desired. For Mencius, “in a reality of morality, principles (li) are the carpenter 's square" (Wing-cheuk 163). Furthermore, he states that the principles and righteousness are common to all hearts, that morality is universal. One would argue that this claim is not completely true. While Mencius would not have been able to see it in his lifetime, many of the values and moors of his society have entirely vanished. As an example, the principle of deferring to the elder brother does not exist in many modern countries. This differs from the principles of