Research On Mencius’ Thought Of The Goodness And Its Contemporary Value

In the field of ethics,there are many researches on Mencius’ doctrine of good human nature.As an academic hot spot,it attracts many scholars to participate.With the development of China’s reform and opening and the further deepening of the socialist market economy,the supremacy of money and profit-oriented business has increasingly spread to every corner of social life.In the tide of the market economy,it is impossible to deny the lack of ethics.Many people’s ideology and consciousness have been transformed,the lack of ideals and beliefs and the distortion of values widely exist in society.Strengthening the construction of social ethics has become a common demand of people.Our country’s traditional moral ideas contain many positive and profound values,which help us reflect on the contemporary moral outlook.In traditional Chinese Confucian culture,Mencius’ thoughts of goodness has an important historical position.It is also enlightening for the construction of contemporary Chinese ethics.Mencius’ s thoughts of goodness and how to maintain and promote them are helpful for people to strengthen their personal moral cultivation,adhere to the core values of socialism,and promote the excellent traditional Chinese culture.The purpose of this article is to further clarify its rationality and historical limitations through systematical analysis about the formation conditions,main contents and historical influence of Mencius’ s good thoughts.In the end,this article reveals its inspiration and value for contemporary society.The main contents of this article are as follows:At first,this article analyzes the conditions for the formation of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness from the aspects of social background,theoretical origin and personal conditions.First of all,this article analyzes the social background of the formation of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness,including the economic,political,and cultural conditions during the Warring States period.Secondly,this article analyzes the theoretical origins of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness,which mainly include Confucius’ s theory of human nature,Gao Zi ’s theory of human nature and other scholars of thought of human nature.Thirdly,this article analyzes the personal conditions for the formation of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness,including the influence of the family,the enlightenment of the sage,and Mencius’ own introspection.Secondly,this article summarizes the main content of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness from three aspects.Firstly,the idea that man is born with goodness mainly includes "knowing without thinking","being able to learn without learning","the reason why people are different from beasts",and the goodness of people reflected in"shadowing" "shame" "respect "right and wrong" and so on.After that,the idea that goodness needs to be preserved and expanded the day after tomorrow.Mencius believes that goodness can be lost or retained,so it needs to be preserved and promoted through acquired self-cultivation."Husband is a sin of being unwholesome,not a talent","It can be good if it is in its own right"," Where ever there are four ends in me,knowledge is expanded and sufficient".Thirdly,the idea about the practical methods of the cultivation of gentleman personality.It is mainly reflected in the aspects of "Keep and nourish little desire","Reflect on yourself" and "To cultivate a noble spirit".Then,this article expounds the theoretical evaluation of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness.This part mainly elaborates the influence of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness on later generations,and dialectical analyzes the rationality and historical limitation of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness.It has an important influence in history,and it is also an important beginning of the thoughts of human nature and benevolence government in later generations.The rationality of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness lies in its affirmation of the equal value of people and the spiritual characteristics of seeking good.At the same time,Mencius’ thoughts of goodness has its very obvious historical limitations,mainly reflected in its idealist moral transcendentalism and abstract human nature theory.In the end,based on the systematic analysis of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness,this article deeply clarifies the significance of Mencius’ thought of goodness to the moral construction of contemporary society.The contemporary value of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness to personal cultivation lies in: cultivating a kind moral will,focusing on self-ethical introspection and devoting to the unity of moral knowledge and behavior.The contemporary value of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness for promoting the construction of socialist core values lies in: strengthening the education of socialist core values,promote the building of a harmonious socialist society,and further improving the level of social morality.The contemporary value of Mencius’ thoughts of goodness for promoting Chinese excellent traditional culture mainly includes: strengthening research on excellent traditional culture,enhancing cultural confidence,and promoting the exchange and development of Chinese culture and the world.