A Study On Mencius' Ethical Thoughts

Mencius is an important representative of the Pre-Qin Confucian ethical thoughts.In history,Mencius was honored as "sub-sacred" and mentioned with Confucius."Confucian and Mencius" is the representative of Confucianism.Mencius became the icon of Confucianism and even traditional Chinese ethical culture.Ethical thoughts are a reflection of the spirit of the times.In the middle and later stage of the Warring States,social politics,economy,and culture have undergone profound changes and feudal lords vying for supremacy.The historical trend of “Unifying the whole country” in the world is brewing,and a hundred schools of thoughts is providing effective social governance solutions in an era of change.Although Mencius inherited Confucianism,his thoughts were rather out of place during the Warring States period when the Political Strategists were popular,and his thoughts were not used because they were impractical views.But they had a huge impact and influence which is available so far on Chinese society.This thesis consists of an introduction,an epilogue and the main content of seven chapters.The dissertation systematically clarifies and explains the social background,philosophical foundation,main contents and modern significance of Mencius' ethical thoughts.Mencius' ethical ideas are extensive and profound.The exploration of human existence and human nature is the philosophical foundation of Mencius' ethical thoughts.By interpreting the difference between human and poultry,it is analyzed in detail that human beings are moral beings,the existence of human relations and the existence of spirits.On this basis,Mencius' all ideas,including king benevolent governance,human relations,righteousness and interest,and moral cultivation,constitute an inherent interrelated system of ethical ideology.Mencius' human relations theory emphasizes the relationship in humans,the Ethical norms for relationship in humans and the Ethics education to relationship in humans.He tries to integrate family,clan,politics,and the state into a unified whole,thereby applying the moral norms to social governance and transforming the disorderly and chaotic social environment into a regulate the orderly,harmonious and stable ideal state.Mencius' theory of righteousness and interest advocates that public interest is righteous and private interest is profit.In Mencius' idea,Gaining profit must abide by Righteousness,Interest must be guided by righteousness and Righteousness must be upheld when we have to choose between justice and interest.It shows that Mencius is going to attempt to guide value by valuing righteousness above interest and making righteousness control interest.It also shows that Mencius' intention for political ethic is to restrain the feudal princes by these.Mencius' theory of kingcraft and benevolent politics advocates running the benevolent politics on account of our benevolent heart.He Put forward the idea of giving fixed assets to people,asking the people for restraint,and paying attention to the livelihood of the people.All these contains thought essence about people-oriented doctrine.Mencius' moral cultivation theory advocates the "big-husband" personality,which is constantly changing,from the four aspects of what makes a man good is possible,how do people become good,what makes a man good is necessary,and to what extent do people become good.In the history of Chinese ethical thought,Confucius and Mencius formed the ethos of Confucian ethics jointly.Mencius' thoughts focused on the mental-nature and opened up the direction of Confucian ethics.Mencius proposed a series of conceptual propositions and improved the normative system of Confucian ethics.Of course,due to the limitations of history and class,Mencius' thoughts inevitably showed a tendency of moral determinism.However,Mencius' thoughts contain the unique genes of the outstanding traditional Chinese ethical culture.They are an important part of the excellent Chinese traditional culture and traditional virtues.They are an important source of the Chinese national spirit.They have the ideological value and lasting charm that transcend the times and can be used to construct Chinese spirit,Chinese values and Chinese forces,and to provide helpful ideological resources.