Knowing Class,Reason And Principle: The Philosophical Implication Of Gaozi And Mencius’ Argument

The problem of human nature is the focus of the ancient sages,and the debate between good and evil is especially to determine the different schools.As the prentice of saint,Mencius determined to "introducing the world into the domain of benevolence and righteousness,and promoting the path of human beings",and inventing the "Man" from the thought of "Good Nature".When the theory was put forward,it immediately caused many disputes: comments not only comes from the internal Confucianism,even Mencius’ prentices are also confused.For example Xunzi swears that it is ridiculous,and Gong duzi suspicion it seems to be narrow.It can be seen that the thought of "Good Nature" is not the result of meditation,and have no praise.On the contrary,it is germination in the phase of mutual criticize.Among the many criticisms,the most metaphysical is Gaozi,whose humanity theory leads to the continuum and self-contained system: the principle of "Man’s Inherent Characters" is the general outline,the "Humanity is neither good nor bad" is the main meaning,and "Food and sex are nature" as the content,characterized by "Humanity like willow","Humanity like water" and "Heart not tempted".It not only constitutes an important part of the evolution of Confucianism,but also reflects the multidimensional dimension of "Humanity" thought.Mencius closely arguing with Gaozi follows the two-dimensionality of "ontology"("what is man")and the "ways of self-cultivation"("How to achieve an ideal personality").His argument based on the "the distinction between man and feasts" to know class and "Self-Containing Benevolence" to know reason,aim to manifest "Human is capable to be good"."Human is capable to be good" is not only the value of the person’s "to be",but also the morality of the person’s "to do".Everyone can "be good",not only the important content of Mencius’ s theory of human nature,but also the core rationale for Mencius to clarify the goodness of nature;its human nature arguments with Gaozi specifically cover the following three aspects:First,know the class.The so-called know "class",that is,to distinguish the essence of human beings by "the distinction between man and feasts",it is aimed at answering the question of "what is man";the content of "Man’s Inherent Characters" and "Food and sex are nature" are relevant.Although the chapter of "Man’s Inherent Characters" is behind the chapters of "Willow" and "Water" in edition.It is often regarded as the main point of the debate of Gaozi and Mencius.In terms of the rational form,Gaozi does not continue the analogy,he changes the method of quoting the ancient meaning;therefore,its ingenuity is not only inferior to the metaphors such as "Willow" and "Water",but inherited the tradition from "inborn" to explain "nature" to make the thought more reasonable.Han Confucianism is from the perspective of empiricism,through typology("Humanity trilogy")to explain the rationality of Gaozi’s humanity theory.Song Confucian "Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao" in the perspective of transcendentalism,through structural theory("Li and Qi").However,Gaozi only stipulate the human nature of the physiological instinct of "Food and sex are nature" and the psychological instinct of "blood love family"(I love my brothers,does not love other country’s brothers),no doubt measure man and feasts are in equal,failing to pay sufficient attention to the difference between the "classes" in this place,so Mencius bluffs on his blind spots,"the nature of cattle is also the nature of the man" ?Then,Mencius distinguishes the logical relationship contained in the "Man’s Inherent Characters".He does not generally negate the "Man’s Inherent Characters".but clarifies the necessity and not sufficient condition of " inborn nature" as"humanity".There are also many contents "inborn" that are only "fate",or at least"gentlemen do not think it is humanity.From "the debate between human and feasts" to "the difference between life and fate",it is not only the ideological basis for the establishment of "Good Nature",but also the unique philosophical insight of Mencius: distinguishing the "humanity" of "seeking inside" and the "fate" of "seeking outside" It not only helps to establish the moral ontology,but also highlights the benevolence,righteousness,rites and wisdom are inner of ourselves.At the same time,it can also standardize the effort,and point out that being good and evil is a typical embodiment of subjective rational consciousness and emotional willingness.The essence of the theory of good nature is the unity of the coherence of "ontology" and "effort","what is human" and "how to achieve ideal personality".Second,it is clear the reason.The so-called "clear reason" refers not only to the causal conditions for the establishment of "Good Nature",but also to the insight of the inner dynamics of human development,which is to answer the question of "why".The debate content of chapter "Humanity is neither good nor bad",are mainly related to this.As a richly-conceived "concept set","Humanity" is highlighted that everyone has "four hearts"(sympathy,shame,modesty and right and wrong.)in daily life.Among them,it has nothing to do with the empirical factors such as physiological desire and utilitarian calculation is the heart of sympathy;it is not only a typical representation,but also the inherent power of "Human is capable to be good".Although the heart of sympathy is born in a specific situation,it must not be succumbed to a specific situation;otherwise it is only the physiological emotion cannot be enlarge to the moral sentiments.Gaozi and Mencius both value the natural expression of emotion,but there are also essential differences,Gaozi emphasizes the "natural" emotion,while Mencius pays attention to the emotion "natural"."Natural emotion" and "emotion is natural",they all maintain natural,but the former kind of "natural" is often related to physiological instinct,such as hunger and thirst,while the latter kind of "natural" incorporates rational "consciousness" and emotional "voluntarily".It is important to know that natural emotions are "the nature of blood," but "emotion is natural" are naturally "the nature of the mind." When it comes to "mind knowing",researchers often overlook the rational factors contained in the heart of sympathy;the ignorant baby indulges in the joyful play,completely ignoring the existence of the risk factor("well").Imagine if there is another baby that does not have the ability to judge if there exists risk,will he sprout a heart of sympathy? I am afraid that there is only "the blind rides a blind horse".So we can say the emotion sympathy is based on a comprehensive forecast of the surrounding environment.In this way,"just seeing" and "will enter" constitute two key elements of "the heart of sympathy" : the former guarantees the naturalness of moral emotions,not for the trade-offs or physiological preference;the latter highlights human’s moral emotion is a comprehensive thinking of knowledge,affection and meaning.The Confucianism of the Korean Confucianism is related to the separation of the "four duan(端)" and "seven emotions".As a result of "the nature of the mind,not the naturalness of the blood," it contains not only practical reason,but such rationality has the character of "inherent".The trait of "if we seek,we will get" precisely make "the heart of sympathy" become the inherent quality of human nature.Therefore,"self-seeking" or "reflexive" has important theoretical significance in Mencius’ s philosophy,which is not only related to the question of "what is human",but also refers to the "how to achieve ideal personality".The moral emotions with the core of "the heart of sympathy" include not only include the "emotion" in the experience world,but also relates the "perception" of the value field.Third,pursuit of"truthful principle".The so-called pursuit of"truthful principle"to examine the possibility and reality of human nature by"The Reason Why"and"As It Should Be",which is aimed at answering the question of"how to do it".The content of the two chapters of"Humanity like willow and Water"is mainly related to this.The significance of the metaphor of"Willow"is not only in the beginning of the whole article in the narrative,it also constitutes the logical starting point of the debate.As far as the relationship is concerned,the metaphor can be divided into three layers;but from the analogy form,it implies that there contained hidden and evident meanings:Willow to humanity,Beiquan(桮棬)to benevolence".The different understanding of the production process is the root of the difference between Gaozi and Mencius,and it is also the clue of the difference between the person and the object:Gaozi uses the"object"to describe the"person",It contains the meaning of humanity achieve benevolence and justice,just like the process of making willow to Beiquan.However,in Mencius’s view,the process of making Beiquan actually contains the opposite of two possibilities-shun or reverse.In summary,the Debates between Gaozi and Mencius are the most ardent philosophical clashes in the book of Mencius.As a crucial theoretical opponent of Mencius,Gaozi triggers his deep thinking about humanity.Their argument are not be the "zero-sum game",but have the meaning of "reciprocal" and "mutually clear".