An Introspection On Moral Idealism

In the Warring States Period,Mencius was a well-known persuader".After taking dozens of ox carts, hundreds of people following". Wherever he went, the king and other officials treated him as respectable guest. He preached either the king or the common people; he was ambitious and thought very highly of himself. Once he said:"nowadays, None but I am to manage state affairs."Mencius, as a cultural giant, is worthy of a distinguished representative of the Confucian. His thoughts and views were in widespread in ancient China. Numerous scholars devote their life-long time to studying Mencius. Mencius'thoughts have deeply influenced Chinese traditional culture. Especially his political philosophy theory (moral idealism) provides an important theoretical perspective for future generations to recognize the traditional culture and ancient philosophy.In the introduction of this paper, firstly, the author explains what political philosophy is, and its relationship with politics, and then clarifies what is Moral idealism. All these discussions above are the theory and category basis for the following parts. Chapter one is to explain why Mencius'political philosophy is Moral idealism, the author thinks that Mencius has replaced the political ideal, and the practical level of the systematical operation of politics, with his moral idealism. Mencius has regarded politics as the moral extending, leading to the dislocation of the political philosophy, and the descending of politics. And his value rationality replaced his tool rationality, and finally he went to his extreme of moral idealism. Chapter two is to explain the effects of Mencius'moral idealism on the Confucianism and the Chinese classical design of politics. Chapter three is to evaluate moral idealism whose value is approved firstly. Then, the author criticizes the ambiguous boundary of moral idealism in nature, and the caused questions. The author believes that to separate moral from politics, it is essential to clarify moral idealism and its nature. Only in this way can we clear the dilemma of moral idealism.