On Chenliang's Utilitarianism Theory

Chen Liang, who was a great thinker and philosopher, was the founder and major representative of Yongkang school of the Southern Song Dynasty, His theory, whose main point was Utilitarianism, stands for the value orientation of applying rather than empty talk. In view of thinkers of School of Principle paid special attention for personal moral self-cultivation and concerned little about utilitarian case, Chen Liang and Zhu Xi argued on "Righteousness and hegemony," for as long as eleven years. This argument not only had been caused at general concern of academics at that time, but also was a major event in the history of Chinese thought.Facing the reality of the conflict between the great prosperity of School of Principle and national potential weak, Chen Liang's theory held the view of Utilitarianism, and advocated the reform of the political, economic, and military, in order to achieve enriching the people, and ultimately recovering Song's territory.His ideas, which play an important role in the history of Chinese, are put forward according the actual reason of that time. The paper gives a further study to Chen Liang's Utilitarianism in order to reveal the political philosophy of Chen Liang's Utilitarianism. Finally, around the arguments of Chen, Zhu "hegemony Righteousness", the essay discusses the essence of the utilitarian and the differences between the utilitarian and the mentalism in the southern Song Dynasty whose representative is Zhu Xi, in order to redefine its nature and significance in the ideological of Song Dynasty. Chen Liang's Utilitarianism is different from the traditional argument between justice and interest. Traditional argument genenrally stays within theory expecially in Song and Ming Dynasties and it focuses on moral consciousness. Relative to moral consciousness is its ability objectivity which is the combination of morality and Feats. Chen Liang gives a new explanation to the traditional concept about "Tao" and so as to find a theoretical basis for Utilitarianism. On the other hand, Chen Liang finds a way to Science of morality from the viewpoint of Utilitarianism, and he consideres that Feats is consistent to morality without contradiction, and Chen Liang's theory brings the fusion between Feats and morality and makes a new attempt to the construction of real ethical code system and so on.