Study On Mencius's Theory Of Human Nature

Mencius' theory of human nature is broad and deep also profound, taken as the base of his overall philosophy as well as his greatest contribution to Chinese culture. The thesis begins with the analysis of the theoretical origins and historical background of Mencius' theory of humanity and introduces the theory and logics from five aspects: the delimitation of human nature, tendency toward goodness, four kind of talent consciousness, the maze of natural consciousness , and improving human nature purposely. Mencius emphasized the social nature of people, supporting that human nature is good for their conscience, therefore claimed the possibility of goodness-prone of it.Then, by comparison with the theory of human nature of Xunzi, we can concludes the feature of his theory: firstly, the theory tries to find the proof from the destiny and takes the original consciousness as the base ; secondly, the theory of human nature is mainly about people's ethics, emphasizing the innate morality; thirdly, he pays more attention to the utility of the conscience, and magnifies method of moral introspection to improve oneself. And Mencius's theory of human nature has limitations in the delimitation of human nature, and is short of the basis of real content in the logical argument.Finally, the thesis elaborates the important academic influence of the theory by analyzing theories of human nature of Confucian scholars in the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming Dynasties. Nowadays, Mencius's theory of human nature provides the theoretical foundations for goodness, and is important as well as instructive for the improvement of human's ethic and morality.