An Ontological Interpretation On The Feeling Of Commiseration

"The feeling of commiseration" is considered as one of the core concepts of Mencius’s thoughts,which has drawn considerable attention."The feeling of commiseration" is understood from two perspectives in the current academia: firstly,in the horizon of good humanity theory;secondly,in the horizon of ethics.The former can be divided into two types:good human nature and to be good humanity."The feeling of commiseration" is regarded as apriori goodness in the horizon of good human nature,which overshadows situational principle of Mencius’s expressing way.And "the feeling of commiseration" is regarded as empirical moral emotion in the horizon of to be good humanity,which ignores its ontological meaning.The understanding in the horizon of ethics or moral philosophy may be good to highlight the potential meaning of "the feeling of commiseration",but the premise of the interpretation leads to the ignorance of its ontological meaning.In terms of the genealogical examination on Neo-Confucianism, Zhu Xi interprets "the feeling of commiseration" as empirical moral emotion and denies its metaphysical position.By doing this,Zhu Xi separates the combination of mind,nature,sentiment in Mencius’s thoughts into three different parts.The debate on "four origions and seven sentiments" in the history of Korean Confucianism is just because the differences of the thoughts between Mencius and Zhu Xi.Li Tuixi thinks that four origions are from Li and seven sentiments are from Qi,which is because Tuixi understands four origions and seven sentiments from the perspective of the distinctions between Li and Qi.Speaking accurately,the heterogeneity of the "four origions and seven sentiments" in Tuixi’s thoughts lies in different levels.However,Qi Gaofeng thinks that both four origions and seven sentiments are from the combination of Li and Qi, which is because Gaofeng understands four origions and seven sentiments from the perspective of the relations between Li and Qi.Speaking accurately,Gaofeng considers both four origions and seven sentiments are empirical emotions.Wang Yangming’s thoughts of the feeling of commiseration can be understood from two perspectives of kang-ying of mingjue and benevolence. The feeling of commiseration can be expressed both empirically and apriori.This article aims to give an ontological interpretation on the feeling of commiseration.The feeling of commiseration is original emotiom in original situation,which points at the co-exist of the pre-subjectivity.Therefore,the feeling of commiseration can not just be considered as a kind of empirical moral emotion,becacuse it is attached to the subject.Nor can it just be regarded as apriori emotion, because it needs to be laid a foundation in the horizon of contemporary thoughts.