Analysis Of Morality Of Feng Youlan's New Neo-Confucianism

In modern times,there has been continuous war and disputes.As Western learning into east,the legitimacy of Confucianism was severely challenged,and the ideology of Confucian ethics and ritualism was the first to be blamed.A large number of progressive intellectuals opened their eyes to the world and proposed new moral concepts.Feng Youlan is one of them.The moral outlook of Feng Youlan's New Neo-Confucianism is an important part of his philosophy system,and is the practice and application of his new theory of metaphysics in the field of ethics.This paper mainly analyzes the morality of Feng Youlan's New Neo-Confucianism from the following chapters:The first chapter mainly introduces the philosophical thinking of New Neo-Confucianism and its main concepts.Especially the metaphysical,humanistic,and sociological ideas that are closely related to Feng's moral values.Feng Youlan believes that for every kind of thing there is the Li(or principle),which makes it what it ought to be.For example the human and the society.At the moment of their production,they must receive this Li in order that they may have a nature of their own.Nature is a simply the Li of something that is inherent in something.Nature can be divided into primary nature and auxiliary nature,and it can also be divided into “the nature of Heaven and Earth” and “physical nature”.From the study on the nature of things,people can know their similarities and differences,and then know the world.The second chapter analyzes the basic theories of moral in the New Neo-Confucianism.It mainly expounds the origin of morality,the relationship between rationality and morality,and moral judgments.From his theory of metaphysics,Feng put forward the concept of “Li of morality”(the principle or reason of morality).The Li of morality lies in the Li of human being”(the principle or reason of human being).It is the lawthat human beings should follow in society,and it is also an essential component to maintain the existence of society.If a person's behavior in a society directly or indirectly maintains its social existence,it is a moral behavior;if it directly or indirectly hinders the existence of society,it is an immoral behavior;if it is not related to the existence of its society,it is unethical behavior.The third chapter analyzes the practical application of the theories of moral in the New Neo-Confucianism.in social life,which is the content and relativity of moral concepts in real social life.Feng believes that there is Li of society(principle of society)and there is Li of certain kind of society(principle of certain kind of society).Then there is the morality stipulated in accordance with the Li of society,and the morality in accordance with the Li of certain society.The former can be also called chang(which means never change).Feng also analyzed the "Wu Chang"(five never-changed morality),witch is the traditional Chinese moral concept.Feng believes that there is no old or new morality in the world,but there is variable morality and invariable morality.Morality changes with the type of society.Chapter IV discusses the pursuit of super-moral values in the Neo-Confucianism system.The values that are higher than moral ones can be called super-ethical values.Feng believes that the craving for something beyond the present actual world is on of the innate desire of mankind.The function of philosophy is not the increase of positive knowledge,but the elevation of the mind ——a reaching out for what is beyond the present actual world.and for the values that are higher than the moral ones.This sphere of living that transcends the real world,Feng called it the transcend sphere.To live in the transcendent sphere is to be a sheng-ren or sage.The sage seeking to raise it to its greatest height and brilliancy,so as to pursue the course of the Mean.The fifth chapter is the summary and reflection.Feng's moral outlook of The New neo-confucian inherited the Chinese traditional moral ideas and also been influenced by the western philosophy.Especially its introduction to rationalism and the use of logical analysis methods,it can be seen that Feng tried to make up for the lack of rationality in traditional Chinese philosophy.Feng's use of historical materialism in sociological ideology and moral audience is also an effective attempt to reconcile the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures and find a way out for China's development.Feng's "New Neo-Confucianism" morality is the result of Feng's fusion of Chinese and Western cultures.It is Feng's answer to modern moral issues and a powerful response to the moral revolution of the time.In the21 st century,the conflicts and integration between Chinese and Western cultures have intensified,moral conflicts continue,and moral standards are uncertain.How to effectively grasp the essence of Chinese and Western cultures in this cultural ecology,abandon their dross,benefit each other,and establish a moral consensus that can be mutually recognized by both East and West remains an urgent problem to be solved by scholars.The research on Feng's new moral concept can provide us with a new idea and direction.