The Comparative Study Of Mencius' Theory Of Original Goodness Of Human Nature And Scheler's Emotional Phenomenology

For a long time,there have been two different interpretation paths for Mencius'Theory of Original Goodness of Human Nature:"Good-Inherent" and "Good-Oriented".The former focuses on people's endowment of goodness,and interprets the goodness of nature as transcendental goodness from the perspective of ontology.While the latter,following empirical view,emphasizes that the confirmation of the goodness of human nature must be based on the realization of goodness.It is not difficult to see that the debate between "Good-Inherent" and "Good-Oriented" is actually caused by the difference between transcendental interpretation and empirical interpretation.We hope to get rid of the mystery caused by different interpretations,reconcile the controversy of "Good-Inherent" and "Good-Oriented",and reinterpret Mencius' theory by means of the synergy and comparison of the thoughts of Max Scheler and Mencius.In terms of the basis of the argument,both Mencius and Scheler clarify and explain the meaning of "goodness".According to Mencius' prove of benevolence and righteousness,we know that benevolence is the real experience that manifests in human feeling.The intentional constitution of value by emotional activity proposed by Scheler provides the legitimacy guarantee for Mencius' argumentation.In fact,the manifestation of benevolence and righteousness is the process of intentional constitution of the original emotion to value.Furthermore,goodness is not an external moral code,but a direct experience that is not readily available and is actually realized in human behavior.This also provides an opportunity for the reconciliation of Good-Inherent interpretation and Good-Oriented interpretation.Considering the relationship between goodness and behavior,goodness must be attached to behavior."Person" means the unity of essence of different behaviors.It is the value carrier of moral value."The goodness of human nature" affirms that people could have different moral consciousness and conduct different moral behaviors in different situations.Therefore,both "Person" and "Human Nature" reveal the meanings of being human.They can also change themselves by influence of different behaviors and consciousness,which is the meaning of "becoming of moral person"proposed by Scheler.At this point,the being of human nature is also a process of self-cultivation.In this regard,"Good-Inherent" and "Good-Oriented" are both the core of the goodness of human nature.As for the specific process of becoming a moral person,Mencius and Scheler both agree to use love as the essential motivation for change of ambition.Mencius highlightes filial piety as an important part.It is of great importance to understand the significance of filial piety through Scheler's explanation of following the love of the inner stranger and following the example.While Scheler himself subjectively ignores the meaning of it.The reason for this disagreement is that Scheler intendes to break the confusion of the disorder of love with infinite God's love,but he completely neglectes the temporal characteristics of filial piety in the emphasis on the concept of person.From the point of view of Confucianism represented by Mencius,filial piety is the core of benevolence.