Please wait a minute...
Frontiers of Philosophy in China

ISSN 1673-3436

ISSN 1673-355X(Online)

CN 11-5743/B

Postal Subscription Code 80-983

Front. Philos. China    2018, Vol. 13 Issue (2) : 194-206    https://doi.org/10.3868/s030-007-018-0015-7
Orginal Article
“Learning to Be Human” as Moral Development—A Reconstruction of Mengzi’s Views on the Heart-Mind
YAO Xinzhong()
School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China
 Download: PDF(292 KB)  
 Export: BibTeX | EndNote | Reference Manager | ProCite | RefWorks
Abstract

Learning to be human is a highly important concern in Confucian philosophy. This paper is intended to provide a special perspective on this theme through an attempt to reinterpret Mengzi’s views on the heart-mind (xin心) as “learning to be human” and to reconstruct these views into a multi-staged process of moral development. Through an intentional interpretation of various arguments advanced by Mengzi, we seek to justify that his views on the heart-mind and moral virtues can be seen as a learning process and that he subjects the inborn beginnings of goodness to a delicate development before they can actually qualify a person as fully human. Having examined the three dimensions of Mengzi’s learning, the intellectual, the practical and the spiritual, we will come to the conclusion that whether innate or a posteriori, initial good senses and knowledge require a moral and spiritual process of learning to develop which is, to Mengzi, crucial for one to become a genuine human being.

Keywords learning to be human      Mengzi      moral development     
Issue Date: 28 June 2018
 Cite this article:   
YAO Xinzhong. “Learning to Be Human” as Moral Development—A Reconstruction of Mengzi’s Views on the Heart-Mind[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(2): 194-206.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/10.3868/s030-007-018-0015-7
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fpc/EN/Y2018/V13/I2/194
[1] Karyn Lai. Emotional Attachment and Its Limits: Mengzi, Gaozi and the Guodian Discussions[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2019, 14(1): 132-151.
[2] JIANG Yi. Chinese Philosophy in the New Era from the Perspective of the Theme of the 24th World Congress of Philosophy[J]. Front. Philos. China, 2018, 13(2): 182-193.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited

  Shared   
  Discussed