Of One Mind or Two? Query on the Innate Good in Mencius
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20310381 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Whalen Lai (0000-0003-2199-3585, University of California, Davis, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1990 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 247-255 |
| Publication date | 1990-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religious Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0034-4125 • E-ISSN: 1469-901X |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0034412500020394 |
| OpenAlex | W2001288073 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
Every man, says Mencius, has within him this mind (heart) of commiseration, this pu-jen chih hsin that cannot bear to see another person suffer. To support his argument, Mencius cites the parable of the child about to fall into a well. A man with an innate mind of compassion unable to bear to see the child suffer would naturally feel the urge to run ahead to save the child ( Mencius 2A.6). Yet elsewhere in Mencius 4A.17, it appears that had the potential victim been a drowning sister-in-law, the man would also be momentarily checked by a fear of impropriety. Since the sense of propriety has its beginning in the mind as much as the sense of compassion, is not the mind of goodness somehow divided against itself? The present essay will examine this possible dilemma
Appearance of impropriety · Argument (complex analysis) · Compassion · Dilemma · Epistemology · Psychoanalysis · Theology · Chinese history and philosophy · Medicine · Philosophy · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2024 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |