Mencius as Consequentialist
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23249888 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Manyul Im (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Pages | 41-64 |
| Publication date | 2011-10-04 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Ethics In Early China An Anthology (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Hong Kong University Press (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5790/hongkong/9789888028931.003.0003 |
| OpenAlex | W2482235476 |
| ISBN | 9789888028931 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
This chapter lays out the reasons for trying to understand Mencius by attributing a consequentialist moral theory to him. This is meant in part as an oblique criticism of readings on which he is construed as a “virtue ethicist.” It is also meant to be something of a reply to Chad Hansen's (1992) consistently severe dismissals of Mencius as a competent thinker about ethics. However, the scope of the argument here is limited to the positive argument in favor of reading Mencius as a consequentialist. This chapter argues that, on the best systematic sense that can be made of the text, Mencius judges the responses and actions of the gentleman, or jūnzǐ, to be better or worse according to whether such responses and actions bring about better or worse consequences than other responses, lack of responses, actions, or inactions that might have been brought about.
Argument (complex analysis) · Consequentialism · Criticism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Law and economics · Political science · Reading (process) · Scope (computer science) · Sociology · Virtue · Chinese history and philosophy · Law · Medicine · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.31 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2010 - 2024 (15) |
| Highly cited | No |