Rethinking the Mengzi's Concept of Tian 天

Bibliographic Data

ID5118476
AuthorsKevin J Turner (0000-0002-1483-3682, Hong Kong Baptist University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume14
Issue8
Pages1015
Publication date2023-08-08
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel14081015
OpenAlexW4385650329
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited7

There is an undeniable relationship between humanity and tian 天 in the philosophy of the Mengzi 孟子 where the latter is generally conceived as the metaphysical or ontological source of the morality and ethics of the former. However, this line of interpretation is misleading because it not only imports foreign notions of transcendence into the thought of the Mengzi but also because it ignores the contribution humans make to tian. At the same time, there have been attempts to read the Mengzi in biological terms, thereby naturalizing human morality. This likewise does not satisfy as an adequate account of human morality because it also reduces it to a natural or biological realm where human culture is an external accessory. However, the relationship between humanity and tian in the Mengzi is one of mutual influence and emergence; therefore, this article analyzes their relationship and argues that tian is to be understood as "tradition" whereby humans in their process of becoming humans contribute to and invigorate it as successive generations carry it on into the future

Biology · Epistemology · Humanity · Literature · Metaphysics · Morality · Political science · Realm · Theology · Tian · Chinese history and philosophy · Cultural Differences and Values · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Law · Philosophy

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