00:00How is Mencius' theory of the goodness of nature different from that of other schools?
00:05Let's compare the Mahists.
00:07The Mahists advocated concurrent love and believed that one should love all people equally,
00:13regardless of affinity, and not even love family members in particular.
00:17They felt that favoring family members would destroy equality and go against natural nature.
00:23But Mencius did not see it that way.
00:25He believed that it was human nature for love to begin with love for family.
00:31For example, it is human nature that you would care about the health of your mom and dad before helping your neighbor.
00:37Mencius said in Mencius, Teng Wen Gong Shang,
00:41Be kind to your family and be kind to the people, be kind to the people and love things.
00:46This order of loving family members first, then others, and finally all things is the basis of benevolence and righteousness.
00:53The Mosey's concurrent love sounds fair, but Mencius felt it ignored the particularities of the family and was less humane.
01:02Confucian benevolence and righteousness is like slowly drawing from the small circle of the family to the larger circle of society, with both love and respect.
01:11And Mahists' concurrent love is more like a flat net, equal but less layered.
01:15Mencius also emphasized that benevolence and righteousness should be manifested through actions, such as taking care of one's parents and respecting one's elders, which are concrete practices of goodness.
01:28In contrast, Mosey's concurrent love is more like an ideal and less of a grounded approach.
01:34Which do you think is closer to life?
01:36Is it Mencius' benevolence and righteousness, or Mahists' concurrent love?
01:41Apart from the Ru and Mo schools of thought, there was also an important school of thought in that era, Taoism.
01:48The representatives of Taoism, Laozi and Zhuangzi, had very different views on human nature and society.
01:55The Taoists advocated, the law of nature, and, rule by doing nothing.
02:00They believed that the nature of human nature is pure and natural, but this purity is often contaminated by worldly desires and the constraints of rituals and laws.
02:11Therefore, Taoists advocate returning to nature, removing selfish desires, and conforming to the way of heaven asterisk asterisk.
02:19They believed that the excessive pursuit of fame and fortune and the enactment of cumbersome rituals and laws would instead distort human nature and lead to social unrest.
02:28The Taoists did not emphasize the goodness of human nature as Mencius did, but focused more on the naturalness of human nature.
02:37They believed that human nature could maintain its original innocence and harmony as long as it conformed to nature and did not act deliberately.
02:46Mencius emphasized the expansion of goodness through active moral practice, which was positively worldly,
02:52while Taoism advocated conformity to nature and transcendence of the world, even with a tinge of world avoidance.
02:59Mencius believed that the realization of morality required subjective efforts, while Taoism believed that doing nothing was the only way to allow things to develop naturally, including the perfection of human nature.
03:11In the arena of the hundred schools of thought, there is another force to be reckoned with, legalism.
03:17Han Fei, a representative of legalism, had a particularly cold view of human nature.
03:22According to the legalists, the essence of human nature is to seek profit and avoid harm.
03:29The fundamental motivation for people's actions was to pursue benefits and avoid harm.
03:35Therefore, they did not believe that social order could be achieved through moral indoctrination, but rather advocated regulating human behavior through the strict rule of law.
03:45Han Fei emphasized that the key to state governance lay in, clear laws and strict punishments.
03:50He believed that only through strict legal provisions and severe penalties could human nature's selfish desires and evil behavior be effectively curved, thus maintaining social stability.
04:01In the eyes of the legalists, morality cannot be relied upon, and only a powerful state apparatus and cold laws can restrain human nature.
04:09Mencius advocated, benevolent government, and, rule by virtue, believing that a peaceful and prosperous world could be realized through the moral appeal of the monarch and the conscious cultivation of the people.
04:22The legalists, on the other hand, completely rejected the goodness of human nature and advocated the, rule of law, asterisk asterisk, believing that only by relying on an iron fist and harsh laws could the country be ensured long-term peace and stability.
04:37Mencius' thought is full of trust and optimism in human nature, while the legalists are full of skepticism and pessimism about human nature.
04:46Mencius' theory of the goodness of nature sounds wonderful, but it has limitations.
04:52He emphasized the inherent goodness of human nature and encouraged us to be good through benevolence and righteousness, but did not delve into the sources of human evil.
05:00Mencius' theory is more like a blueprint, telling us what an ideal society should be like, but in reality, there are always conflicts in the family, society, and the state, and benevolence and righteousness alone may not be enough.
05:24He also said that a monarch can govern a country well if he is benevolent, but what if the monarch is not benevolent?
05:32These are the practical challenges of the doctrine of sexual goodness.
05:37Nevertheless, Mencius' ideas still have great modern value.
05:41Today, when we advocate respect for the elderly, love for the young, and community support, are we not talking about Mencius' benevolence and righteousness?
05:49Mencius reminds us that everyone has the potential for goodness, which can be cultivated with care to make society a better place.
05:58His four-ends theory also tells us that morality is not a rule from on high, but a sense of compassion, shame, respect, and right and wrong within us.
06:08Perhaps we can learn from Mencius that being a good person starts with loving those around you and then passing that love on.
