Tien gave birth to the teeming people For

天生蒸民, 有物有則 ; 民之秉彝, 好是懿德. T'ien gave birth to the teeming people / For every thing there is a norm. The constant for people, in their grasp / Is love of beautiful virtue’s form. (Book of Poetry, cited in Mencius: 6 A. 6) Mencius on the Goodness of Human Nature Step 1: Showing “internality” (=innateness) of ren (2 A. 6; 4 sprouts) Transition: 2 A. 2: The flood-like qi Gaozi & refutation of Mohist voluntarism Step 2: Showing internality (=innateness) of yi/li (6 A. 1 -6) 1

Outcome of 2 A. 6 and 2 A. 2 2 A. 6 (Child-in-the-well) – a hypothetical test case to prove “internality” of ren internal (universally spontaneous) innate • Asserts (only rhetorically) the internality of yi (right), li, and wisdom (sense of right/wrong) 2 A. 2 asserts on basis of experience (but does not demonstrate) the internality of yi (right) 2

Step 2: the 6 A debates with Gaozi takes 2 basic positions: – 1) Ren is internal; yi is external – 2) Each person's nature is neither good nor evil; it may become good or evil Mencius disputes both 3

The term “human nature” • Xing 性 – composed of two elements: – “heart” 忄=心 and phonetic element 生 sheng – Phonetically equivalent in Warring States era ( śeng) • Actually at root a single word: sheng 生 – To be born; to live; life / What is born in us At the time, the words could be written identically • Picturing people in mainstream way, Gaozi sees newborn as plain substance • no innate wen 4

6 A. 1 Gaozi said, “Human nature is like the willow tree and right is like cups and bowls. Drawing humanity and right from human nature is like making cups and bowls from willow wood. ” Mencius said, “Can you make cups and bowls from willow wood by following its natural grain or is it only after you have hacked the willow wood that you can make a cup or bowl? . . . ” 5

6 A. 2 Gaozi said, “The nature is like water swirling at a wellspring. If you dig a channel towards the east it will flow east; if you dig a channel towards the west it will flow west. . ” Mencius said, “It is true that water makes no distinction between east and west, but does it make no distinction between high and low? The good disposition of human nature is like water’s tendency to flow down. . ” 6

6 A. 3 Gaozi said, “The term ‘nature’ 生 simply means ‘life’ 生. ” Mencius said, “Do you mean that ‘nature’ means ‘life’ as ‘white’ 白 means ‘white’ 白? ” “Precisely. ” “As the white of white feathers is the white of snow, and the white of snow is the white of white jade? ” “Yes. ” “Then the nature of a hound would be the same as the nature of an ox, and the nature of an ox would be the 7 same as a man’s? ”

6 A. 4 Gaozi said, “Appetites for food and sex are part of our nature. Humanity (ren) is internal rather than external; right (yi) is external rather than internal. ” Let’s detour to 4 B. 26 8

Paraphrase When people talk about ‘human nature, ’ they restrict the meaning of the term to our most primitive thoughts, and these are moved only by profit. They refuse to allow that intelligence is a part of the nature because they see it as a distorting, rather than a spontaneous force. But if intelligence were to act as Yu did when he dredged Although Mencius does not get 4 sprouts into the xing here, the rivers of China, then they could have no objection to including he does get the organ of the xin (mind) into the xing intelligence in their concept of the nature. When Yu dredged the rivers, he followed their spontaneous courses. If intelligence also Aspect peculiar to man (thinking organ) – not an appetite – followed its spontaneous course, it would be great wisdom indeed. is part of human nature Heaven is high and the stars are distant. But if we apply our intelligence in the study of their spontaneous courses, our intelligence can run ahead of their spontaneity without distortion, and the solstices of the next thousand years will merely verify our intelligence. 9

6 A. 4 (continued) Gaozi said, “. . . Humanity (ren) is internal rather than external; right (yi) is external rather than internal. ” Reflects the issues raised in 2 A. 2 “If one nurtures [flood-like qi] by means of straightforward action and never injures it, then it will fill all between heaven and earth. It is a qi that is a companion to righteousness and the Dao. . generated through long accumulation of acts of righteousness. It is not something that can be seized through a single righteous act. “This is why I say that Gaozi never really understood righteousness. He looked for it in external standards other than the heart. . ” 10

Making yi the core term (per Mohism) • 6 A. 4 -5, Mencius leads us to examine a formula repeatedly invoked in the text archetypal “yi-situations” Analects: 1. 2: "Filiality and respect for elders is the root of ren. " – In Mencius, love of parents is considered the "root of ren" (in the restricted sense of ren in the text) -- filial love is considered to be self-evidently spontaneous & universal without question Not an issue for debate 11

Attacking the origins of yi • Respect for elders takes the place of filiality to parents as the key – it is the root of yi • Mencius wishes to claim that these feelings of respect are equally spontaneous & universal • Moves "training ground for li" from filiality (Analects) to righteousness, in the socializing arena of inter-generational society 12

Gaozi said, “If a man is my elder and I treat him as an elder, there is nothing of the elder about me. It is as if he were white and I treated him as white. . . This is why I treat it as external. ” Mencius said, “It is different than the case of white, where one treats a white horse as white in the same sense that one treats a white man as white. Would you say treating an elderly horse as an elder is no different from treating an elderly man as an elder? Sparring over logical skills – no critical tests like 2 A. 6 “Moreover, would you say the elder is right or the man who treats the aged as elderly is right? ” 13

The locus of yi : Mencius tutors a student 6 A. 5 Mencius said, “Ask whether he respects his uncle or his younger brother more; he’ll say, ‘I respect my uncle. ’ Say, ‘When your younger brother is playing the ritual role of the dead spirit, whom do you respect more? ’ He’ll say, ‘I respect my younger brother. ’ Say, ‘Where did your greater respect for your uncle go? ’ He’ll say, ‘It is because of the role my brother is playing. ’ You say too, ‘So it is in my case to – I have abiding respect for my brother, but I momentarily pay respect to the villager. ’” 14

What’s the experience at issue? X Beard = age Rule Age bow BOW! ? 15

Spontaneity = innate? Can learned-by-standard be/seem spontaneous? We cannot "trace" our sense of yi to its “historical” roots (in our early socialization) 16

6 A. 6 What I mean by saying it is good is that there is that in our nature which is spontaneously part of us and can become good. The fact that we can become bad is not a defect in our natural endowment. All men possess a sense of commiseration; all men possess a sense of shame; all men possess a sense of reverence; all men possess a sense of right and wrong. The sense of commiseration is humanity (ren); the sense of shame is righteousness (yi); the sense of respect is shame is righteousness (yi), the sense of deference is 2 A. 2 propriety (li); the sense of right and wrong is wisdom Thus humanity, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are not welded to us from outside. 17

The yi – li connection 6 A. 5: the "training ground of yi" described entirely in terms of ritual behavior "Respect for elders" turns out to be a matter of li Mencius claims that our responses of respect lead us to perform the moves that rituals prescribe Hence, "sense of yi" tightly tied to "sense of li" Mencius is building both into human nature 18

Citation from authority Book of Poetry Tian gave birth to the teeming people, For every thing there is a norm. The constant for people, in their grasp, Is love of beautiful virtue’s form. 19

Poem: "For every thing there is a norm“ People are distinguished from animals by: "love of beautiful virtue" Human Nature Trans-species Endowment (appetite for food & sex) Man's distinguishing characteristic is disposition towards virtue (like water flowing down) Li grounded in these Tian-endowed dispositions 20