Mencius on Becoming Human, livre ebook

A new interpretation of the Confucian classic, the Mencius, based on both traditional sources and newly discovered documents.

A new interpretation of the Confucian classic, the Mencius, based on both traditional sources and newly discovered documents.

Using current research from traditional sources and newly unearthed documents dating from the Warring States period (403–221 B.C.E.), Mencius on Becoming Human offers a timely interpretation of a central text in the Confucian canon. The author carefully reconstructs the philosophical assumptions that underwrite the teachings of the Mencius, returning the text to its native intellectual world. The result is a compelling new reading of an ancient classic, one that is both sensitive to the details of historical context and contemporary in its philosophical implications.

James Behuniak Jr. argues that the notion of an essential, ahistorical "human nature" is not part of the process of "becoming human" outlined in the Mencius. Rather, becoming human is described as a process of developing a qualitatively "human" disposition within specific cultural and historical conditions as these are understood within a Warring States cosmology. The central themes of the Menciusthe importance of family, moral development, and human advancementare each discussed within this reconstructed framework.

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Sketch of the Argument
Methodology and Key Terms
1. The Cosmological Background

Energy and Propensity
Shape and Spontaneity
Disposition and Spontaneity
Zhuangzi and Shape
Characteristics of Chinese Cosmology
2. The Role of Feeling

Feeling, Doctrine, and Dao
Feeling as Transactional
Aspiration and Courage
Internal/External and the Botanical Model
Desire, Coherence, and Integration
3. Family and Moral Development

Spontaneous vs. Technical Approaches
The Mohist Challenge
Recovering the Confucian Measure
Family as the Root
Family and Extension
4. The Human Disposition

Relationships and the Human Disposition
The Human Disposition as Good
The Four Sprouts and the Family
The Satisfaction of Becoming Human
The Value of the Person
5. Advancing the Human Way

The Constraints on Aspiration
The Conditions for Political Legitimacy
The Conditions for Human Achievement
Human Virtue in the Sacrifices
Aspiration and the Human Way
Afterword
Notes
References
Index