{"id":154,"date":"2020-10-12T19:27:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T19:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/?p=154"},"modified":"2020-10-22T10:07:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T10:07:51","slug":"the-mengzi-dilemma-where-should-our-priorities-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/2020\/10\/12\/the-mengzi-dilemma-where-should-our-priorities-be\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mengzi Dilemma: Where Should Our Priorities Be?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here, we have two prompts that both address the ethical standard question in some capacity. The first prompt describes the concern an individual has with superimposing their career desires and aspirations on their boyfriend. I suppose this individual is experiencing a sense of guilt for compromising their boyfriend\u2019s autonomy. The individual may also be concerned for future stability. The boyfriend\u2019s priority is being with the individual, but it may cost him a focused and esteemed career path. The boyfriend may be content with following this individual because he does not have a clear career path in mind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe Mengzi would lack sympathy for the boyfriend and challenge the partner to help the boyfriend self-realize his irrational decision-making. Mengzi believes that everyone has the potential, innate tendencies that \u201ctend toward goodness\u201d (6A2). However, the environmental conditions that an individual exists in could influence their trajectory. Like the barren mountain, which lacked the necessary nourishment to actualize its nature, the boyfriend must insert himself under the material conditions necessary for his flourishment (6A8). Moreover, the individual must recognize that their selfish desire to stay close to the boyfriend may prevent his ability to self-cultivate. This individual must emphasize to the boyfriend that his spontaneous tendencies are misled by the \u201coffice of the ears and eyes\u201d (6A15). Mengzi would suggest that the boyfriend listens to his heart, for \u201cthe office of the heart is to reflect,\u201d and if he reflects, \u201cthen he will get virtue\u201d (6A15). With reflection, encouraged by the boyfriends partner, he may find reconciliation with prioritizing his conditional needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second prompt addresses an interesting ethical standard dilemma between prioritizing others and prioritizing the self. Similar to the previous prompt, this individual, who is considering not physically participating in the Black Lives Matter protest, is potentially denying herself an opportunity for self-cultivation. With that being said, I believe Mengzi would recommend this individual to show a level of benevolence and awareness toward her grandparents. As much as the BLM protest is an opportunity for self-cultivation and self-discovery, empathizing with the grandparents is an opportunity toward making her virtues independent of self-interest. Because of this, I believe Mengzi would argue that caring for the grandparents would have more impactful implications on the path toward goodness. \u201cTreat your elders as elders, and extend it to the elders of others; treat your young ones as young ones, and extend it to the young ones of others; then you can turn the whole world in the palm of your hand\u201d (1A7). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mengzi would have trouble with both these scenarios given that they each sacrifice opportunities for cultivating specific innate virtues. Ultimately, Mengzi would argue against any feelings of cognitive dissonance or uncertainty. In the case of the clingy boyfriend scenario, the boyfriend\u2019s partner has feelings of uncertainty toward allowing the boyfriend to sacrifice self-growth for their physical partnership. This concern is a result of self-reflection, which is \u201cthe office of the heart\u201d (6A15). Mengzi would admit that an internally disharmonious individual is acting in accordance with their humanity, for \u201cthere is no human who does not tend toward goodness\u201d (6A2). However, it is exactly this internal struggle that should alarm an individual of their decision-making. The same could be said for the BLM scenario. Mengzi would suggest that the concern she has for her grandparents suggests that she reflected, and is trending toward goodness. The next important step, however, is to trust these feelings of uncertainty to lead the individual toward an unraveling of their innate virtues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here, we have two prompts that both address the ethical standard question in some capacity. The first prompt describes the concern an individual has with superimposing their career desires and aspirations on their boyfriend. I suppose this individual is experiencing a sense of guilt for compromising their boyfriend\u2019s autonomy. The individual may also be concerned … Continue reading The Mengzi Dilemma: Where Should Our Priorities Be?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1588,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reader-submissions","tag-mengzi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1588"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}