{"id":169,"date":"2020-10-14T18:59:45","date_gmt":"2020-10-14T18:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/?p=169"},"modified":"2020-10-22T10:07:22","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T10:07:22","slug":"mengzis-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/2020\/10\/14\/mengzis-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"Mengzi’s Opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mengzi\u2019s General Moral Theory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mengzi\u2019s moral philosophy hinges on the presupposition that human nature imbues people with an inherent tendency towards goodness. However, it is up to the individual person to practice deep reflection in order to cultivate virtues within oneself. Although, Mengzi does recognize that environmental factors can make a large difference on whether or not a person ends up committing good deeds. And while it is natural to tend towards goodness, one must be an active participant in this tendency, regardless of the environmental factors that may be attempting to quash their morality. It is the moral responsibility of the individual to nurture this tendency and not inhibit it. And if one does this properly then one will be morally good. This responsibility to be moral is grounded in the personal good more so than the societal good. However, Mengzi does go on to say that, \u201cAnyone who can with words fend off Yang and Mo is a disciple of the sages\u201d (3B9). This is to say that one\u2019s moral responsibility extends if they are able to enact good effectively.
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First Moral Dilemma: I’ve always considered myself politically active, and when Black Lives Matter protests started happening, I really wanted to be apart of the movement. However, because of the pandemic I’ve been living with my immuno-compromised grandparents. Is it my moral responsibility to help the movement like I want to, or should I prioritize my families health and well being? It kind of is a matter of life and death. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first prompt deals with the necessity of participating in protests for Black lives matter, a movement that started with holding police accountable for their murder of Black people, but has, in the past year, become the foundation upon which a broader the resistance to white supremacy and fascism is expressed. Given the safety of protesting outdoors and the protection afforded to you by an N95 mask, realistically, transmission risk is quite low. Whether or not you actually are politically active hinges on you taking action, not whether you see yourself that way or now. Mengzi might remind you to honor your just inclinations as your desire to support this cause flows naturally from your sprouts of virtue that honor righteousness and benevolence. Mengzi\u2019s challenger states \u201cHuman nature is like a willow tree; righteousness is like cups and bowls. To make human nature benevolent and righteous is like making a willow tree into cups and bowls\u201d, (Mengzi 6A1) and Mengzi responds that the shaping or virtue does not require the destruction of our moral inclinations, rather the extension of our desire to be just and benevolent in the face of injustice. Mengzi is also not a consequentialist, so even if the outcome of attending in person protest may put your grandparents at a higher risk of COVID exposure, that hypothetical outcome should not overshadow your just inclinations. Regardless of your youth, you also put your own body on the line in protest, both in terms of possible long term health consequences and the high probability that you will be shot, gassed, or assaulted by a white supremacist.
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Second Moral Dilemma: Of course we have a duty to act ethically, and it’s ethical to work to make the world better – but how far does our duty to work towards improving the world extend? How much, or how little, should we work towards improving the world and not acting directly in our own interests?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second prompt dealt with the question of how far does our obligation to act ethically and make the world a better place extends. The question here involves duty. Just how much should we seek to change the world for the better? Should we constantly be making grand efforts with the goal of ending injustice and proliferating righteousness? Mengzi\u2019s writings focused primarily on self-cultivation and making yourself a better person through nourishing virtues. Mengzi would then argue that if one focuses on cultivating themselves, the good deeds and ethical actions would follow naturally as \u201cthe office of the heart is to reflect. If it reflects, then it will get [Virtue]. If it does not reflect, then it will not get it,\u201d (6A15). Therefore, one should always attempt to help others and better the world but should not do so with the wrong motivation. One should cultivate themselves and the virtues within them so that then they will truly desire to help the world and it will not feel like a chore. Mengzi says that in terms of virtue and virtuous actions \u201cseek it and you will get it. Abandon it and you will lose it,\u201d (6A6). Your obligation lies first to yourself and making yourself the best you can be and then from there ethical actions will naturally follow.
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Mengzi\u2019s General Moral Theory Mengzi\u2019s moral philosophy hinges on the presupposition that human nature imbues people with an inherent tendency towards goodness. However, it is up to the individual person to practice deep reflection in order to cultivate virtues within oneself. Although, Mengzi does recognize that environmental factors can make a large difference on whether … Continue reading Mengzi’s Opinion<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1592,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-169","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\/169","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\/1592"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169\/revisions\/181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edblogs.pugetsound.edu\/moral-philosophers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}