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Ba Cam Ma Spring 1997 CHIN 453 Professor Boltz IS THE MENCIUS PHILOSOPHY? IS THE MENCIUS PHILOSOPHY?     From the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the word philosophy itself is from Greek words meaning "love of wisdom." It really means serious thought about the most basic questions that human beings can ponder. They are questions such as: What is the true nature of the universe? What is human nature really like, and what are a human being's moral responsibilities? What are the qualities of truth, goodness, and beauty?   Mencius ©s¤l (371?-289? BC), as one of the greatest thinkers Aristotle (384-322 BC) of the ancient Greece does, develops his 'Politics' on the basis of ethics. Aristotle moves from explaining how individuals could have a good life to how a good society should be built.¹    Both of them attempt to arrive at the guidelines for behavior based on what is the best outcome for individuals or for society, and both seek to present a workable approach to conducts and mutual obligations.
The Three Tenets of Mencius
    The teaching of Mencius may be divided into three main tenets. The first one is a ruler's obligation to the people. One can find that it corresponds to the section about King Wei of Liang ±ç´f¤ý. The second one is the notion of society with a distinct distribution of functions. One will encounter its reference in the section of Teng Wen Gong ¼ð¤å¤½. The last one is the basic good nature of human beings. It is in the section of Gao Zi §i¤l. In most of the context, one will find that Mencius makes the inadmissible admissible by the mechanics of philosophical argument.   Perhaps the western counterparts to Mencius are those pre-Socrates thinkers--teachers of rhetoric and practical philosophy of ancient Greece, or the Sophists who profess in debating, philosophically, over political issues.²   Perhaps one may compare Mencius to these Greek propounders of paradoxes.
The Obligation of A Ruler
    Within the Mencius text, probably the most distinctive of all is the argument of how to bring stability and security to a state; how to deal with the issues over politics, economics, agriculture, taxation, education and family values (±ç´f¤ý). Recursively, the question goes back to whether the Mencius text is philosophy. The answer for that is affirmative. That is to strive for the ultimate answer through debates. Mencius' suggestive politics is that the stability of a state lies upon an upright rulership. The idea is that a ruler must serve as a role model. ¡u§g¤¯²ö¤£¤¯¡A§g¸q²ö¤£¸q¡A§g¥¿²ö¤£¥¿¡F¤@¥¿§g¦Ó°ê©w¨o¡C¡v(Â÷°ú). As for agriculture and economics, he proposes to raise and harvest according to the seasons: ¡u¤£¹H¹A®É¡A
½\¤£¥i³Ó¹¤]¡F¼Æ¯Ë¤£¤JÏr¦À¡A ³½Å¾¤£¥i³Ó¹¤]¡F
©ò¤ç¥H®É¤J¤sªL¡A§÷¤ì¤£¥i³Ó¥Î¤]¡F½\»P³½Å¾¤£¥i³Ó¹¡A§÷¤ì¤£¥i
³Ó¥Î¡C¡v(±ç´f¤ý). Wwi tih to taxation, his proposition suggests that a ruler should govern with humaneness: ¡u¤ý¦p¬I¤¯¬F©ó¥Á¡A¬Ù¦D»@¡AÁ¡µ|íK¡M...¡v(±ç´f¤ý). Regarding to family values and education, Mencius recommends what duty the superiors and inferiors ought to take, as well as how the elders and youths be treated:
¡u¤J¥H¨Æ¨ä¤÷¥S¡A¥X¥H¨Æ¨äªø¤W¡C¡v(¸d´f¤ý), and¡u¦Ñ§^¦Ñ¡A¥H¤Î¤H¤§¦Ñ¡F¥®§^¥®¡A¥H¤Î ¤H¤§¥®¡C¡v(¸d´f¤ý). In addition to that, Mencius emphasizes the importance of education in terms of expanding the propriety as well as filial piety:¡uÂÔ«Ö§Ç¤§±Ð¡A¥Ó¤§¥H§µ®¤§¸q¡A¹{¥ÕªÌ¤£tÀ¹©ó¹D¸ô¨o¡C¡v(¸d´f¤ý). This is unquestionably the moral suasion of Mencius, or the act of persuading by appealing to the sense of morality of King Wei. This answers the philosophical question about what moral responsibilities of a king ought to be. Inductively, it also refers to a human being's moral responsibilities.
Distinct Distribution of Functions
    Regarding the second point about a distinct distribution of functions of a society, the Mencius text records the idealization of Shen Nong ¯«¹A that promotes a simple farming community advocated by Xu Xing ³\¦æ (fl. 300 BC) versus a society that values the so-called Lord-Vassal propriety, or §g¦Ú¤§¸q. This leads to a political issue about the pervasiveness of social stratifications, and they may be stratified as the rulers and the "rulees":¡u...¦³¤j¤H¤§¨Æ¡A¦³¤p¤H¤§¨Æ¡C¡v(¼ð¤å¤½). Perhaps one may borrow the Marxist idea to categorize the two classes as the bourgeoisie and the proletariat:¡u...©Î³Ò¤ß¡A©Î³Ò¤O¡F³Ò¤ßªÌªv¤H¡A³Ò¤OªÌªv©ó¤H¡Fªv©ó¤HªÌ¹¤H¡Aªv¤HªÌ¹©ó¤H¡A¤Ñ¤U¤§³q¸q¤]¡C¡v(¼ð¤å¤½).
This centuries-old political issue does not appear to be too archaic. In fact, it conceivably reflects the relatively stable and enduring patterns of any modern social structure. Nevertheless, this is politics--a social process by which people gain, use and lose power. Whether it has anything to do with philosophy, it is not so clear at a glimpse. However, as for the subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, sociology, government, psychology, mathematics, logic, ethics, music, etc., there is a time when many of these subjects now taught in school are all part of a very broad area called philosophy. ³
Basic Good Nature of Human Beings.
In the section about the argument of Meng Zi and Gao Zi over the issue of human nature, it is certainly a philosophical subject about the likeliness of human nature. Through the slippery argument about nature and nurture, Mencius takes the instinct of human as fundamental, while Gao Zi takes a willow tree as an example to argue that human nature is shaped by the environment. What Gao Zi says is the nature of matters lacks goodness or badness , ¡u©ÊµLµ½¤£µ½¡C¡v (§i¤l). To falsify, if one may say, Gao Zi's willow-tree example for his view over human nature, Mencius suggests that a dog or an ox has its own nature, but its nature is different from that of human nature: ¡uµM«h¤ü¤§©ÊµS¤û¤§©Ê¡M¤û¤§©ÊµS¤H¤§©ÊÂj¡S¡v(§i¤l).
With this argument and his debating skill, Mencius entrapped Gao Zi in an irreversible situation. Mencius' argument is that human nature is good and Gao Zi suggests that there is no distinction that one is born to be good or bad. It is certainly bias to judge from the argument solely based on what is recorded on the Mencius text. The question whether there are some omissions on the part of Gao Zi's argument in the Mencius text is not clear. Laying any final conclusion to the argument would certainly be an understatement. As for nature or nurture, nevertheless, this is an issue that has been argued for years through the disciplines of social science, anthropology, and certainly philosophy. Here again, it reaffirms these subjects are the division of philosophy. Nevertheless, this hard-to-grasp issue and argument are recorded in the Mencius text. For this reason, the Mencius text is hardly any subjects other than philosophical one.
Conclusion
If one agrees that Aristotle is a philosopher, then Mencius must also be a philosopher. Therefore, the works of Aristotle are considered to be philosophy, and so must the Mencius text be a philosophical one. To answer whether the Mencius text is philosophy, we can say that he strives to answer what people's moral obligation ought to be, how a society should be built, and what human nature is really like. Mencius does not advocate hegemonic ruling system, but instead he suggests to rule with humane political measures. Consequently, in order to rule with humaneness, the fundamental human nature must be fully comprehended; as the Mencius text suggests. Whether one would agree with his view, it is not important. What is important is his profound thought, and this intellectual opinion is what we call philosophy.

1. Peter L. Phillips Simpson. Politics of Aristotle. (Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 1990), p. 40-68.
2. Zhang Dongsun ±iªF»^. Ze xue yanjiu õ¾Ç¬ã¨s. (Shanghai: Shanghai zhonghua shuju, 1931), p 41.
3. See Enclopaedia Britannica.

Works Cited
Allen, R. E. "Greek Philosophy," Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1990 ed.

Mou Tianshou Á[¤Ñºþ. Meng Zi ©s¤l. Taibei: Taiwan shangwu yinshu guan, 1976.

Phillips Simpson, Peter L. Politics of Aristotle, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,1990.

Zhang Dongsun ±iªF»^. Ze Xue yanjiu õ¾Ç¬ã¨s. Shanghai: Shanghai zhonghua shuju, 1931.