Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning

Yuhu Sun

doi:doi:10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11

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Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning

Yuhu Sun

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 3)

Received: 17 April 2023 Accepted: 17 May 2023 Published: 29 May 2023

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Abstract

This paper abandons the usual thinking pattern of “arguing between righteousness and profit” under the study of Mencius’ general level of good of “benevolence and righteousness”, attempts to take the path of “motivation”, which is less concerned by the academic circle, from the first chapter of Mencius with “benevolence and justice” to show the tension of argumentation brought by the propositions within it, according to the times, Confucian thinking mode and the general review of foreign motivation theory and so on, and briefly responds to the disadvantages of the opposition of “motivation theory and effect theory”. Based on the existence of human meaning, this paper redefines the connotation and direction of Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” in motivation theory, and holds that Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” motivation theory is the transcendence of moral ideals or values over moral argumentation. Mencius put the moral motivation of Confucianism above the external utilitarian demand, which is the internal reflection of Mencius’ basic thought of “good human nature”. This motivation can be regarded as the high recognition and expectation of the existence in human nature on the basis of the Confucian concept of virtue. Therefore, we can say with certainty that Mencius’ “motivation theory” has a value of guiding people to “follow the good”.

Published in	Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11
Page(s)	70-74
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Mencius, Motivation Theory, “Benevolence and Righteousness”, Comprehensive Implication

References

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[21]	David Hume (Britain), Theory of Human Nature, trans. by Guan Wenyun, (Beijing: Commercial Press, 2013), p. 348.
[22]	Samuel Enoch Stumpf (America), James Fieser (America), History of Western Philosophy, trans. by Deng Xiaomang, (Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company, 2005), p. 443.
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APA Style

Yuhu Sun. (2023). Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning. Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(3), 70-74. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11

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Yuhu Sun. Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2023, 11(3), 70-74. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11

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AMA Style

Yuhu Sun. Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning. Humanit Soc Sci. 2023;11(3):70-74. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11

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@article{10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11,
  author = {Yuhu Sun},
  title = {Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {11},
  number = {3},
  pages = {70-74},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20231103.11},
  abstract = {This paper abandons the usual thinking pattern of “arguing between righteousness and profit” under the study of Mencius’ general level of good of “benevolence and righteousness”, attempts to take the path of “motivation”, which is less concerned by the academic circle, from the first chapter of Mencius with “benevolence and justice” to show the tension of argumentation brought by the propositions within it, according to the times, Confucian thinking mode and the general review of foreign motivation theory and so on, and briefly responds to the disadvantages of the opposition of “motivation theory and effect theory”. Based on the existence of human meaning, this paper redefines the connotation and direction of Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” in motivation theory, and holds that Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” motivation theory is the transcendence of moral ideals or values over moral argumentation. Mencius put the moral motivation of Confucianism above the external utilitarian demand, which is the internal reflection of Mencius’ basic thought of “good human nature”. This motivation can be regarded as the high recognition and expectation of the existence in human nature on the basis of the Confucian concept of virtue. Therefore, we can say with certainty that Mencius’ “motivation theory” has a value of guiding people to “follow the good”.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning
AU  - Yuhu Sun
Y1  - 2023/05/29
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 70
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PB  - Science Publishing Group
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AB  - This paper abandons the usual thinking pattern of “arguing between righteousness and profit” under the study of Mencius’ general level of good of “benevolence and righteousness”, attempts to take the path of “motivation”, which is less concerned by the academic circle, from the first chapter of Mencius with “benevolence and justice” to show the tension of argumentation brought by the propositions within it, according to the times, Confucian thinking mode and the general review of foreign motivation theory and so on, and briefly responds to the disadvantages of the opposition of “motivation theory and effect theory”. Based on the existence of human meaning, this paper redefines the connotation and direction of Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” in motivation theory, and holds that Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” motivation theory is the transcendence of moral ideals or values over moral argumentation. Mencius put the moral motivation of Confucianism above the external utilitarian demand, which is the internal reflection of Mencius’ basic thought of “good human nature”. This motivation can be regarded as the high recognition and expectation of the existence in human nature on the basis of the Confucian concept of virtue. Therefore, we can say with certainty that Mencius’ “motivation theory” has a value of guiding people to “follow the good”.
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Yuhu Sun

Department of Philosophy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Yuhu Sun. (2023). Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning. Humanities and Social Sciences, 11(3), 70-74. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11

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ACS Style

Yuhu Sun. Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2023, 11(3), 70-74. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11

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AMA Style

Yuhu Sun. Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning. Humanit Soc Sci. 2023;11(3):70-74. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11,
  author = {Yuhu Sun},
  title = {Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning},
  journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
  volume = {11},
  number = {3},
  pages = {70-74},
  doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20231103.11},
  abstract = {This paper abandons the usual thinking pattern of “arguing between righteousness and profit” under the study of Mencius’ general level of good of “benevolence and righteousness”, attempts to take the path of “motivation”, which is less concerned by the academic circle, from the first chapter of Mencius with “benevolence and justice” to show the tension of argumentation brought by the propositions within it, according to the times, Confucian thinking mode and the general review of foreign motivation theory and so on, and briefly responds to the disadvantages of the opposition of “motivation theory and effect theory”. Based on the existence of human meaning, this paper redefines the connotation and direction of Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” in motivation theory, and holds that Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” motivation theory is the transcendence of moral ideals or values over moral argumentation. Mencius put the moral motivation of Confucianism above the external utilitarian demand, which is the internal reflection of Mencius’ basic thought of “good human nature”. This motivation can be regarded as the high recognition and expectation of the existence in human nature on the basis of the Confucian concept of virtue. Therefore, we can say with certainty that Mencius’ “motivation theory” has a value of guiding people to “follow the good”.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Exploration of Mencius’ Motivation Theory of “Benevolence and Righteousness” Based on the Existence of Human Meaning
AU  - Yuhu Sun
Y1  - 2023/05/29
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11
T2  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JF  - Humanities and Social Sciences
JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
SP  - 70
EP  - 74
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-8184
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20231103.11
AB  - This paper abandons the usual thinking pattern of “arguing between righteousness and profit” under the study of Mencius’ general level of good of “benevolence and righteousness”, attempts to take the path of “motivation”, which is less concerned by the academic circle, from the first chapter of Mencius with “benevolence and justice” to show the tension of argumentation brought by the propositions within it, according to the times, Confucian thinking mode and the general review of foreign motivation theory and so on, and briefly responds to the disadvantages of the opposition of “motivation theory and effect theory”. Based on the existence of human meaning, this paper redefines the connotation and direction of Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” in motivation theory, and holds that Mencius’ “benevolence and righteousness” motivation theory is the transcendence of moral ideals or values over moral argumentation. Mencius put the moral motivation of Confucianism above the external utilitarian demand, which is the internal reflection of Mencius’ basic thought of “good human nature”. This motivation can be regarded as the high recognition and expectation of the existence in human nature on the basis of the Confucian concept of virtue. Therefore, we can say with certainty that Mencius’ “motivation theory” has a value of guiding people to “follow the good”.
VL  - 11
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download