Plants Metaphor and Moral Cultivation in Mencius’ Ethics
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Objectives: This research paper aims to study and analyze the significant roles of metaphorical imagination in the process of moral cultivation in Mencius’ ethics, especially the process of making a philosophical understanding regarding human nature and the nature of moral cultivation.
Methods: This paper mainly examined such issues from the Mencius.
Results: Mencius uses plant metaphor to make a clear understanding about human nature and moral cultivation using three points: 1) the important components in the process of moral cultivation, such as a continuous effort in procedural moral development, 2) the reasons to why nourishing sprouts of virtues in the heart–mind should be concerned as the priority in the process of moral cultivation, and 3) the socio-cultural environment to support the ethical growth of the people requires a ruler and government policies that promote the people’s welfare.
Application of this study: The study of plant metaphor in this paper can serve as a guide for the study of other metaphors in the process of moral cultivation in Confucian ethics.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Arunkhajornsak, S. (2011). Arom Lae Khunnatham Lak Thang Si Nai Chariyasat Meng Jeu. [Mengzi's Four Core Virtues and Emotions]. In Boonnoon, C. and Satha-Anand S. (eds.) Arom Kap Chariyasat. [Core Virtues and Emotions]. (pp. 188-294). Bangkok: wiphasa. (In Thai)
Biss, Mavis. (2014). Moral imagination, perception, and judgment. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 52(1), 1-21.
Bloom, I. (trans). (2009). Mencius. New York: Columbia UP.
Chaturvedi, A. (2012). Mencius and Dewey on moral perception, deliberation, and imagination. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, 11(2),163-185.
Coeckelbergh, M. (2007). Imagination and Principles: An Essay on the Role of Imagination in Moral Reasoning. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fung, Y. (1966). A short history of Chinese philosophy. New York: The Free Press.
Kim, S. (2020). Theorizing Confucian Virtue Politics: The Political Philosophy of Mencius and Xunzi. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
Lau, D. C. (trans). (1970). Mencius. London: Penguin Book.
Legge, J. (trans). [1900?] The Four Books: Confucian Analects, The Great Learning, The Doctrine of Mean, and The Works of Mencius. S.l : s.n.
Limpanusorn, P. (trans). (2015). Khamphi Meng Jeu. [Meng Zi Scriptures]. Bangkok: openbooks. (In Thai)
Mattice, S. A. (2014). Metaphor and Metaphilosophy: Philosophy as Combat, Play, and Aesthetic Experience. London: Lexington Books.
McRae, E. (2011). The cultivation of moral feelings and Mengzi’s method of extension. Philosophy East and West, 61(4), 587-608.
Nivison, D. S. (1996). The ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese philosophy. Edited and introduction by Bryan W. Van Norden. Illinois: Open Court.
Satha-Anand, S. (trans). (2012). Lun Yu: Khong Chue Sonthana. [The Analects of Confucius]. Bangkok: openbooks. (In Thai)
Shun, K. (1997). Mencius and Early Chinese Thought. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Slingerland, E. (2011). Metaphor and meaning in early China. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy,10(1), 1-30.
Slingerland. E. (2015). Crafting bowls, cultivating sprouts: Unavoidable tensions in early Chinese Confucianism. Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, 14(2), 211-218.
Soskice, J. M. (2002). Metaphor and Religious Language. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Van Norden, B. W. (2008). Mengzi: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Wong, D. B. (2015). Early Confucian philosophy and the development of compassion. Dao: A Journal of comparative philosophy, 14(2), 157-194.