Mencius Arguments on Human Nature
原文正文：
This essay will focus on argument and will be argumentative, but at least its initial premises should be noncontroversial. These are, first, that a characteristic practicality shows up in Chinese intellectual traditions in a tendency to rely on common human experience as a guide to life, and, second, that tendency to rely on common human experience both reflects and is reflected in the context of dialogue and disputation. The tradition is not without its treatises and essays, though even these frequently include dialogues (real or concocted), but discussions, debates, and arguments represent an enduring mode, especially within the Confucian tradition. The subjects in Confucian dialogues tend to be ones that emerge out of reflection on the problems of ordinary life; the treatment of these subjects is often of the kind that would be permitted by an actual conversational span; and the examples and metaphors employed are frequently found in the most familiar objects of human experience: the sky, the earth, plants, trees, water, nourishing food, warm clothing。
Another presumably noncontroversial observation has to do with the practical concern found especially, though not exclusively, among Confucians, with what works as a matter of actual experience. (This observation is often adduced in conjunction with the argument that a consequentiality approach to ethics is deeply embedded in early Chinese thought, though for present purposes it will suffice to accept the simpler argument that 'the good' is commonly understood by early Confucians in relation to the immediacies and necessities of ordinary human experience.) A corollary of this practicality, with its tendency to draw on ordinary human experience for its examples, is that, for any idea or practice to be acknowledged as 'practical,' it must also be generalize able: the inclination to be mindful of, and generally guided by, what 'works' in ordinary human experience presupposes that particular attitudes, rules, or ritual practices can be recommended because they correspond to certain shared human needs, wants, and behavioral patterns. Certain behaviors have predictable eventualities precisely because human beings are generally similar。
At this juncture we transfer to a more controversial terrain: I wish to suggest, first, that the perception of a common humanity is one of the genuine insights of Confucius; it is even more strongly affirmed by Mencius. Second, in the case of Mencius and of those thinkers who, following him, figured into what ultimately came to form the Confucian mainstream, there is a commitment to the idea of a common humanity underlying and illuminating common human experience. Third, for these 'mainstream' Confucians, the sense of a common humanity is in turn based on an intuition of a common human nature in which the human biological nature is always taken into account. I will further argue that when Mencius speaks of jen-hsing he does mean 'human nature' in a particular and clearly identifiable sense, though that sense may differ from certain 'mainstream' Western views, and that his conception directly entails the idea of a universal human nature. In particular, I shall argue that Mencius commitment to this idea is strongly suggested when one examines his statements concerning jen-hsing in the context of disputation in the fourth century B.C.E.
The Nature of the Mencius Dialogues
Beginning with that consummate conversationalist, Confucius, much of Confucian and Neo-Confucian 'literature' had its origins in conversations or dialogues. The term dialogue (from Greek dialogs: 'talking across') is, of course, used to designate a variety of exchanges, the term leaving open the question of whether the interaction is a 'real-life' event or a literary creation, or some combination of the two, and whether it is an oral or a written exchange. It does not specify whether the number of participants is two or many (nor, in fact, does it absolutely exclude the possibility of an internal dialogue). The participants in a dialogue may have come together as equal partners in the discussion, or one or more of them may occupy a privileged position owing to age, rank, political status, learning, prestige, or charisma. The mood may vary across a broad intellectual and affective spectrum from geniality and reflectiveness to contentiousness and acrimony. The issues may be approached theoretically or practically, suggesting a degree of detachment from the immediacies of a given situation, or a lively, even passionate, sense of involvement in them。
Certainly, the dialogues of the Mencius are quite unlike the carefully crafted exchanges in which Plato cast Socrates. 'I went down yesterday to the Piraeus with Glaucon, son of Ariston...' begins the Socrates of the Republic. The occasion is a festival. Cephalus is present at the beginning and contributes what seems to be a mellow voice of experience, reflecting on how men feel about their life experience as they age and approach death. How convincing Cephalus is on this subject may be open to question, but in any case he soon departs the company to attend the sacrifices. As the business of the dialogue gets under way, the tone of the discussion changes, and Socrates interlocutors are mostly young. The young men debate with him with a touching earnestness, but the power has been given to Socrates to overwhelm his youthful interlocutors with an encompassing vision which is developed throughout the dialogue. Employing both reason and myth, Socrates sustains an elaborate argument in which he remains always in control. When the dialogue comes to an end he has dispelled all doubts about his ideal conception of justice in the state and in the individual personality. His final words
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外文翻译之一:
Mencius Arguments on Human Nature
原文正文：
This essay will focus on argument and will be argumentative, but at least its initial premises should be noncontroversial. These are, first, that a characteristic practicality shows up in Chinese intellectual traditions in a tendency to rely on common human experience as a guide to life, and, second, that tendency to rely on common human experience both reflects and is reflected in the context of dialogue and disputation. The tradition is not without its treatises and essays, though even these frequently include dialogues (real or concocted), but discussions, debates, and arguments represent an enduring mode, especially within the Confucian tradition. The subjects in Confucian dialogues tend to be ones that emerge out of reflection on the problems of ordinary life; the treatment of these subjects is often of the kind that would be permitted by an actual conversational span; and the examples and metaphors employed are frequently found in the most familiar objects of human experience: the sky, the earth, plants, trees, water, nourishing food, warm clothing。
Another presumably noncontroversial observation has to do with the practical concern found especially, though not exclusively, among Confucians, with what works as a matter of actual experience. (This observation is often adduced in conjunction with the argument that a consequentiality approach to ethics is deeply embedded in early Chinese thought, though for present purposes it will suffice to accept the simpler argument that 'the good' is commonly understood by early Confucians in relation to the immediacies and necessities of ordinary human experience.) A corollary of this practicality, with its tendency to draw on ordinary human experience for its examples, is that, for any idea or practice to be acknowledged as 'practical,' it must also be generalize able: the inclination to be mindful of, and generally guided by, what 'works' in ordinary human experience presupposes that particular attitudes, rules, or ritual practices can be recommended because they correspond to certain shared human needs, wants, and behavioral patterns. Certain behaviors have predictable eventualities precisely because human beings are generally similar。
At this juncture we transfer to a more controversial terrain: I wish to suggest, first, that the perception of a common humanity is one of the genuine insights of Confucius; it is even more strongly affirmed by Mencius. Second, in the case of Mencius and of those thinkers who, following him, figured into what ultimately came to form the Confucian mainstream, there is a commitment to the idea of a common humanity underlying and illuminating common human experience. Third, for these 'mainstream' Confucians, the sense of a common humanity is in turn based on an intuition of a common human nature in which the human biological nature is always taken into account. I will further argue that when Mencius speaks of jen-hsing he does mean 'human nature' in a particular and clearly identifiable sense, though that sense may differ from certain 'mainstream' Western views, and that his conception directly entails the idea of a universal human nature. In particular, I shall argue that Mencius commitment to this idea is strongly suggested when one examines his statements concerning jen-hsing in the context of disputation in the fourth century B.C.E.
The Nature of the Mencius Dialogues
Beginning with that consummate conversationalist, Confucius, much of Confucian and Neo-Confucian 'literature' had its origins in conversations or dialogues. The term dialogue (from Greek dialogs: 'talking across') is, of course, used to designate a variety of exchanges, the term leaving open the question of whether the interaction is a 'real-life' event or a literary creation, or some combination of the two, and whether it is an oral or a written exchange. It does not specify whether the number of participants is two or many (nor, in fact, does it absolutely exclude the possibility of an internal dialogue). The participants in a dialogue may have come together as equal partners in the discussion, or one or more of them may occupy a privileged position owing to age, rank, political status, learning, prestige, or charisma. The mood may vary across a broad intellectual and affective spectrum from geniality and reflectiveness to contentiousness and acrimony. The issues may be approached theoretically or practically, suggesting a degree of detachment from the immediacies of a given situation, or a lively, even passionate, sense of involvement in them。
Certainly, the dialogues of the Mencius are quite unlike the carefully crafted exchanges in which Plato cast Socrates. 'I went down yesterday to the Piraeus with Glaucon, son of Ariston...' begins the Socrates of the Republic. The occasion is a festival. Cephalus is present at the beginning and contributes what seems to be a mellow voice of experience, reflecting on how men feel about their life experience as they age and approach death. How convincing Cephalus is on this subject may be open to question, but in any case he soon departs the company to attend the sacrifices. As the business of the dialogue gets under way, the tone of the discussion changes, and Socrates interlocutors are mostly young. The young men debate with him with a touching earnestness, but the power has been given to Socrates to overwhelm his youthful interlocutors with an encompassing vision which is developed throughout the dialogue. Employing both reason and myth, Socrates sustains an elaborate argument in which he remains always in control. When the dialogue comes to an end he has dispelled all doubts about his ideal conception of justice in the state and in the
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