Mengzi (Mencius)
372-289 BC · Classical Confucianism · Prominent
Mencius was a Confucian who argued that human nature is good from birth. See a child about to fall into a well and something in you lurches before you decide anything: he took that as his proof. Everyone carries four sprouts, compassion, shame, deference and moral judgment, which grow into the cardinal virtues with care. A ruler who starves his people forfeits the Mandate of Heaven.
Signature
The position Mencius is most identified with in the Profiler:
- Society
- leans Collectivism
- Ethics Basis
- Virtue / Relational
Positions on the 10 axes the sources answer
- Natural Processes
- leans Purposeful (75 on a 0–100 scale from Mechanistic to Purposeful)
- Society
- leans Collectivism (25 on a 0–100 scale from Collectivism to Individualism)
- Identity
- mildly leans Changing (69 on a 0–100 scale from Unchanging to Changing)
- Meaning
- leans Inherent (75 on a 0–100 scale from Constructed to Inherent)
- Order
- leans Vertical (25 on a 0–100 scale from Vertical to Horizontal)
- Opposition
- mildly leans Concurrence (69 on a 0–100 scale from Sublation to Concurrence)
- Nature
- leans Harmony (75 on a 0–100 scale from Mastery to Harmony)
- Polity
- leans Illiberalism (28 on a 0–100 scale from Illiberalism to Liberalism)
- Ethics
- leans Means (75 on a 0–100 scale from Ends to Means)
- Conviction
- leans Certain (75 on a 0–100 scale from Uncertain to Certain)
10 of 20 axes are left blank: the sources do not answer them, or Mencius refused the framing. Nothing is imputed; a blank is not a middling score.
Foundational questions
- Theology
- Other
What is your position on the existence and nature of God or gods? - Government
- Epistocracy
What is your ideal form of government? - Highest Good
- Virtue
What is the highest good? - Good and Evil
- Moral Realism
What is the fundamental nature of good and evil? - Knowledge
- Intuition
What is the ultimate foundation of knowledge? - Ethics Basis
- Virtue / Relational
What is the ultimate basis of ethics? - Agency
- Libertarian Free Will
What is the nature of human agency and freedom? - Authority
- Benevolence / Consent of the Governed / Wisdom
What is the legitimate source of authority? - Law
- Natural Law
What is the ultimate source of legitimate law? - Role of Emotion
- Virtue to Cultivate / Cognitive Theory of Emotion
What is the proper role of emotion? - Human Nature
- Innate Good
What is human nature? - Primary Bond
- Family
What is your primary bond and loyalty?