Stingy King Meets Savvy Sage: Rethinking the Dialog between King Xuan of Qi and Mengzi

Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 19 (3):371-389 (2020)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

While the traditional interpretation takes Mengzi 孟子 to be trying to persuade King Xuan 宣 of Qi 齊, I take him to be manipulating King Xuan with insincere flattery. My interpretation has several advantages. On the traditional interpretation, Mengzi is naïve about King Xuan’s motives, and confused about basic aspects of his own views, but my interpretation makes Mengzi into a canny sage with a clear, comprehensive grasp of his doctrines. My interpretation also brings the dialog into harmony with the rest of the book, and with common sense on several points. It thus makes the dialog a more nuanced, coherent, and plausible work. Next, my interpretation shows Mengzi to possess a more complete list of virtues, and a longer list of character improvement strategies than is usually thought. Finally, by attributing to Mengzi a promising strategy for curing rulers prone to rages, lust, and greed, I show that Mengzi’s work fills a pressing contemporary need.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Inference in the mengzi 1a: 7.Koji Tanaka - 2011 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 38 (3):444-454.
Mengzi, strategic language, and the shaping of behavior.Steven F. Geisz - 2008 - Philosophy East and West 58 (2):190-222.
Following Nature with Mengzi or Zhuangzi.Franklin Perkins - 2005 - International Philosophical Quarterly 45 (3):327-340.
Mengzi’s Moral Psychology, Part 1: The Four Moral Sprouts.John Ramsey - 2018 - 1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology.
A Right of Rebellion in the Mengzi?Justin Tiwald - 2008 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 7 (3):269-282.
Mencian Philosophic Psychology.Bryan William Van Norden - 1991 - Dissertation, Stanford University
Bu Ren 不忍 in the Mencius.Winnie Sung - 2019 - Philosophy East and West 69 (4):1098-1119.
Reflections on the Sequence of the First Three Books of the Mengzi.Hans Van Ess - 2014 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 41 (3-4):287-306.
Wisdom, Agency, and the Role of Reasons in Mengzi.John Ramsey - 2015 - Journal of Chinese Philosophy 42 (3-4):300-317.
Mengzi and Hume on Extending Virtue.Gordon B. Mower - 2016 - Philosophy East and West 66 (2):475-487.

Analytics

Added to PP
2020-07-06

Downloads
10 (#1,026,208)

6 months
2 (#670,035)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Howard Curzer
Texas Tech University

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations