Xiang Yuan : The Appearance-only Hypocrite

Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 15 (2):175-192 (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This article seeks to interpret Mencius’ criticism of the village worthies and shed light on the distinctive psychological phenomenon that Mencius has captured but not quite articulated. An attempt at filling out the Mencian view of the village worthies will help us better understand the content of the moral charges made against them and also deepen our analysis of the kind of psychology that early Confucians regard as crucial to moral agency. Following an introduction that overviews Mencius’ criticisms of the village worthies, the main discussion of this article is divided into three sections. Section 2 offers an interpretation of the psychology of the village worthy and articulates the way in which the village worthy can be regarded as a special kind of hypocrite, which I label as “appearance-only” hypocrite. Section 3 draws on the proposed interpretation to make sense of Mencius’ criticisms of the village worthy. I argue that while the village worthy can elude some common charges against hypocrisy, it is still problematic in the sense that it weakens an unstable system of morality from the inside and inflicts harm on the genuinely virtuous person. Section 4 delves deeper into analyzing the ethical implications for the self and for others.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 101,597

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

Hypocrisy as Described in the Analects and the Mengzi.Puqun Li - 2024 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 23 (1):39-57.
Who's Afraid of Village Worthies?Geir Sigurðsson - 2021 - In Ian M. Sullivan & Joshua Mason (eds.), One corner of the square: essays on the philosophy of Roger T. Ames. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press.
Resenting Heaven in the Mencius: An Extended Footnote to Mencius 2B13.Daryl Ooi - 2021 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 20 (2):207-229.
Pure Hypocrisy.Tony Lynch & A. R. J. Fisher - 2012 - Philosophy in the Contemporary World 19 (1):32-43.
Moral philosophy and moral psychology in mencius.James A. Ryan - 1998 - Asian Philosophy 8 (1):47 – 64.
A defence of mencius' ethical naturalism.James A. Ryan - 1997 - Asian Philosophy 7 (1):23 – 36.
The Early Confucian Worry about Yuan.Winnie Sung - 2020 - Journal of Value Inquiry 54 (2):257-271.

Analytics

Added to PP
2016-03-29

Downloads
66 (#321,867)

6 months
11 (#356,365)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Hiu Chuk Winnie Sung
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Citations of this work

Hypocrisy as Described in the Analects and the Mengzi.Puqun Li - 2024 - Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 23 (1):39-57.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Précis of Authority and Estrangement: An Essay on Self‐Knowledge.Richard Moran - 2004 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 69 (2):423-426.
Hypocrisy, Moral Address, and the Equal Standing of Persons.R. Jay Wallace - 2010 - Philosophy and Public Affairs 38 (4):307-341.
Integrity.Lynne McFall - 1987 - Ethics 98 (1):5-20.

View all 18 references / Add more references