Mencius Doctrine of "Natural Rights"-In the Views of "Tien-Chueh", "Liang-Gui" and "People's Will"
Abstract
In some ways, Confucianism does provide the "human rights" the important ideas and resources, which one of the representatives from the early Confucian Mencius can be seen. Mencius is the core idea of human rights "natural rights." From beyond the "day" was the realization of the moral equality of human nature and the ability and personality of equality, human and animal material is different from the "noble" and "dignity", people are the purpose and the "God" from the "public opinion" the "civil rights" and people's "right to resistance", etc. These aspects linked to each other, in the common form of Mencius 'natural rights' ideological core, but also shows the different ways of human speech and personality style. This paper is intended to explicate the philosophical meanings of Mencius's views of human rights, regarding his theories of human nature, moral practice, and people as the foundation of the state, as well as the kingly way and his humanism. Moreover, we try to analyze the classical discourse about human rights developed by Mencius. Although Mencius's idea about human rights was undeniably different from the universal views about human rights in the contemporary society, he was nevertheless a precious and classical model for those who care about human rights in the contemporary age due to his overall philosophical exploration of the meanings, concerns, thoughts and ideals of human rights