Philosophy Final

• Mencian Conception of Human Nature


  • Mencius was a confucian
  • Human nature = Ren
• Mencius' ideas of human nature


  • Innate
  • Untaught
  • Universal
  • Distinct of the Human Species
• Innate


  • Something we are born with
  • A capacity that matures or develops
  • Ex. Walking on two feet
• Untaught


  We have it without being taught about it
• Universal


  Agreed on or applies to a huge majority of people
• Distinct of the Human Species


  Not a trait found in other species
• The Four Minds and the Four Virtues


  • Commiseration/compassion
  • Shame
  • Deference
  • Judgment
• Commiseration/compassion


  • Desire to relieve suffering
  • Virtue of benevolence
• Shame


  Virtue of righteousness
• Deference


  • Looking up to someone (assuming a lower position)
  • Virtue of propriety
• Judgment


  • Normative and descriptive
  • Virtue of wisdom
• The Alternative Theories of Human Nature


  • Mencius: human nature is good
  • Hsun Tzu: human nature is evil
  • Kau Tzu: human nature is a blank slate, not born with tendencies towards either side
  • Mixed Bag Theory: some humans are born good, some bad, there is not one human nature
• The Water Analogy

  Hsun Tzu: human nature is like water, flows based on circumstances

  Mencius: disagrees, says that water has inherent tendency to flow downhill, we can make water go up similarly we can make humans morally bad with bad influence even though there tendency is to be good (flow down). 

• Willow Tree Analogy

  Hsun Tzu: human nature is a blank slate like a willow tree, we can carve out cups and bowls as we can shape our nature

  Mencius: this mutilates human nature to become good, people don't want to damage and destroy human nature

• Barley Seed Analogy

  • Hsun Tzu: there is still something here that is inherent in everybody, development still depends on outside influence
  • Mencius: nature and nurture mix on our development.
  • Kau Tzu: depending on where the seed is placed its development and growth will be affected, shows development is dependent on environment

• The Three O God


  • Omnipotent: all powerful
  • Omnibenevolent: all good
  • Omniscient: all knowing
• Counterpart


  • Good and evil are logical opposites such that one cannot exist without the other
  • There must be evil to compare with good
• Absolute Sense and Relative Sense of Good and Evil


  • Absolute sense of good and evil: Objective standard in accordance with the bible (gods standard)
  • Relative sense of good and evil: No standard definition, something evil can be good by comparison
• Conceptual Requirement


  • Evil is conceptually required for certain kinds of good, by definition certain kinds of evil are included/required for certain kinds of good
  • If something is conceptually connected it must be causally connected
• First Order and Second Order Good and Evil


  • First order good/evil: Can exist by itself, does not conceptually require other good/evil to exist
  • Second order good/evil: Conceptually requires another good/evil to exist
• Determinism


  Every event has a cause, and given the cause the effects or later events cannot be otherwise; therefore there is no free will
• The Five Skandhas


  • Body
  • Perception
  • Feelings
  • Dispositions
  • Consciousness
• The Four Holy Truths


  • Truth of Suffering
  • Truth of Arising
  • Truth of Cessation
  • Truth of the 8-Fold
• Truth of Suffering


  • Obsession with the concept of the self causes suffering
  • We are too resistant to change
  • We create suffering in trying to escape the inevitable
• Truth of Arising


  • Karma: the principle of causation
  • All actions, thoughts, feelings, and emotions have consequences — these consequences affect your karma
  • Karma determines what form you are reincarnated in
  • Even without your body your desire is strong and can latch onto a new body
• Truth of Cessation


  Stop desiring — desire pushes reincarnation
• Dharma


  • The Buddhist moral law
  • People are already born with the Dharma
  • The goal is to awaken the Dharma
• Nirvana


  • Enlightenment: a state of permanent peace and bliss
  • The world we are living in now is a self delusion
  • Achieving enlightenment is understanding our true reality
• Anatman


  The extinction of the self
• Causal Requirement

  • Evil produces good
  • Evil causes good — evil is casually required for good
• The Paradox of a Stone Which Even God Cannot Lift

  Is God bound by logical law?

  Can god create a stone so heavy that even god cannot move it?

  If he can he is not omnipotent because he cannot move it

  If he cannot he is not omnipotent because he cannot make it
• The Paradox of Omnipotence

  • Omnipotence has two levels

  1. God can do anything to anybody in this world
  2. If god is all powerful can god control his own power? Can he impose limitations on his own power?

  • These two levels are paradoxical
  • If he can impose limitations he is not omnipotent in the first level
  • If he can’t impose limitations he is not omnipotent in the second level
• 1. Truth of the 8-Fold

  • Addresses every aspect of life
  • To have the right views, intentions, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and meditation
  • Focuses on meditation
• Pointing Directly to the Mind

  • Focused on one main idea
  • The mind refers to the psychological and Buddha mind
  • The Buddha mind is the mind of unity
  • Without the self everything is bound together
  • The most important thing is to realize unity in every aspect of life