Wang Yang-ming

Wang Yang-ming (1472–1529), Chinese philosopher known for his doctrines of the unity of knowledge and action (chih-hsing ho-i) and liangchih (innate knowledge of the good). Wang was also known as a sort of metaphysical idealist, anticipated by Lu Hsiang-shan, for his insistence on the quasi-identity of mind and li (principle, reason). The basic concern of Wang’s philosophy is the question, How can one become a Confucian sage (sheng)? This is a question intelligible only in the light of understanding and commitment to the Confucian vision of jen or ideal of the universe as a moral community. Wang reminded his students that the concrete significance of such a vision in human life cannot be exhausted with any claim to finality. He stressed that one must get rid of any selfish desires in the pursuit of jen. Unlike Chu Hsi, Wang showed little interest in empirical inquiry concerning the rationales of existing things. For him, ‘things’ are the objectives of moral will. To investigate things is to rectify one’s mind, to get rid of evil thoughts and to do good. Rectification of the mind involves, in particular, an acknowledgment of the unity of moral knowledge and action (chihhsing ho-i), an enlargement of the scope of moral concern in the light of the vision of jen, rather than extensive acquisition of factual knowledge. See also CHIH-HSING HO-I, CONFUCIANISM , LIANG — CHI. A.S.C.

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