“Wu 惡” (Loathing) in the Mencius

Topic: "Wu 惡" (Loathing) in the Mencius

Speaker: Winnie SUNG （宋曉竹） 

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/15c9RbUkyo1smcxEXxB1gA

本讲座主题是羞恶之心，问题：为什么在孟子对性善的思考中，挑出了羞恶之心作为四端之一（羞恶之心的重要性何在）？

羞恶之心2A6, 6A6

柳下惠2A9, 5B1

射者3B1

齐之妻妾4B33

an asymmetry in S's psychology between wanting to look attractive and not wanting to look detestable. While S might be neutral about whether one looks attractive, S still does not wantto(a looking ugly (b) in the eyes of one's audience.

Consider a fashion example: Edi wearing baggy jeans to his fashion school

With regard to (a), one does not want to look (unattractive/unpleasant/ugly/negative reaction from others that trigger xiu.

With regard to (b) group of people with which S identifies as a member of a group 

-Non-recognitional group vs Recognition group

Formal membership

Functioning membership

Substantive membership

Worthiness for membership vs Worthiness as a member

【羞恶之心与所在的不同种类的共同体有关，涉及他者的承认recognition】

羞：担心自己的membership受到威胁。而且，并不是因为所羞恶的违反了norm，而是会引起其他成员的消极反应negative reaction。

恶：The object of Wu is not necessarily morally bad. 【可见，恶并不只是一种道德情感，而是更广义的情感】

进一步，为什么“羞恶之心，义之端也”？为什么羞恶能够指示出义goodness？

羞恶之心：the heart-mind of wanting to be in a group. The heart-mind that wants "us". 这解释了柳下惠不知羞，“尔为尔，我为我”。