The Ethical Implication and Moral Consciousness of"Push"——Zhuzi's New Perspective of"the Distinction between Man and Animals"
On the issue of"the distinction between man and animals",Zhuzi did not strictly abide by the way of the pre-qin confucian scholars to distinguish between the two by benevolence,righteousness and morality,but turned to discuss it from the perspective of"rational qi".In the perspective of rational qi,Zhuzi put forward the concept of"push",believing that people can"push"because of clear and positive qi;animals can not"push"because of cloudy and partial qi,that is,"Can we push it?"as the key to different people and animals,and to establish human subjectivity.More importantly,Zhuzi says"push"not only has the meaning of"expansion",but also has the meaning of reflection and perception,that is,that people follow the principle of heaven and can push their own things to the other field;on the other hand,it also means that people are reflective on things and their own prac-tice,which is a moral creative activity.The activity of the animal is only according to the physiological instinct,and does not know why.This is Zhuzi's innovation and contribution in the distinction of human and animals.Notice this is of great benefit for us to understand and grasp the philosophical system of Zhuzi,but for the development of neo-confucianism in the Song and Ming dynasties.
Zhuzithe distinction between man and animals"push"ethical implicationsreflectionmoral self-consciousness
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