From"Uneasiness"to"Intolerance":Mencius'Development of Confucius'Thought on Other-and-I Relationship
Historically,people regarded Confucius and Mencius as equally significantly great thinkers,ignoring the differences between their thoughts.A key difference lies in their ideas on the Other-and-I relationship,which is fully demonstrated through the concepts of"uneasiness"and"intolerance".Confucius believed that we treat others with kindness and justice out of"uneasiness".Although both"uneasiness"and"intolerance"involve the individual and others and the relationship between them,there are some differences."Uneasiness"is others-centered,and it is others'misery that inspires our uneasiness and makes us feel uneasy for others.At the same time,"intolerance"is self-centered,and a kind of inner ability of our own,the use of which is subject to us.The reason we cannot tolerate the suffering of others and we treat others with kindness and justice is our intolerance.Therefore,Mencius strengthened the moral subject status of the individual while making him morally self-dominant by changing Confucius'"uneasiness"into"intolerance".However,this also tends to make morality a self-imposed act on others and profoundly impacts Chinese ethics.