Abstract

Abstract:

Isaiah Berlin argues for negative liberty and criticizes positive liberty as a kind of fake liberty that may lead to the problem of despotism. However, for Mencius, in order to confront a corrupted social system, one has to be a great man, which exactly implies the idea of positive liberty. This essay argues that while both negative and positive liberties are implicated in Mencius’ thought, Mencius’ main concern is positive liberty, implied in the idea of a great man, and the ground of his implicit acceptance of negative liberty is diff erent from Berlin’s. It is also explored how Mencius’ philosophy can respond to Berlin’s criticism of positive liberty. The present study attempts to evaluate positive liberty, and to affi rm its signifi cance in the light of Mencius' philosophy.

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