향원(鄕原)은 왜 덕(德)의 적(賊)인가?

Abstract

A ‘village honest man’ is called ‘the enemy of virtue’ by Mencius. This paper aims to explore the central features of the village honest man that lead Mencius to criticize him so harshly. Lee Hye Kyong has attributed the criticism to the ‘hypocrisy’ of the village honest man. Although he has not perfected his virtues, the village honest man pretends to be an ‘examplary person(君子),’ and that's the reason Mencius attacked him. Interestingly, Lee does not endorse Mencius's criticism. She, rather, criticizes Mencius; an ordinary person who strive to be virtuous is more likely to be like the village honest man, and hence it is more proper to encourage him or her rather than to devalue him or her. According to Lee, the mainstream Confucianism adopt the ethical standard from the viewpoint of ‘the ethics of mind,’ and this standard is almost beyond attainable for ordinary people. And in turn this lofty standard easily makes one to be a hypocrite. Based on the careful examination of the chapter, ‘the Village Honest Man,’ in the Mencius, this paper will show that Lee's analysis is mistaken for the core of Mencius's criticism lies not in ‘hypocrisy’ but in ‘that which seems but is not.’ And it also shows that Mencius's ethical thought can be best characterized and understood in terms of ‘virtue ethics.’