The Philosophy of Mencius as a Way of Life: A Rapport between Mencian Confucianism and Pierre Hadot’s Conception of Philosophy

This article shows how Pierre Hadot’s idea of philosophy as a way of lifecan be applied to Confucian philosophy. Specifically I will show how thephilosophy of the Confucian thinker Mencius has two characteristicsthat are indicative of a philosophy that is a way of life. For Hadot, AncientGreco-Roman philosophical schools were mainly concerned, not withphilosophical discourse, but with changing their students’ way of living.Based on Mencius’ own words, it can be inferred that he also believed thathis philosophizing was mainly about transforming people, and that hetreated philosophical discourse as ancillary to this. Furthermore, Hadotbelieved that “spiritual exercises” were employed by Ancient Greco-Roman philosophical schools to precisely help transform the lives oftheir aspirants. He divides these spiritual exercises into two phases. Thefirst is “Concentration of the I” where the aspirant ceases to identify withhis conventional and vicious self. This leads to the second phase, namely,“Expansion of the I” where the aspirant becomes free to identify with thewhole of reality. I suggest that spiritual exercises, or something similar,can also be seen in Mencius’ teachings. In particular, Mencius’ activity of“reflection and extension” can be considered a kind of “Concentrationof the I,” whereas his intimation of attaining unity with Heaven and theworld through cultivating qi, can be understood as a kind of “Expansionof the I.”