Wang Yangming states that moral truth lives in the mind which is liangzhi. When the mind is clear, inner light guide us correctly. If someone says he know the good but do not do it, he does not truly understand. John Locke denies innate moral principles. He says the mind is like blank paper at birth and all ideas come from experience. Reason then judges what is right. But the will may still resist. Desire, habit, and custom can pull us away from the best choice chosen by reason. Akrasia is inevitable. Both of them care about education and character and want people to live well. But they disagree about where moral truth comes from and how it moves a person to act.
First, they differ on the source of moral authority. Wang thinks normativity comes from inside. Liangzhi is a direct sense of right and wrong that belongs to every human mind. Cultivation is taking away negative characters. The light was there already. Locke thinks moral truth comes from the application of reason to ideas given by experience and reflection. We discover rules by examining our ideas and receive guidance from outside world. The mind does not have moral principles at birth.
Second, they disagree about motivation. Wang denies “real akrasia”. If you truly know, you act. When you do not act, it means you don’t really understand and just have some simple thoughts. A selfish desire took over reason. If motivation is cleared, thought and action are unified in the same time. When liangzhi is clear, the body follows the heart. However, Locke argues we can judge that something is the best but still do not choose it. Negative characters like near pleasures and bad habits can override reasonable judgement. His cure uses a different tool set. We must manage incentives, build steady habits, and train the mind early so that reason can control will better. In conclusion, Wang thinks the problem is false knowing but Locke thinks the problem is weak governance of the will.
Third, they offer different methods for cultivation. Wang focus on inside. He teaches jing and cheng. He indicates extending innate knowing into every detailed choice. In practice the core is observing the rise of motives. When anger or vanity appears, you should notice it and avoid it. Then you act immediately by the guide of clear mind. Locke focuses on outward and across time. In Some Thoughts Concerning Education, he indicates the importance of habit formation. He requires parents and teachers shape children’s good habit from early age. The training should be steady with clear rules. Any last change must work through management of ideas and attentions. In conclusion, Wang thinks cultivation is a present clarification and Locke thinks cultivation is a long term training.
Moreover, they have disagreements on metaphysical contrast. Wang claims that “mind is principle” to link moral truth and mind. The mind is not only a receiver of impressions. Locke thinks there is a gap between mind and body. He argues the reason of moral discovery is clear ideas and their relations instead of a luminous conscience. This leads to two pictures of moral error.
However, these two people live in different times and spaces still have some consensus. First, both of them are against bookish. Wang mocks mouth learning and empty show. He thinks knowledge that is not put into practice is not true knowledge. Locke encourages clear ideas and plain usage. He defines language as external signs of inner ideas. The mind makes individual ideas into general ideas through abstraction to classify thinking. Moreover, they all treat action as the point. Wang thinks a clear mind acts at once, seeing and doing arrive together. Locke claims ideas are important because it guides people make choices through attention and feelings of pleasure and discomfort.
Secondly, both of them build a psychology of failure. Wang names negative characters like fear as cloud in mind. He says selfish desire dresses up like reason to influence mind. Locke names present allure and uneasiness as forces that pull the will away from judgment. That explains why we make worse choice although we have a clear view of situation. Finally, both of them promote improving character by practice. Wang encourages cultivating focus and sincerity. Therefore people have clear motives every day. Lockes points out change must be achieved by experience and attention. In An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, he says if we repeat a way of noticing and tie it with constant pleasure, the will moves more easily.
Putting Wang Yangming and John Locke side by side shows two very different maps of the moral life. Wang believes that the source of normativity is from mind. He binds real knowledge and action together and treats failure as clouded motives that needs to be cleared in the present. Locke claims source of normativity is reasoning work on experience. He admits akrasia is a lasting problem. The failure is treated as weak control of the will. Continuous training is needed. However, they all care about normal people. They encourage practice and believe education and practice can reshape character. Moral problem is not just missing facts but how we attend. By reading them together, we can ask how much of moral growth depends on your clarity of mind at present and how much depend on continuous training through the whole life.