An Alternative Way of Confucian Sincerity: Wang Yangming's "Unity of Knowing and Doing" as a Response to Zhu Xi's Puzzle of Self-Deception

Zhu Xi argues that "thoughts cannot render themselves sincere on their own," for thoughts tend to deceive themselves; thus, only the objective inquiry of knowledge can ensure a proper beginning to attain genuine sincerity. Wang Yangming's earlier doctrine of the unity of knowing and doing and his later doctrine of extending liangzhi (original knowledge of the good) could be understood as a response to Zhu Xi's puzzle of self-deception.