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Jen

Jen (also transliterated Ren仁) is a Confucian virtue commonly translated benevolence or humaneness. Diamond equates it with the deepest part of the self, which he believes is pure love (Confucius, like Diamond, fervently believed in the essential goodness of human nature). Jen is one of several such terms Diamond uses for this, others including The Soul*, The Muse*, and The Deep Unconscious*. Jen is one of the four Cardinal Virtues of the Confucian philosopher Mencius (孟子), and Diamond’s discussions about Jen are often in the context of one or more of the three other such virtues, Zhi*, Yi*, and Li* to produce an ideal model for all human behavior. See Four Cardinal Virtues of Mencius*.

Timeline: Diamond began using Jen in lectures and writings c. 2010.
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