孟子的思想,曾遭到过许多非难,一般认为他是个复古、保守的奴隶主阶级思想家。其实,孟子不愧为我国历史上一位重要的具有民主意识的思想先驱,因此,很有必要对孟子的民本思想进行一番探讨。概括起来,孟子思想中的民主意识主要从以下几个方面表现出来。一、孟子对他所处社会的暴君虐政给予最深刻的揭露和最猛烈的抨击。他尖税地指出,他所处的时代“民之憔悴于虐政,未有甚于此时者也。”他深刻揭露统治者的残酷压榨和兼并战 Mencius’s thought, he had been subjected to many cults, is generally regarded as a retro, conservative slave-class thinker. In fact, Mencius deserves to be an important ideological pioneer in the history of our country with democratic consciousness. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct some discussions on Mencius’s people-centered thinking. To sum up, the sense of democracy in Mencius’s thinking is mainly manifested in the following aspects. First, Mencius gave the most profound exposure and the most intense attack on tyranny in his society. He pointedly pointed out in his tax-taxing that in his era “the people are haggard in their abuse of power and there is not much more than that.” He profoundly exposed the brutal squeeze and mergers of the rulers