Abstract: In the system of Confucian ethics of unceasing growth, reason undertakes the dual functions of inward cognition and outward cognition. The so-called outward cognition is the knowledge of external moral objects, while the so-called inward cognition is the re-recognition of inward consciousness. Both inward cognition and outward cognition are indispensable and interdependent. In the theory of Confucian ethics of unceasing growth, inward cognition embraces three different dimensions of desire, reason and humanness. The inward cognition of reason plays an important role in determining the authenticity of the inward rational consciousness, solving infinite regress, realizing the transition from the "being" of thinking to the "being" in actuality, and proving the spatio-temporality of reason. The inward cognition of reason is essential to the theoretical construction of Confucian ethics of unceasing growth.

Key words: Confucian ethics of unceasing growth, reason, outward cognition, inward cognition