Human Nature

Human Nature

One of the controversies in the early Chinese philosophy was the issue about human nature. Human nature is an issue that was frequently debated within with Confucianism. This was an essential subject that was studied within Confucianism. Most people during the Warring state period viewed human nature as being partially good and partially evil. There have been disagreements about this issue where two characters Mencius and Xunzi had a disagreement on the issue about human nature as being evil or good. According to Mencius he claimed that human nature is good, and Xunzi criticized this idea and claimed that human nature was evil[1]. People tend to think that the time of prosperity and peace are usually good for the system of thought, but this usually is not the case for the reason that the time for disintegration and war are the best for the system of thought and thinkers. Human beings tend to rethink of problems when they are faced with one. Mencius and Xunzi are Confucians.

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Both Xunzi and Mencius agreed that man should practice his goodness conscientiously and consciously regardless of whether it is from state or from birth.Confucius believed that the centre of a human being is the heart. The heart being the centre is both physical and mental. Confucius is understood as the champion of or ritual and order and he is against the Daoists[2]. Confucius saw himself as the same as others; therefore, he encouraged this perception as being the path of goodness. His golden rule was to treat others just as he would like others to treat him. According to him, he believed that people share the same strengths and faults no matter how talented we are or where the talent is. People are not perfect, and there is always good in something or someone. The foremost theory of human nature came from philosopher Mencius who brought the theory of good human nature during the Warring state period.

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After 40 years, philosopher Xunzi criticized the theory of Mencius with his evil human, nature theory.In Confucianism, nature and mind are usually viewed as the same thing where the human psyche is consisted of nature and mind. The human nature is the display of the mind and also the nature of the mind. It is something that cannot be seen; however, it can be felt. According the analysis of Confucian scholars, there are three parts of human nature. This includes the nature of cognition, nature of morality, and the nature of feelings and emotions. The nature of feelings and emotion is what one desires, feels, what one like and hate, whether one is angry or sad. The nature of cognition is what allows one to be able to naturally perceive something, like being able to sense something and recognize something through the sense organs like the nose, eyes, and ears. The morality nature refers to all good virtues that a human naturally has like loyalty, benevolence, righteousness, and rite of courtesy.

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Confucius had two followers who later become famous because of their argument on the idea of human nature. Mencius believed that Confucius taught that human being is good and develops the heart, developing and growing the virtue through love[3]. He argued that due to the fact that human is essentially good, ritual is needed to guide the growth of people, but love is the true essence. The psychology of Mencius centers its attention on a person and the cultivation of virtue of the individual in a way that other Warring states philosophies did not. What motivates the theory of Mencius is the pessimism that concerns the possibility of moral education[4]. Xunzi who was conservative and cynic argues that human is evil and with no traditions and rituals to hold the nature back, people would be uncivilized and selfish. There have been various contradicting views about the arguments of these two philosophers.

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Mencius

From the basis of Mencius argument about human nature being good, he was referring to the nature of morality. He argued that the nature of morality is what set the difference of human and other animals. The nature of morality that the philosopher argued about is what defined human nature. The human nature as good typically means that people do good in the absence of some compulsion to do otherwise. If human fail to do good, they are bound to lose their nature (Xing) and undermine the normal functioning of the body. Mencius believed that the ability of a man to be accountable and be a good person stems from his innate goodness[5]. He argued that if man was not innately good, how could he learn to be a good citizen. This is centrally to what his opponent believe.

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According to Xunzi, he believe that man is bad, and he requires the state to guide and control him so that to be a good citizen.The argument of Mencius is appropriate as a person has to cultivate and the state should guide, nurture, and help the man in maintaining his goodness. Man is naturally born as good, but the environment that they are exposed to is what tends to change the human nature to be evil. Therefore, the state should be able to guide human so that to ensure that they remain good. Mencius did not believe in a state enforced morality unlike Xunzi because he believed that morality had to originate from the heart that the state. According to Mencius, a child is good; therefore, in order to be a citizen who is worthy, man should carry the naivety and simplicity of the childhood into adulthood.Mencius believed that goodness starts by working one oneself and loving parents and from here it moves to others like the love for friends and then the whole society.

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According to this philosopher, he believes that it is right to follow the law, but we should not blindly do that. We should use discretion in some situations. For instance, there is a law that forbids man and woman from holding hands unless married, but incase a brother’s sister drowns should not one reach to save them? This statement is common for Confucians because they observe rituals and laws, but there are times the set laws have to be broken in order to do what is right. When Mencius says that human nature if good, he meant that people can be relied on to doing good without any interference just like they are expected to act[6]. It is possible to actualize a person’s good heart in a way that it becomes human nature to be good.Mencius explained that people tend to be good just like water as it goes down.

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He did compare the tendency of people being good with the tendency of water. He believed that people have unusual, strong tendency of doing what is right. Mencius explained the reason why sometimes people do wrong. The water has the tendency of moving down, but it can be forced to move up. When water moves up it is because of some circumstantial cause, but this does not change the nature of water[7]. When this cause is removed, the water will definitely move down. Likewise, this explains how people can be forced to do bad, but the fact remains that their good Xing still remains just like the tendency of water remains flowing down. In order to explain this theory, Mencius used several examples to show that human nature is good. The only thing that makes them to do evil is the circumstances that they sometimes get into. Once the interruption is removed, they go back to their good nature.

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Xunzi

According to Xunzi he argued that the argument of Mencius was not correct because he was not able to differentiate between the fake ness and nature. Xunzi said that what a person learnt and cultivate virtue was a fake goodness. He was against the argument that Mencius said that the evilness of human was because of the loss of a person’s nature. This is because according to him, human nature was evil from the origin. Xunzi believe that a human has both the nature of cognition and of feelings and emotions[8]. When he states that human nature is evil, he is referring to the nature of feelings and emotions.He argued that the man is evil because human nature is desire. According to Xunzi, he believe that man is bad, and he requires the state to guide and control him so that to be a good citizen. Without laws in place, people are likely to grab everything; therefore, living nothing for others. If people stick to laws and rituals they are likely to be good but once people abandon the rituals and laws they will be bad. Man can only be compassionate and liberal by following the laws.

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Compassion cannot be achieved without laws put in place. Confucius states that “learning without thinking is bad, but thinking without learning is dangerous”. In order to support his argument, Xunzi starts by saying that goodness is usually as a result of effort and growth. Man should work and change so that to understand that they can only get what they desire by putting their desire in check, and this is learned by being involved with the society and its laws.According to his argument, he claims that for a human to be turned into goodness, human need to be governed with laws and rites. It can be noted that according to this philosopher, the mind has the power of cognition; therefore, it will be able to recognize righteousness, good, justice, or evil, and it will be able to suppress evil; therefore, allowing the society to develop in a reasonable manner[9].

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This thinking was good, but he had not made a stance for it because he did not view that that kind of thinking or mind was born, but rather developed in a fake way through education. Xunzi believed that the state should contain the behavior of man and then dictate the moral principles that are necessary for its survival and interest. Living according to the state meant that the individual was living for the state’s sake and this meant being good. Because the human nature is evil, it has to wait for a teacher so that it can be upright and the guidance of ritual principle before it gets orderly. He refers to the teacher as the state or a representative who teaches in the interest of the state, which is the common good.Xunzi believed that the two essential ritual principles, which are humility of controlling a person’s instincts and desires and the courtesy in interpersonal relations, should be forced by the state.

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These are not innate principles; therefore, if a man does not have ritual principles then his behavior will be chaotic[10]. The perspective of this philosopher is that if a man did not understand these principles, then he would be irresponsible and wild. Man is evil and that the goodness of a man is not a gift of nature, but it is the result of conscious activity from being in the state. This philosopher states that man defer his desire within a ritual. When a man concentrate more on fulfilling ritual principle, he is likely to satisfy his demand of ritual and his human desires, but if man concentrates on fulfilling his desires, he is likely to end up satisfying neither.Xunzi understood morality as the key to controlling desire. The government authority and self control were key to a good person and the foundation of a peaceful state. There were several Chinese philosophers who contributed to Xunzi debate. Sung Chien and Shen Tao emphasized on self control over government control. These philosophers emphasized on benevolent government as a source of unity[11]. They also thought that education was good for human nature so that to be good. Man needed to be educated so that he can practice and cultivate the morality of good citizenship.

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Conclusion

The idea of whether human nature is good or evil continues to be something to be debated in Confucianism. The argument of Mencius is viewed as being more appropriate. This is because when Xunzi was presenting his argument, he failed to include the morality nature in his theory and this has made it not to be complete mostly when studying human nature. Both Xunzi and Mencius agreed that man should practice his goodness conscientiously and consciously regardless of whether it is from state or from birth. Living according to the state meant that an individual was living for the state’s sake and this meant being good. This two philosophers with their theories agreed that man has the ability of being good whether through birth or inclination. However, the human nature is good naturally, but it tends to do evil depending on the situation that one is exposed to. Once man is in a good environment with no forces, he will go back to his nature, which is good. Human does not require the law so that he can do good, but a better environment that does not force them to change their behaviors.

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Reference

Bell, D (2010). China’s new Confucianism Princeton University Press

Bowen, J (2005). The categorical imperative of Confucian evil demon in America iUniverse

Holcombe, C (2010). A history of East Asia Cambridge University Press

Rainey, L (2001).  Confucius and Confucianism John Wiley & Sons

Yan, X Zhe, S & Bell, D (2011). Ancient Chinese thought, modern Chinese power Princeton University Press

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1] Bowen, J (2005). The categorical imperative of Confucian evil demon in America iUniverse p 182

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