Human Nature
Are humans born good or evil? This is a question that there are many different answers to. Confucians, the founder of Confucianism, the official state religion of China for nearly two thousand years, had his own answer to this question, but it provided a somewhat vague explanation. Since his answer was very vague and indirect, Confucians were split on the question of human nature. Some like Mencius believed that humans are born good, and with the proper training, can become perfect. Others like Hsun Tzu had the belief that humans were inherently evil, but with strict discipline, they could be good, despite their natural inclinations.
I think Mencius in “Man’s Nature Is Good’ makes a very convincing argument for his belief on this question. In Mencius’s view, “humans are inherently good” (79). Mencius believed that people who are left to their original nature or that follow their gut feelings are able to do good. I agree that we are inherently good and that we are born with the …show more content…
While debating whether humans have the knowledge of right and wrong without a choice, Kao Tzu uses an example of swirling water, and it flowing from east to west to prove his point that you do not a choice between good or evil. Mencius disagrees when he writes “It’s true that water doesn’t choose between east and west, but doesn’t it choose between high and low? Human nature is inherently good, just like water flows inherently downhill. There is no such thing as a person who isn’t good, just as there’s no water that doesn’t flow downhill” (79). Mencius continues to state, “think about water: if you slap it, you can make it jump over your head: and if you push it you can make it stay on a mountain. But what does this have to do with the nature of water? It’s responding to the forces around it. It’s like that for people too: you can make them evil, but that says nothing about human nature”
Are humans born good or evil? This is a question that there are many different answers to. Confucians, the founder of Confucianism, the official state religion of China for nearly two thousand years, had his own answer to this question, but it provided a somewhat vague explanation. Since his answer was very vague and indirect, Confucians were split on the question of human nature. Some like Mencius believed that humans are born good, and with the proper training, can become perfect. Others like Hsun Tzu had the belief that humans were inherently evil, but with strict discipline, they could be good, despite their natural inclinations.
I think Mencius in “Man’s Nature Is Good’ makes a very convincing argument for his belief on this question. In Mencius’s view, “humans are inherently good” (79). Mencius believed that people who are left to their original nature or that follow their gut feelings are able to do good. I agree that we are inherently good and that we are born with the …show more content…
While debating whether humans have the knowledge of right and wrong without a choice, Kao Tzu uses an example of swirling water, and it flowing from east to west to prove his point that you do not a choice between good or evil. Mencius disagrees when he writes “It’s true that water doesn’t choose between east and west, but doesn’t it choose between high and low? Human nature is inherently good, just like water flows inherently downhill. There is no such thing as a person who isn’t good, just as there’s no water that doesn’t flow downhill” (79). Mencius continues to state, “think about water: if you slap it, you can make it jump over your head: and if you push it you can make it stay on a mountain. But what does this have to do with the nature of water? It’s responding to the forces around it. It’s like that for people too: you can make them evil, but that says nothing about human nature”