One can argue that man’s human nature is both inherently good and evil, but it is through the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that each generation born after them was no longer born without shame, which Hsun Tzu does a great job of showing how man’s nature is inherently evil. Hsun Tzu was a Chinese scholar who followed the Confucian belief who lived from 300-230 BCE. He wrote this piece of literature explaining how man is not born with an innocent or pure nature, meaning that in the eyes of God when we are born we are born sinful. If this was not the case, and Mencius was correct about humans being pure in nature then no one would have the urge to murder, steal or anything that we consider to be sinful today. However, this is not
…show more content…
He also uses Pathos to emotionally show why man’s inherent nature is that of evil and not good. In an effort to explain how emotion has a connection he makes this statement, “Anyone who gives free rein to his emotional nature is content to indulge his passions and disregard ritual principles becomes a petty man” (85). What he is trying to say here is that anyone who just lives by their emotions and their passions will become less and less until his importance is forgotten about. Meaning that eventually no one is going to care what they do or anything else. To add on this he goes to say that, “It is man’s emotional nature to love profit and desire gain” (86). Meaning that because man is so drawn to the love of money and the desire to become gain or becoming someone important, they lose focus as to what will truly make them successful and happy for the fame and money will all vanish leaving those who spent their lives around money and fame with nothing. Hsun also goes on to say that, “Now it is the nature of man that when he is hungry he desires satisfaction, when he is cold he desires warmth, and when he is weary he will desire rest. This is his emotional nature” (86). This is true man these are all things that man strives for, because if one is hungry then they food and so on and so forth many times leading one to do whatever it takes to obtain those desires no matter the cost. However, if this is looked at through a spiritual sense then all these things that man desires can be given. Therefore, it is plain to see how emotions can lead one astray and down the path of
He also uses Pathos to emotionally show why man’s inherent nature is that of evil and not good. In an effort to explain how emotion has a connection he makes this statement, “Anyone who gives free rein to his emotional nature is content to indulge his passions and disregard ritual principles becomes a petty man” (85). What he is trying to say here is that anyone who just lives by their emotions and their passions will become less and less until his importance is forgotten about. Meaning that eventually no one is going to care what they do or anything else. To add on this he goes to say that, “It is man’s emotional nature to love profit and desire gain” (86). Meaning that because man is so drawn to the love of money and the desire to become gain or becoming someone important, they lose focus as to what will truly make them successful and happy for the fame and money will all vanish leaving those who spent their lives around money and fame with nothing. Hsun also goes on to say that, “Now it is the nature of man that when he is hungry he desires satisfaction, when he is cold he desires warmth, and when he is weary he will desire rest. This is his emotional nature” (86). This is true man these are all things that man strives for, because if one is hungry then they food and so on and so forth many times leading one to do whatever it takes to obtain those desires no matter the cost. However, if this is looked at through a spiritual sense then all these things that man desires can be given. Therefore, it is plain to see how emotions can lead one astray and down the path of