Mencius's Argument On Human Nature

Which philosopher provides the greatest argument to explain human nature and our ethical being? Without a doubt, I argue that Xunzi’s position of human nature being innately evil is the best position. This argument justifies corrupt behavior simply as inexperience and allows man to grow into virtue through teaching and guidelines. In what follows, I will provide Xunzi’s position on human nature and values. After that, I will describe Mencius’s position and present his counter-arguments to give my argument a basis. Then, I will argue the fallacies in the counter-arguments. Next, I will explore two arguments that bolster Xunzi’s position on morality and human nature. I will then finish with a short summary of the essay. Xunzi has a unique perspective on human nature and ethics, that …show more content…
He argues that man is naturally good and lacks an innate selfishness. In an effort to prove man is not selfish, he tells a hypothetical story of, “a man were, all of the sudden, to see a young child on the verge of falling into the well.” (Solomon p.463). In this hypothetical situation he suggests that humans could have nothing but sympathy for the child in need and attempt a rescue only on the basis of feeling scared for the kid. This will be further addressed and argued against in the upcoming paragraph. Mencius then recognizes the significance of benevolence when he states, “Benevolence is the high honour bestowed by Heaven and the peaceful abode of man. Not to be benevolent nor wise, devoid of courtesy and dutifulness, is a slave.” (Solomon p.463). From this, I take that he expects all humans to practice benevolence and assumes any non-participants to be slaves. This, too, will be talked about in the upcoming paragraph. I have just explained this argument, so I will later reference it instead of explaining it again. Mencius uses both of these arguments as his evidence that human is born with morals and is