Asian Studies

       Humans, by nature, are born with emotions and feelings that drive them to commit unacceptable acts and ignore their duties toward each other. For instance, one is born with the desire for wealth this desire encourages greed and strife, and makes one lose the natural sense of yielding and modesty that he must have. In order for one to be protected from being completely controlled by his emotions and feelings, he needs to have his nature transformed through (a) the guidance of a sage (teacher), and (b) the commitment to understanding and practicing ritual and rightness. Hence, its apparent that human nature lacks goodness and, therefore, its evil.

                                    What Is Required for Humans to  Be Good
             A blunt piece of metal needs to be sharpened using a whetstone in order to become usable. Similarly, in order for one to be good, he must (a) be provided with help from teachers, and (b) direct his efforts toward learning, understanding, and practicing ritual and rightness. With this statement, a very important question arises Since a teacher guide humans to ritual and rightness, doesnt that mean that ritual and rightness, which are forms of goodness, come from sages nature Xunzi argues that this isnt the case because what the sages teach is created by them through conscious activity. One way to better understand this view is to think of a carpenter who makes wooden products through conscious activity, he can carve wood and turn it into different useful products (e.g., utensils), but with his nature he cant even make use of wood. Similarly, a sage gathers and organizes his ideas regarding whats good and whats evil, and through conscious activity he creates the standards and rules of ritual and rightness that humans must learn and be committed to his nature is useless in this case.           Xunzis Criticism of Mencius More-Optimistic Ideas about Human NatureXunzis Criticism of Mencius Claim That Human Nature Is Good
       Mencius claims that learning is a proof that human nature is good. Xunzi totally disagrees with that claim and argues that its advocates accept it because they dont fully understand human nature or the difference between it and conscious activity. Nature isnt something that humans make for themselves its given to them by Heaven. Nature cant be learned through the guidance of sages nor can it be acquired by personal effort. Goodness is a form of conscious activity and its created by sages. Humans can learn goodness from teachers and practice it in life. The human eye is a clarifying example in this argument The eyes ability to see is a part of human nature, but this ability cant exist without or apart from the eye and, hence, the eyes ability to see cant be learned. Here, its apparent that there is no relation between learning and human nature and, therefore, Mencius claim is false.Xunzis Criticism of Mencius Claim That Evil Results from Losing Nature

       The second half of Mencius more-optimistic view of human nature is his claim that evil is caused by the loss or destruction of ones nature. Xunzi rejects that idea and argues that upon birth one begins to possess the tendency to depart from his natural disposition and, thus, be driven to evil. Its apparent that this departure is a part of ones nature and, therefore, human nature is evil. Xunzi claims that what makes Mencius claim widely accepted is the common wrong assumption that goodness and ones nature are inseparable in the same way that the sense of sight and the eye are.

                  Is Xunzi Totally Discouraged about Humans Ability to Do Good Xunzi argues that what makes someone noble is his ability to direct his efforts toward transforming his nature through learning and practicing ritual and rightness. Ritual and rightness must be based upon rules that can be learned and committed to. In addition to that idea, Xunzi also argues that everyone has the natural endowment needed to learn and understand the principles that must be committed to by humans, and the ability to practice them. Here, its cleat that Xunzi isnt totally discouraged about humans ability to do good.