-Mencius believes that human nature is fundamentally good, he had a very optimistic view on humanity. He believed that all men cared about others, and a part of them which cannot bear to see the sufferings of others. Sympathy towards those who are in more need than you are is a trait that Mencius thought was within all.
What does Xun Zi believe about human nature?
Xun Zi, unlike Mencius, believed that human nature was fundamentally bad, and that "good" is a human product. He has a cynical view on the human nature as a whole, he feels that everyone is "born with a love of profit". He did however, think that they could be fixed, that they were pieces of wood which "must be steamed and forced before it is made straight", he figured that they could only be fixed with tough discipline and punishment.
Who do you line up with?
Xun Zi
Why?
Not that i necessarily have cynical views about the human race as a whole, but i do feel that naturally we are not all good, most of us are not. And i do believe in his idea of punishment and disciple, although obviously not as strongly, i do believe its a good way to get a point across; like when teaching your child to differ between good/bad, you might wanna give them the corner or a dunce cap (does anyone even still do this?). But anyways, I had to go with Xun Zi because i felt that the optimism about the nature of humans was too great in Mencius, something I don't really seem to have.
Who do you line up with?
Xun Zi
Why?
Not that i necessarily have cynical views about the human race as a whole, but i do feel that naturally we are not all good, most of us are not. And i do believe in his idea of punishment and disciple, although obviously not as strongly, i do believe its a good way to get a point across; like when teaching your child to differ between good/bad, you might wanna give them the corner or a dunce cap (does anyone even still do this?). But anyways, I had to go with Xun Zi because i felt that the optimism about the nature of humans was too great in Mencius, something I don't really seem to have.
ah, the dunce cap...we started to go wrong as a society when we stopped using that... ;) Mencius is overly optimistic. It will be interesting to see if your perspective on people as a whole changes or shifts at all as the course progresses!
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