Confucius believed that "sex is similar, but learning is far away". In other words, no matter who, human nature is similar in essence, but it will change with different behavior habits the day after tomorrow. There is a hint that human nature is equal and plastic. Although we can't judge what human nature is from this sentence, what is the relationship between human nature and good and evil and so on. Judging from Confucius' life activities and his whole thought, if human nature shows the acquired tendency of "being good", it can be sure that this is the result of good humanistic education in the social environment. This result is to open and cultivate people's inner moral rationality, so as to consciously be good. This is the humanistic connotation and characteristics of Confucius' theory of human nature. Socrates emphasized that people should correctly understand themselves through rationality and establish moral values and social life norms in rational activities. He put forward a new viewpoint on "knowing yourself": knowing yourself is not knowing people's appearance and body, but knowing people's soul; Knowing the human soul is not knowing other aspects of the soul, but knowing the rational part of the soul. Only by recognizing the rational part of the soul can we truly know ourselves. So what does the so-called "rationality" mean? To be sure, it is not the kind of "instrumental rationality" since the Western Enlightenment, but a kind of "value rationality". More precisely, it is a kind of moral rationality. In Socrates' view, only by receiving a good education and realizing their inherent moral rationality can we understand people's characteristics and thus establish a human foundation for moral cultivation. This shows that Socrates' theory of human nature, like Confucius, is a humanistic theory of human nature. This humanistic theory of human nature laid a solid foundation for their moralistic political thought.
Compared with Confucius, Mencius clearly pointed out that human nature has a natural tendency, that is, it tends to be "good". This natural tendency towards goodness can be called "seeking goodness". This kind of "goodness" is endowed by heaven to mankind, and it is a kind of "conscience" and "goodness" that everyone should learn without worrying. Mencius used this "goodness" to define the essence of human nature. Plato, on the other hand, inherited Socrates' view that human nature lies in rationality. The difference is that Plato raised rationality to the height of cosmology and ontology to discuss. Plato believes that the rationality in human soul comes from the rationality in the universe soul, but the rationality in human soul is of poor purity and belongs to the second and third rationality. This is because in the human soul, besides reason, there are feelings, desires and emotions, which are all caused by external factors such as fire, gas, water and earth. Obviously, Plato's so-called "rationality" also refers to moral rationality. This kind of moral rationality is naturally good. Plato actually used this kind of good moral reason to define the essence of human nature. However, in addition to this essence, Plato believes that there are some "impurities" such as feelings, desires and emotions. Plato pointed out in the Republic that just as a country has rulers, guards and workers and peasants, the individual soul also has three parts, namely reason, passion and desire. Among them, passion and desire are irrational, while rationality is undoubtedly rational and plays a leading role. If passion and desire obey the rational leadership without violating it, then these three parts can live in harmony, and the soul is at its best at this time, which is a manifestation of justice and health of the individual soul. This actually shows that human nature is not actually manifested as "goodness", and "goodness" is the result of acquired behavior. Similarly, Mencius did not say that human nature is good. At best, he just shows that human nature has a tendency to be good. "Being good" is different from "being good by nature", the former shows a natural tendency and ability; The latter represents a transcendental existence. In fact, Mencius believed that "goodness" is not a realistic existence for people, but a value orientation and pursuit object. Moreover, "goodness" itself has different levels. Under the guidance of moral will, human nature can cultivate nature through deliberate efforts, sublimate from the most basic "goodness" and finally reach the so-called "sacred unknowable" realm. Similarly, from Plato's so-called different states of the soul, it actually shows that "goodness" has different levels. Mencius' "goodness" is an innate attribute of everyone, so it has equal and universal significance. The so-called "saints are like me" and "Yao and Shun have the same ears" all illustrate this point. But in Plato's theory of human nature, because he emphasized the different components of the so-called "gold, silver, copper and iron", it has a hierarchical color, so it contains the sense of inequality of human beings.
There is one last point that needs to be clarified about Mencius and Plato's theory of human nature. Because Plato emphasized that reason should occupy a dominant position in the soul, in order to realize justice in the political life of the city-state, naturally the philosopher with the highest wisdom should be king. This shows that Plato's theory of human nature is the theoretical basis of his philosophy king. Similarly, Mencius' theory of "being good" is also of great significance to his benevolent government thought. Mencius said that "there is no room for other people's hearts, and there is no room for other people's politics", which shows that Mencius' thought of benevolent governance is based on his theory of "doing good".
Second, the naturalistic theory of human nature
A common feature of pre-Qin Taoism and ancient Greek cynicism is naturalistic theory of human nature.
In Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi's view, people's primitive and simple natural nature is an ideal state. Because they believe that Tao and virtue are the ontological basis of all things in the universe, including human beings, while natural inaction is the way of existence of Tao and virtue. Therefore, the natural state of human nature is an ideal state and does not need any artificial transformation. This is Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi's basic view of human nature. Therefore, it can be called naturalistic theory of human nature. The "cynic school" in ancient Greece also held a similar view of human nature. In fact, the name "cynic" itself shows that this school advocates and practices the simplest and most natural lifestyle, just like dogs. Antisthenes was the founder of cynicism in ancient Greece. He interpreted the "goodness" of Socrates' highest purpose in life as conforming to nature, suppressing personal desires to a minimum and rejecting all emotional happiness and enjoyment. Diogenes, a disciple of Antistani, pushed cynicism to its peak. He established an unrestrained, primitive and poorest lifestyle and became one of the most famous cynics. A branch, a coat, a beggar's bag, a quilt for sleeping at night and a glass of water are all his possessions. Like his predecessor, he wandered around Athens, living in temples, markets and even barrels. He believes that this simplest way of life is to conform to nature and personal freedom. Diogenes worships Herakler, a mythical Hercules, and tirelessly sharpens his behavior, and he himself is practicing this so-called lifestyle that conforms to "natural rights". He claimed that he did it because he wanted personal freedom above all else. He advocates that people should be satisfied with the most primitive and simple life, and should only use natural things, without learning music, geometry, astronomy and other disciplines, and without making any inventions. Those things are not only useless, but also harmful. Diogenes developed Antistani's doctrine that "goodness" means obeying nature and suppressing all human desires. In his view, human civilization has caused human depravity and evil, so it is necessary to transform life and return it to nature. He pointed out that primitive people could survive without fire, clothes, leather and other utensils. All civilization and technological progress are actually used for evil. These views and examples can be said to be everywhere in Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi's works. On the one hand, the pre-Qin Taoism emphasized that people should obey the natural nature without any artificial suppression, which seemed to give people a feeling that they could indulge themselves. In fact, Taoism does not advocate indulgence of lust. Although they emphasize conforming to the natural nature, this conformity must be rational and restrained; Otherwise, if you overdo it, it will be counterproductive, but it will violate and hurt nature. Therefore, on the other hand, Laozi and Zhuangzi also have many statements about no desire, little desire and no desire, which shows that some human desires should be restricted or even denied. This point of the "cynicism school" in ancient Greece can be said to be even worse. Especially for diogenes, a typical representative of "cynicism", he thinks that worldly wealth can't be ignored. Therefore, he pursues virtue and moral freedom liberated from desire. Russell once pointed out, "At this point, he is similar to Taoism, but more thorough." [30]
But on the other hand, we should see that there are several major differences between the pre-Qin Taoism and the "cynicism school" of ancient Greece. First of all, according to the description in Xenophon's Drinking, antisthenes is a man who is content with simple living. But Socrates thought his frugal life was melodramatic and pretentious. When Antisthenes opened his tattered coat for people to see, Socrates criticized that I saw your good name through the hole in your coat. Obviously, this kind of "good reputation" did not exist in pre-Qin Taoism. Secondly, Laozi and Zhuangzi saw that, as far as individuals are concerned, human nature is rooted in heaven, which is the same as heaven; However, in social existence and its development form, there are often some opposites with heaven. Therefore, it puts forward the way of "returning to nature and doing nothing" and criticizes the wrong thought of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom" at that time. Therefore, in terms of social and political thoughts, Laozi and Zhuangzi put forward the political thoughts of "Tao is natural" and "doing nothing without doing anything". According to Diogenēs Laertius's account, antisthenes advocates rationality and often gives moral advice to some young people with bad behavior, pretending to be a moral doctor. Diogenes criticized that noble families, reputations and all prominent things are grandiose evil ornaments, while money, especially all evil caves. People only pay attention to the pursuit of happiness and satisfaction of desires, but not to how to improve morality and promote justice. This reflects the characteristics of the early cynics, that is, to promote the soul as the mission and advocate moral prosperity. Thirdly, the "cynics" after Diogenes are almost nothing new, and the life style of cynics is getting worse and worse, even to the point of shameless. For example, Clardy, a famous cynic, lives with Hipakia, and they emphasize conforming to nature, so that they imitate the natural nature of dogs and make love in public. This, of course, is quite different from the original intention of Taoist naturalism theory of human nature in the pre-Qin period.
Third, rationalism theory of human nature.
If Mencius and Plato's theory of human nature has a certain ideal color, then Xunzi and Aristotle's observation and research on human nature are more realistic and rational. They analyzed and revealed the rich connotation of human nature from many aspects. And they think that "rationality" can best show the essence of human beings. Therefore, their theory of human nature can be called rationalism theory of human nature. The main contents include: 1. Nature. Xunzi pointed out that human nature includes two aspects: nature and natural instinct. The essence of nature is human body, and natural instinct refers to human physiological instinct or natural attribute. The so-called "hunger means food, cold means warmth, fatigue means rest, good means benefit, and evil means harm, which is inherent in human beings". Aristotle believes that as long as people are people, they must all have desires. As long as it is reasonably guided and adjusted, it is normal and reasonable. If it is not controlled, it may cause harm. Aristotle called this desire that can cause harm animal desire or animal factor. Aristotle's desire is equivalent to Xunzi's natural instinct here. Second, sociality (or gregarious). Xunzi pointed out that people's strength is not comparable to that of cattle, and running can't catch up with horses, but cattle and horses are used by people. The reason is that people are social, can get along with others and unite as one, so that they can overcome everything. Aristotle also pointed out that human nature is an animal that tends to live in the city-state. If a person does not belong to any city-state by birth or by accident, then this person is either a contemptuous husband or a superman. And this actually does not exist. So people are naturally gregarious. In other words, it is social. Both Xunzi and Aristotle believe that the reason why human beings can combine together to form a society is because human nature has an important quality, that is, righteousness or goodness. Third, righteousness (or rationality). [3 1] Xunzi also explained human characteristics through the comparison between people and birds and the difference between people and animals. He said that fire and water are lifeless, plants are lifeless, and animals are conscious but unconscious ("righteousness"). And people have these elements, so people are the most precious of all things. Xunzi also stressed that the reason why people are human lies in the so-called "discrimination" in human nature, which other animals do not have. What is "discrimination"? "Discrimination" is "rationality". It is with "rationality" that human beings can understand "righteousness" and unite ("group"). Therefore, rationality is the most precious feature of human nature. Similarly, Aristotle believes that the characteristic that distinguishes man from other animals lies in his identification with the concepts of good and evil, justice and so on, and the combination of family and polis is the combination of "righteousness" about the concepts of good and evil, justice and so on. Human beings have achieved something because they are eager to be kind and become the best animals. Why can human beings know justice, seek good and avoid evil? Aristotle believes that this is because human nature contains a valuable characteristic, namely "rationality". Reason is unique to human beings, so it is the most important.
What needs to be further explained is that the word "rationality" is a vague concept. Under different historical and cultural conditions, it has different meanings. Mr. Han Zhen analyzed its basic meaning from the perspective of philosophy: first, in the ontological sense, reason refers to a special entity with extraordinary characteristics; Second, in the epistemological sense, it refers to the sum of human understanding and adaptability to the environment. These include cognitive rationality, paradigm rationality and skeptical rationality; Third, in the sense of axiology, it is a kind of wisdom that can distinguish good from evil, that is, moral rationality or value rationality; Fourth, from the perspective of human behavior, rationality is a kind of self-discipline ability. [32] I agree with Mr Han's analysis. Accordingly, we can further compare and explain the similarities and differences between Xunzi and Aristotle's rational views. The rationality (namely "righteousness" and "discrimination") mentioned by Xunzi includes the latter three meanings, but it does not include substantive meaning. Aristotle's rationalism contains all the above connotations. By the way, this difference also applies to the similarities and differences between Confucius, Mencius, Socrates and Plato. Ancient Greek philosophers believed that reason was a part of the soul. Moreover, the soul is materialized to varying degrees, and the soul is considered as a special entity in the universe. In addition, compared with the ancient Greek rationality, it shows more speculative rationality, and the rationality represented by Confucianism in the pre-Qin period is mainly a moral rationality. Max Weber, a famous German scholar, once asserted: "All Asian political thoughts lack a way of thinking comparable to Aristotle's systematic method, and indeed lack the concept of rationality." [33] Obviously, this argument is superficial and one-sided. In fact, Mr. Liang Shuming put it well in his book The Essence of China Culture: "The greatness of China is not his, but the greatness of human reason. China's deficiency is irrational deficiency (lack of rationality), but the deficiency of early rationality and precocious culture. " [34] Although the so-called "cultural precocity" may not be recognized by everyone, it is a fact that China is not irrational, but it should be a consensus. Mr. Liang's "rationality" here refers to moral rationality.
Although both Xunzi and Aristotle think that human nature includes naturalness, sociality and righteousness, they both make one-sided and negative value judgments when they judge human nature, that is, human nature is evil. This obviously contradicts the above characteristics of human nature. However, this theory of evil nature provides a theoretical basis for their political thoughts. Xunzi said: "The viciousness of today's people must be ruled by the holy king and turned into courtesy. Only then can it be ruled and appropriate for good." (Xunzi's theory of evil nature) It can be seen that Xunzi's emphasis on rule by courtesy is based on "evil human nature". Aristotle believes that human nature is evil because the desire and animality contained in human nature are deeply rooted. Therefore, he stressed that effective education must be established by law, so as to guide and control desire. This shows that Aristotle's thought of rule of law is also based on his theory of human nature.
Fourth, the empirical theory of human nature.
Han Fei and Machiavelli's theory of human nature have a common feature, that is, they seldom make theoretical analysis from an abstract point of view, and more often make empirical judgments based on people's external behavior characteristics. By observing the external manifestations of human nature, Han Fei pointed out that "the nature of the husband and the people likes what they hate" (Han Feizi's psychology), "where the benefits lie, forget what they hate" (Han Feizi's theory of hiding), "what is good and what is bad belongs to the wife" and "if the husband is Amway, he will leave it and what is harmful will leave it." From this, Han Fei came to the conclusion that everyone is born "self-reliant", that is to say, everyone treats each other with calculation, even between parents and children. Parents celebrate each other when giving birth to a boy, and parents kill her when giving birth to a girl. The reason for this is mainly based on the interest of children when they grow up. Parents and children still treat each other with calculations, let alone other things. Machiavelli had a similar view of human nature. He believes that human nature is evil and fickle, and it is to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. He expounded his point of view through the following practical question, that is, should the monarch choose to be loved or feared? Machiavelli thinks it's best to have both. However, you can't have both. You have to choose between them. Machiavelli's choice is: "accept fear and give up being loved." This is because people's "love" is unreliable. In his view, objective things are constantly changing, and the interest relationship is also changing. And people are always self-centered, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, so people's likes and dislikes are constantly changing, and it is easy to be ungrateful, so people's "love" is unreliable. Based on this, he warned the monarch that he must be prepared to change with the wind of fate and things at any time. Based on his understanding of the evil of human nature, Han Fei came to a conclusion: to govern a country, people must not be expected to do good things, but only be prohibited from doing bad things by law. In other words, it is necessary to manipulate and control the subject through law. Similarly, Machiavelli also believes that the monarch must firmly hold the destiny of the country in his own hands, not based on the strength of others. The difference is that Han Fei emphasizes "law" and Machiavelli emphasizes the subjective "will" of the monarch. But in essence, the two are similar. Because Han Fei's so-called "law" is essentially the subjective "will" of the monarch.
In a word, both Han Fei and Machiavelli believe that human nature is bad, and the selfish and mercenary nature of human beings cannot be transformed or difficult to transform. Han Fei even thinks that there is no need to reform at all, but to use people's profit-seeking to rule. Therefore, he stressed: "Whoever governs the world must be human-oriented. People have likes and dislikes, rewards and punishments. " Machiavelli also expressed similar thoughts. Therefore, the theory of evil nature is a cornerstone of Han Fei and Machiavelli's political thought. Politically, they all advocated and emphasized the implementation of absolute monarchy and designed an "immoral" monarchy. (See Chapter 7)
Historical evaluation of verb (abbreviation of verb)
To sum up, Chinese and western philosophers have different views on human nature, so they can't reach an agreement (limited by time and materials, this article is not comprehensive). The author believes that the discussion of human nature needs to pay attention to several methodological principles:
(1) Grasp the relationship between human and animals. Man originates from nature and is higher than nature, so human nature includes both the naturalness of ordinary animals and the sociality and spirituality that ordinary animals do not have. Moreover, because human nature also contains sociality and spirituality, the naturalness of human beings is very different from the pure natural instinct of animals. Therefore, any view that directly equates human nature with the attributes of animals and nature is seriously one-sided.
(2) Grasp the relationship between facts and values. There are differences and connections between the two. To explore human nature, we must first explain and define the essence (fact) of human nature, and then make a value judgment. Therefore, it is wrong to regard good or evil nature as the essence of human nature from the beginning. Confused the basic difference between fact judgment and value judgment. The basic facts of human nature include natural attributes, social attributes and spiritual attributes. Among them, spiritual attributes include freedom, rationality and creativity. [35] Generally speaking, we don't pay attention to the fact of human nature itself (especially for natural attributes), but only pay attention to the objective effect of human nature in practice.
(3) Grasp the relationship between experience and theory. The human nature that people feel in their life experience is generally one-sided and phenomenal, which belongs to the reflection of external relations; The human nature revealed by this theory is holistic and essential, and belongs to the reflection of internal relations. Generally speaking, theory should be based on experience, and experience must be upgraded to theory. But this phenomenon often happens in life, that is, people often judge human nature according to their own narrow personal experience. Although it seems to be in line with common sense, it is still wrong. Concepts such as instinct and evil nature belong to this kind of empirical common sense.
Fourth, grasp the relationship between "one" and "many", "static" and "dynamic". The so-called "one" and "many" means that in the rich connotation of human nature ("many"), we should pay attention to grasping people's most fundamental and best embodying their essential attributes ("one"); The so-called "static" and "dynamic", "static" refers to the relative static state of human nature in a certain period, and "dynamic" is the process of change and development in the whole historical period. To grasp human nature, we should pay attention to grasping "one", that is, the essence of human nature, from the "dynamic", that is, from the historical development of human nature. In particular, we should grasp the essence of human nature from the conscious value orientation in the process of human development. China's traditional philosophy and western religious philosophy grasp human nature from the relationship between heaven and man and the relationship between god and man respectively, which is worth pondering.
According to the above methodological principles, we can see that the discussion of human nature by Chinese and western philosophers has both merits and shortcomings. Here, I would like to put forward my personal views on human nature and discuss a typical view in academic circles. Academic circles generally believe that human nature includes natural attributes, social attributes and spiritual attributes. Among them, social attribute is the fundamental attribute or essential attribute of human beings. This view is correct in a general sense. The so-called "general meaning" refers to two applicable scopes, namely, specific social and historical conditions and people's general level of understanding. But in the ultimate sense of human development, [36] people's spiritual attributes should be emphasized and highlighted. In fact, the development of human society is a continuous development process from spontaneous to conscious, from the realm of necessity to the realm of freedom. In this development process, the conscious initiative of human spirit will become more and more important and valuable. Focusing on this development process, it can be said that natural attributes provide a material basis for people, social attributes provide a stage for people's activities, and spiritual attributes point out the direction for people's development and perfection, which can best reflect people's essential attributes. Physiologically, everyone in real life is a human being; But spiritually, everyone needs to work hard to be a man and become a real person. The core factor that determines a person's image and status in people's minds is not his material wealth or his social status, but his personality spirit. This is the mystery of spiritual attribute and the core of human nature.
Therefore, the understanding of human nature should be based on affirming naturalness and sociality, while affirming and highlighting human spirituality. Among them, it is particularly important to emphasize and highlight the consciousness, transcendence and universality of human spirit. The so-called consciousness is a profound understanding of the position, function and significance of human beings in the universe, that is, it is important to promote the harmonious development of human beings and the universe through their own efforts; The so-called transcendence is to transcend and sublimate the narrow and selfish concepts of food, sex, fame and benefit on the basis of realizing the close relationship between individuals and everything in the universe; The so-called universality is to make life reach the state of unity of truth, goodness and beauty on the basis of transcendence, thus obtaining a broad and eternal meaning. Throughout the ages, Confucius, Laozi, Sakyamuni, Socrates, Jesus, Marx, Einstein and other great sages, their lofty spiritual realm reflects the brilliance of human nature, which can be said to illuminate the essence of human nature, penetrate the whole universe, and embody a real realm of "harmony between man and nature"! This realm is beyond the reach of sociality. It is worth noting that consciousness, transcendence and universality are hidden in people's spiritual attributes on the one hand, and need to be practiced and improved through lifelong efforts on the other. Only by deeply understanding and grasping this essence of human nature can we become real people. All social and political education, management and construction should be people-oriented. The core of people-oriented should be based on caring and promoting the healthy development of human nature. This is the foundation of all undertakings.