1: A Comparison of Understanding of Human Nature
Mencius and Xunzi have different understandings of what human nature is. Mencius believes that human nature is the characteristic of human beings and the fundamental symbol that distinguishes human beings from other animals. He believes that the essential characteristics of human beings are four hearts: compassion, shame, resignation and right and wrong, which is also the narrative starting point of Mencius' theory of good nature. It is believed that these "four hearts" can also be the four "good endings" of human beings, and the four virtues of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom" can be cultivated when developing. Xunzi believes that human nature refers to the natural nature that people were born before entering social life. As the saying goes, "There is a sky when there is sex." ("Xunzi". It can be seen that in Xunzi's view, human nature mainly refers to the instinct of naturally generated people. It doesn't have the "four hearts" or "a good end" of virtue as Mencius said. Not only does it not have a good end, but it also affirms that these natural natures are vicious, such as: "Today's human nature is born with good results, and it is natural to fight for life and resign; Born with disease and evil, born with luck and loyal; Born with the desire of eyes and ears, with the sense of sound, shun is the reason of fornication, while courtesy, righteousness and literary talent all decline "("Xunzi. Malignant "). It is further pointed out that human's natural instinct includes physiological instinct such as "hunger is full, cold is warm, and fatigue is rest" and psychological instinct such as "love honor and hate shame" and "love benefit and hate harm".
It should be pointed out that, compared with Xunzi, Mencius also affirmed that human beings have certain natural instincts, but he believed that these ingredients were possessed by both human beings and animals, which had nothing to do with good or evil or morality, and were not the root of the difference between human beings and animals as Mencius pointed out. Because in his view, people and animals need to rely on certain objective conditions to satisfy these natural instincts, and the "goodness" component in human nature is unique to people. Here we can see that Mencius and Xunzi have diametrically opposite views on the connotation of human nature. That is, the human nature that Mencius refers to is the fundamental characteristic of human beings, which contains the factor of "goodness", that is, the morality that distinguishes human beings from other animals; The human nature that Xunzi refers to only refers to the natural attributes endowed by heaven, and only contains the "evil" factor, while human morality lies in the artificial cultivation of the day after tomorrow.
2. Comparison of the connotations of the theory of good nature and the theory of evil nature.
The content of Mencius' theory of good nature mainly includes the following aspects:
First, everyone has a kind heart, that is, conscience. "The goodness of human nature is like water flowing down, and people can't flow down without it" (Mencius Gaozi). It can be seen that the goodness of human nature is as natural as running water, which is the premise for people to be good. He said, "Everyone has compassion; Everyone has a heart of shame and evil; Everyone has a respectful heart; Everyone has a heart of right and wrong "(Mencius. Gong Sunchou affirmed that human nature is good, that is, everyone is born with "four hearts" of "sadness, shame, respect and right and wrong". On this basis, it also discusses that this "four hearts" is the four good ends of human beings, and "compassion is the end of benevolence"; The heart of shame and evil, the end of righteousness; The heart of respect, the end of ceremony; The heart of right and wrong is also the end of wisdom. "A man has four ends, but he still has four bodies" (Mencius Gongsun Chou). He also declared that the four ends of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom" are not imposed by external factors on people themselves, but are internal components of people. From this narrative clue, we can see that the "four hearts" and "four ends" of goodness are innate, which is the premise of Mencius' theory of good nature.
Second, everyone has the ability to be a good person, which is good energy. After discussing that everyone has the heart to do good, Mencius also demonstrated that people also have the ability to do good, which provided the possibility for the transformation from "kindness" to "kindness". He believes that the four virtues of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom" constitute a person's moral ability, that is, "talent." Because of this "talent", it is possible for people to expand and fill up the four ends, develop to a perfect level, and become saints. He also said, "If the husband is not good, it will be a crime of non-talent" (Mencius. Gao Zi), if a person fails to improve himself and become a "saint", it is not that he does not have this ability, but that his ability has not been brought into play.
Third, do your best with your heart. After demonstrating that human beings are born with "conscience" and "goodness", Mencius advocated giving full play to people's subjective initiative, cultivating "goodness" with "conscience" and "goodness" and strengthening moral cultivation. Such as "benevolence, human heart also; Righteousness, people are also on the road. It is sad to give up the Tao and not know what to ask for "("Mencius. Sue "). It shows that the "four hearts" are easy to let go, and we should attach importance to people's subjective initiative, strengthen moral self-discipline and strengthen our belief in goodness, so as not to lose "goodness".
Xunzi's theory of evil nature advocates:
First, "evil" comes from the nature of human nature, and "good" comes from the transformation of human nature. For example, "the nature of today's people is good and suitable, so it is a struggle for life and resignation; ..... Therefore, there must be a way to learn the law and be righteous, and then return to governance out of rebellion, in line with the arts and sciences. However, from this point of view, people's viciousness is obvious, and their goodness is illusory "("Xunzi. Malignant "). Human nature is naturally greedy, and there are no moral factors such as rudeness in sex. All good behaviors are encouraged the day after tomorrow. He also said: "mortal desires are good and evil" ("Xunzi. Evil "). The reason why people seek goodness is because there is no goodness in human nature, otherwise there is no need to seek goodness. That is, Xunzi regards human nature as "evil" as his narrative starting point.
Second: metamorphic falsification. Since human nature is evil, the cultivation of human virtue lies in transforming human nature, that is, "turning nature into falsehood", which contains three meanings. First, Xunzi demonstrated the necessity of "turning nature into falsehood" with "evil human nature". "Xunzi's example of using holly wood beard to be straight and then straight, and dull gold beard to be ground and then ground illustrates this necessity." That is to say, on the one hand, because there are evil factors in human nature, it is more necessary to turn evil into good; On the other hand, to cultivate morality, people need to rely on certain external forces, that is, certain social norms and systems, just like straightening a peach tree and turning a dull tree into a profitable tree. In this way, human nature is so evil that it is an inevitable process to strengthen the behavior of being good. Secondly, Xunzi believes that people have the ability to "turn nature into falsehood". For example: "However, there is a possible principle of knowing benevolence, righteousness and law, but those who get it also have the quality of knowing benevolence, righteousness and law, and they are all tools of righteousness;" However, it can be Yu Ming "("Xunzi. Malignant "). It is pointed out here that everyone has the ability to rationally understand benevolence, righteousness and etiquette, and can use it to make choices and make moral behaviors, which fully affirms that people can use their own essential strength to strengthen their inner moral cultivation. Finally, from the first two meanings, we can know the process of "turning nature into falsehood", which depends on the exertion of people's own initiative and the restriction of social etiquette and legal system, so that everyone can know evil and know good.
Thirdly, the theoretical basis comparison between the theory of good nature and the theory of evil nature.
In my opinion, the ultimate foundation of Meng and Xun's self-theory has both similarities and differences. Why are they kind to human nature? And since people are born evil, where does morality come from? Each has its own different answers.
The theoretical basis of the theory of good nature lies in the consciousness of the same kind. Specifically, it contains two meanings: first, people are different from animals. It is emphasized that the essence of the difference between man and beast lies in the social attribute of man-morality. "The reason why people are different from animals is a few wishes. Shu Ren to it, the gentleman to stay "(Mencius Li Lou). Here, "self" and "intelligence" refer to human morality (four minds and talents), which is the fundamental reason why people are different from animals. Mencius divided human "nature" into two kinds: natural attribute and social attribute. The nature of "mouth is for taste, eyes are for color, ears are for sound, and nose is for stink" is a natural attribute shared by humans and animals. Social attributes such as "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom" are unique to people. Second, people are the same. People are the same because of the same kind of consciousness. Mencius has repeatedly demonstrated in his narrative that people are all the same. When he said the same, he meant not only the same natural attributes of people, but also the same "human heart". For example, "as the saying goes, duplicity has something in common; The ear is to the sound, and there is the same hearing; The same is true of colors, with similarities. What is the same as the heart? Therefore, reason is also righteous "("Mencius. Gao Zi "). It can be seen that the transformation from "the same natural demand" to "concentric" is inevitable. In this way, "people who are dominated by the same kind of consciousness can instinctively infer the likes and dislikes of others based on their own likes and dislikes: they like things and want others to share them; I hate things and don't want to add them to people. Here we can see that "everyone is the same" provides a guarantee for people to "push themselves and others" in social life. From this, it is further demonstrated that, based on the consciousness of the same kind, people can fully realize the similarity between them, and then extend it to others, and then use a certain restraint mechanism of moral self-discipline to ensure people's "goodness" and its development to "goodness".
Xunzi advocated that human nature is evil, so how did morality come into being? Here, Xunzi's exposition is consistent with Mencius', but there are differences. According to Mr. Feng Youlan's explanation, Xunzi thinks that morality becomes a necessity. There are two opinions: "That is, people's life cannot be separated from some social organization, and people need morality because people should have morality, which is different from animals, not that people can't avoid morality." Let's talk about the first aspect. First of all, Xunzi believes that human morality is the product of social labor, evil comes from the nature of human nature, and good comes from the transformation of human nature. If people want to conquer and transform nature, their ability is limited and they must form certain social organizations. In these organizations, people need to make rules of conduct, which is "courtesy". Secondly, because people are hedonistic in nature, people will inevitably encounter all kinds of disputes when meeting their different needs in social life, so it is necessary to limit this kind of dispute, and at this time it is also restricted by "courtesy". With this kind of ceremony, there is morality, and keeping the ceremony is keeping the morality. As can be seen from the above discussion, Mencius and Xunzi have different views on the origin of morality. Mencius thinks that human nature is good and morality is natural, while Xunzi thinks that human nature is evil and morality is produced by the needs of practice in the process of social practice. People must have morality, which is artificial and "artificial". On the other hand, Xunzi and Mencius believe that man is different from animals because he has morality. Xunzi said: "the reason why people are human is not that they are born with a second leg, but that they are different." Husband and beast have father and son, but there is no relationship between father and son, and there is no difference between men and women. As an old friend, there is no way to distinguish, the distinction is greater than the score, and the score is greater than the ceremony "("Xunzi. ChristianRandPhillips "). It is believed that people must have morality and certain social relations in the acquired social environment in order to be different from animals, and Mencius believes that the difference between people and animals also lies in morality, which people already have as human beings. The cultivation of the day after tomorrow only needs to exert its initiative in today's education, and it can find the lost "virtue". It can be seen that although both of them emphasize that morality is the symbol of the difference between human beings and animals, their theoretical basis is different.
It can be seen that Monk's theory of goodness of human nature takes the same kind of consciousness as the theoretical starting point, and then it is concluded that human beings have four hearts and have the ability to expand these four hearts-talent, and with the application of certain moral self-discipline mechanism and the method of pushing others, everyone can cultivate moral quality, and human moral concepts are innate; On the other hand, Xun Kuang's theory of evil nature is based on man's natural nature and has no moral concept. He believes that human morality is produced in the acquired environment and social education, because human nature is evil. From here, we can see the most fundamental difference between the theory of good nature and the theory of evil nature.
Fourth, the comparison of moral practice
Based on different theoretical propositions, both Meng and Xun emphasized the importance of social moral cultivation. The theory of goodness of human nature holds that the core of cultivating goodness is to "expand and fill it" (referring to the "four hearts" in human nature) and find the lost good end. According to the theory of evil nature, the core of cultivating good is to transform the evil side of human nature ("turning nature into falsehood") and artificially cultivate good heart. Judging from the process of moral cultivation, it is completely opposite. Mencius believes that the purpose of self-cultivation is mainly to ask people to discover their own goodness, while Xunzi believes that the purpose of self-cultivation is to ask people to constantly transform their own evils and re-establish their own goodness. It can be seen that Mencius advocates that moral cultivation should be carried out with human nature, while Xunzi advocates that moral cultivation should be transformed against human nature.
There are also differences in the methods of self-cultivation. Mencius emphasized moral self-discipline and pushing others, and encouraged people to give full play to their subjective initiative, consciously accept the influence of education and environment, and improve people's moral realm. He believes that moral cultivation should be sought from the inside first and then from the outside. Inner pursuit refers to inner cultivation, including lust, self-seeking, gathering righteousness, nourishing the heart and so on. On the basis of internal pursuit, external promotion of morality mainly reflects the importance of moral practice individuals in moral cultivation. On the one hand, Xunzi emphasized the importance of moral cultivation, continuous learning and accumulation, and the importance of choosing the right place and people when studying; On the other hand, we should pay attention to the constraints of external etiquette norms on people. He believes that only by being close to mentors and friends can we get closer to the right path under the constraints of compulsory factors such as etiquette and law, which not only embodies the initiative of moral practice individuals in moral cultivation, but also emphasizes the external constraints of social environment on individuals. The cultivation method of paying equal attention to both inside and outside embodies Xunzi's rich dialectical spirit.
Fifth, the modern significance of the theory of evil nature.
From the above analysis, we can know that both the theory of good nature and the theory of evil nature have their reasonable side and inevitable defects. We can't say who is greater than who, we can only use their reasonable side, which is of great benefit to our moral construction today.
First of all, from the basis of Mencius' theory of good nature-similar consciousness, it is moral to distinguish people and animals from animals, which embodies human dignity and moral pursuit; At the same time, people's basic physiological needs are the same, so that everyone will consider the needs of others with their own needs or not. Moral self-discipline is a means to spread the goodwill generated by similar consciousness to others. Although everyone can be aware of the needs or non-needs of others, it is based on a strong sense of moral responsibility for others to let everyone meet or not meet the needs of others. The construction of moral self-discipline proposed by Mencius provides a guarantee for this possibility. Because "this kind of spiritual self-discipline does not depend on adhering to a certain moral principle, but on one's own needs and feelings, and because it is based on one's own needs and interests, it is more realistic and reliable." This kind of moral self-discipline based on the same foundation is easier to internalize in people's daily life, rather than being based on ignoring empty moral preaching or compulsory moral practice. According to this moral self-discipline, moral practice seems to have more vitality.
Thirdly, on the basis of affirming the imperfection and selfishness of human nature, Xun Kuang's theory of evil nature puts forward that we should cultivate virtue artificially, not waiting for the self-improvement of human nature, but using acquired human restraint to straighten out the congenital deficiency of human nature, which is an inevitable result. In this process, Xunzi first affirmed that people are "intelligent", and at the same time emphasized that people's behavior and social order should be regulated from the outside by the etiquette system. This thought seems to have more practical significance for our social moral construction today. Xunzi affirmed himself in the process of virtue cultivation, so everyone can strengthen the cultivation of moral self-discipline through learning and edification. At the same time, he emphasized the importance of institutional norms such as propriety and righteousness to transform human nature, form moral heteronomy, and restrain human behavior with an external mechanism. The combination of the two makes the cultivation of virtue based on heteronomy in the sense of moral subject self-discipline become an insurmountable stage in any social moral construction. For China's market economy society, it is particularly important to deal with the relationship between justice and benefit, and how to solve the problems of moral anomie and moral decline. Faced with these phenomena, although we need to rely on the ideal personality with perfect self-discipline as a moral model to guide the moral construction of society, it is more practical for the general public to implement self-discipline and heteronomy at the same time.
In a word, both Munch's theory of good nature and Xun Kuang's theory of evil nature believe that the cultivation of human virtue lies in man himself, and man himself has this power. The theory of good nature takes the same kind of consciousness as the logical starting point, and integrates good deeds into people's daily life in the way of moral self-discipline, thus completing the process of moral practice; The theory of evil nature takes human nature as evil and human cultivation as good as the discussion process, and encourages people to give priority to moral heteronomy and combine self-discipline to transform human nature and complete the process of moral practice. This is of great significance in the history of human development.
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