Is human nature good or evil? This question made it impossible for people to give an "either-or" answer, which became the focus of debate among pre-Qin philosophers. But ironically, the two sides of the argument turned out to be disciples of the same division, arguing about brothers and sisters. These two men are Mencius and Xunzi.
Mencius was a student of Confucius, and Xunzi was also "learned by Confucianism". But after Confucius, their thoughts parted ways. As we know, Confucius has never made a final conclusion about "human nature". He emphasized the dialectical unity of "benevolence" and "propriety". On the one hand, it is "people are unkind, such as courtesy", on the other hand, it is "self-denial and courtesy". On the one hand, it is "the benevolent loves others", which emphasizes people's spontaneous feelings and finds a fulcrum for life. On the other hand, it is "Jun Jun, minister, father and son", which provides a standard for social order.
But then people's hearts were broken and social order was chaotic. "Ritual collapse and bad music" not only makes people lose the fulcrum of faith and life, but also makes society lose its norms. Accordingly, Mencius emphasized the "benevolence" of Confucius and expanded it into the goodness of human nature, thus transforming human nature. He believes that the reason why people's hearts are corrupted is because the "good side" of people is covered. People can rediscover their "good side" and abandon evil and be good as long as they practice like "I raise my lofty spirit". Xunzi and Mencius have different starting points. He believes that the law of the jungle in the Warring States period is not that people's "goodness" has been obscured. It is a true portrayal of human nature. Human nature is evil and people are humble, so we must suppress, standardize and educate them. The reason why people become civilized and kind is not the natural state of people at all, but the result of later education. "Human nature is evil, and good is also false." Therefore, he emphasized the "courtesy" put forward by Confucius and the efforts in social norms, rather than advocating the "aristocratic spirit" behind closed doors.
2. Attitude towards civilization.
Do humans need norms or not? Do people need to be more civilized? Do humans need emotion or not? This is a deep-seated philosophical problem, and Confucianism and Taoism have launched a tit-for-tat debate about it.
Marx once said that civilization and alienation are actually twin brothers. Every step forward, the degree of alienation is increasing. Behind the so-called civilization, sometimes it is more repression. For example, today, we seem to have made progress than before. We have better food and beautiful clothes, convenient transportation and improved medical care. But have we ever wondered whether we are more bound? You can't eat when you should, and you can't sleep when you should. Morality looks noble, but I don't know how many people are doing despicable things under the banner of morality. Etiquette makes people look much more civilized, but these etiquette in turn suppress people's freedom.
Therefore, Confucianism desperately wants to build some so-called civilized things for mankind, while Taoism overturns these things and exposes the hypocrisy behind them. For example, Confucianism stresses benevolence and righteousness, and thinks that people can be considered as human beings, otherwise they are animals. Taoism, on the other hand, thinks that benevolence and righteousness only appear when the avenue is hidden, which is not a good thing. As the saying goes, "the avenue is abandoned and there is righteousness." The feeling of benevolence and righteousness is very real, but it is easy to be used. As the saying goes, "wisdom makes a big mistake." Confucianism advocates saints, but Taoism believes that wolves in sheep's clothing have caused human suffering. As the saying goes, "saints never die, thieves never stop." The ideal of Confucianism is to build a harmonious society with order from top to bottom, while Taoism advocates that "a small country with few people, old age and death are not related." Confucianism hopes to find the fulcrum and meaning of life in the ethical emotion of consanguinity, but Taoism believes that this kind of emotion can make people cry, but it is a more confusing and lethal hypocrisy, far from the freedom and freedom of "forgetting the rivers and lakes" ...
It is also in this kind of argument that Confucianism and Taoism have established opposing attitudes and laid the foundation for Confucianism and Taoism to complement each other.
3. The difference between ruling the country by virtue and ruling the country by law.
Is it rule by virtue or rule by law? This has become the focus of debate between Confucianism and Legalism.
In fact, this debate is actually a continuation and extension of the dispute between Mencius and Xunzi about the good and evil of human nature. The representative of Legalism is Han Feizi, who is a student of Xunzi. It was he who changed Xunzi's "ceremony" into "law". Confucianism advocates "benevolent government" and emphasizes the deductive rule of "cultivating oneself, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world" from the inside out and from the individual to the group. Advocate from "inner sage" to "outer king" and pay attention to the personal cultivation of leaders. As long as the leader has good personal cultivation and is a "benevolent gentleman", he will naturally carry out "benevolent governance", so it is the rule of the world. So there is no need for external coercion and oppression. "The road is not picked up, and the door is not closed at night" is naturally the rule of this world. Therefore, Confucianism advocates "kingly way", which is the prosperous time of "three hundred miles, the king of the world" in the enlightened period of Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
Legalists don't think so Han Feizi believes that it is simply naive and romantic to pin the hope of a country and the transformation of human nature on people's "moral consciousness". The order of the country needs a unified order, which needs law, and the evil of human nature can only be bound within the boundaries of external constraints. Therefore, Han Feizi emphasized "hegemony" and advocated that governing the country was not based on "virtue" at all, but on "boxing" representing strength. "Husband and human nature, hate work and happiness. There will be famine, famine can't be cured, if it can't be cured, it will be chaotic, and those who are not on earth will stop. The old man governs impermanence, and only the law governs. " Thus, the "moral supremacy" of Confucianism and the "legal supremacy" of Legalists have formed obvious opposition. In different periods of China's history, the rulers have different emphases on these two strategies, but on the whole, "Confucianism outside the law" and "outside the circle and inside the square" have become the basic tone. From the outside, he is an affectionate "Confucianism", but at heart he is a ruthless "Dharma".
4. Distinguish between name and reality.
The distinction between name and reality is mainly concentrated in Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism and Ming. Here we just briefly talk about the debate between Confucianism and Mohism about the relationship between "name" and "reality". Confucianism pays attention to birthright, so it attaches great importance to birthright, because birthright symbolizes rank, and rank is a symbol of order. Therefore, the birthright of "Jun Jun, Minister, Father, Son" cannot be confused. Therefore, Confucianism advocates "correcting the name" and pays attention to "if the name is not regular, it will be nothing if it is not smooth." Because we pay attention to birthright, we pay attention to all aspects of etiquette. Because etiquette is a symbol of birthright. Therefore, Confucius was very disgusted with those things that broke the etiquette, whether it was "eight steps of palace dancing" or "Jin Wengong invited countless tassels", which was criticized by Confucius. "Only names and devices can't be forged by others."
However, Mozi's view on birthright is not so. From a practical point of view, he believes that there is no natural and unchangeable birthright at all. "Name" should be consistent with "reality" to be "worthy of the name".
"Things, Da Ye: fame must be ruled." If the "reality" changes, the "name" will also change. Mozi once told a story: a blind man thought that "tycoons are white and Guizhou is black", but in fact he had no idea what is black and what is white. They say that black and white are not based on "name", but on experience. Therefore, the "name" as a language system is not eternal, but should be adjusted according to historical facts. [3]
First of all, we should investigate the "ancient sage", then observe the "changes in the eyes and ears of the people", and finally rely on the "interests of the people of the whole country." In today's words, Confucius is an idealist, emphasizing the normative significance of the language symbol "name" to "reality"; Mozi is a materialist, and he pays attention to the decisive role of "reality" in "name"
Whether it is Confucianism or Mohism, the purpose of expounding the relationship between name and reality is to serve their own political ideals. However, during the Warring States period, another important faction also made a thorough exposition of the relationship between name and reality. This school is a master. Different from Confucianism and Mohism, the famous people's interpretation of "name" is not for any purpose, but is completely playing a language game, that is, sophistry. This kind of sophistry was very popular in the ancient west, such as the familiar paradox of knowledge, the paradox of liar and the paradox of the race between the tortoise and the hare. Western speculative tradition deduces speculative philosophy, which makes westerners very good at playing concept games. This phenomenon also existed in our ancient times, that is, the famous artists we just mentioned. The representative of a famous artist is Gong Sunlong, who has a famous paradox that "a white horse is not a horse". Gong Sunlong said in On White Horse:
A white horse is not a horse. What is it?
Say: yes.
Hey: What?
Yue: A horse is a horse, so the shape of life is also; White, so life color is also. Lucky people are not lucky. Therefore, a white horse is not a horse.
The meaning of this passage is: a white horse talks about color, a horse talks about shape, and a horse talks about species. In real life, people only see white horses and dark horses, where can they see "horses"? Here, "horse" is a general concept and an abstract concept. Embodied as a white horse or a dark horse. Without this particular white horse and dark horse, where can we find a "horse"? Expressed in philosophical language: "Ma" (generally, * * *) exists in white horse or dark horse (individual, personality), and white horse or dark horse (individual, personality) embodies and reflects the concept of "Ma" (generally, * * *).
The thought of famous artists was very popular in the Warring States period, but it eventually declined. Later, they didn't even hear a sound, unlike western sophistry, and even became a western tradition. The reason may be that China's traditional society is a secular ethical society, and it is really not interested in this pure speculation. As Xunzi criticized, "it is better to cover words than facts". ("Xunzi reveals the secret")
5. The dispute between benevolence and universal love.
Confucianism emphasizes "benevolence" from the ethical relationship between people. The so-called "benevolence" means that the father should love his son, and the son should respect his father and emphasize the affection of "blood is thicker than water". How can a person love relatives and friends if he doesn't even love his parents? Therefore, Confucius said: "Filial piety is the foundation of benevolence", and Mencius also said: "A benevolent person is also a relative." We can see that what Confucianism emphasizes is actually a kind of love with differences and blood, rather than blind and random love.
According to Confucianism, it is this blood relationship that maintains the interpersonal relationship of China people, so it should be emphasized that the most basic facts can be sacrificed for this feeling. For example, if a father steals a neighbor's cow, his son can't report it, even though he knows his father is wrong to do so. This is called "the son hides for the father." Starting from this blood relationship, then love others and everything in the world. This makes people feel the same way. The so-called "kiss kiss kiss people, kiss people, kiss love." ("Mencius") That is what we often say: "I am old, and people are old; Young and frivolous, and young people. " ("Mencius Hui Liang Wang Shang")
Different from Confucianism, Mozi advocated "universal love" rather than "benevolence". The so-called "universal love" is what we call universal love today. It is a kind of great love beyond blood relationship. It's not love with difference, but love with both, love without difference. However, Mozi's theory of "universal love" is based on practical interests or utilitarianism and is very snobbish. Like why do I love others? It's simple, because I love others, others can love me. Therefore, for my own benefit, I can only love others, not hate others. Only in this way can others love me and do me good. Therefore, in Mozi's view, the so-called "universal love" is not a conscious need of personal feelings, but a strategic choice for practical interests, the result of interpersonal games, and it is a last resort. Therefore, after Mozi said "love at the same time", there is another sentence behind it, and that is "mutual benefit." This is what we call win-win cooperation today. Falling out is not good for anyone.
In fact, from today's standpoint, Confucius and Mencius' "benevolence" and Mozi's "universal love" are all opinions and opinions about interpersonal relationships, and it is impossible to say who is right or wrong. It is impossible to compare which is better and which is greater. In the traditional society of China, where consanguineous ethics is dominant, our culture eliminated Mozi's "universal love" and chose Confucius and Mencius' "benevolence". Mozi thought did not occupy the mainstream of culture in his later years, and was neither respected by folk thoughts nor adopted by official ideology.
On the contrary, this view of "mutual love" and "mutual benefit", which emphasizes utility and interests, has been respected and pursued in western society. Although they were not influenced by China's Mozi, it has always been the mainstream of western society to emphasize humanitarianism and fraternity. Although this kind of love is not strong, it transcends ethical feelings and is conducive to harmonious coexistence. In terms of interpersonal communication, it is also a matter of mutual benefit. Everything has been said before, and everything must be signed, not human feelings.