Summary Of ' Extending The Ethical Wealth Of Nations '

Be it the philosopher, the novelist, or the pondering youth, mankind often contemplates its own “nature” – that is, whether humans are innately bad, good, or somewhere between the two. Mencius and Han Feizi, two Chinese philosophers whose lives were separated by only nine years, ostensibly seem to take completely contradictory stances on human nature. Mencius maintains that humans are all born good, writing that “[h]umans all have hearts that are not unfeeling toward others” and that all people have “sprouts” of goodness that must be cared for and maintained through ritual lest they wither and die, resulting in a person who is no longer good. Han Feizi, on the other hand, argues that humans are innately bad and require a strict system of rewards

It is a very arguable subject on whether or not people are born with good intentions, and therefore taught by others the ‘evil’ side of their personality. Whether it is the absence of ethical conduct in human nature, or just the way one perceives a situation, evil seems to be prominent in our everyday lives. Humans seem to have a moral code that follows them with every decision they make, yet despite the laws of morality and society, people of this world still seem to behave inhumanely because of the act of self-preservation, human interest, and who exactly the authority figure is at the time.

“Man’s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity. The nature of man is such that he is born with a fondness for profit. If he indulges this fondness, It will lead him into wrangling and strife, and all sense of courtesy and humility will disappear. He is born with feelings of envy and hate, and if he indulges theses, they will lead him into violence and crime, and all sense of loyalty and good faith will disappear.” (Tzu 84). Hsun Tzu is one of many people who believe that mans nature is evil. Tzu argues that man is full of hate. Hsun Tzu made some very good points,

Hsun Tzu's philosophy is built from the idea that human beings are by nature inherently evil, and the good they produce will only come through their conscious activity. Hsun Tzu believes that if man follows his nature and indulges in his natural desires, without transforming himself by conscious activity he is doomed to fall victim to his evil nature. "Any man who follows his nature will inevitably become involved in wrangling and strife, will violate the forms and rules of society, and will end as a criminal." Despite the pessimistic tone of Hsun Tzu's message he does propose conscious activity as a solution to man's evil. This paper will examine Hsun Tzu's perspective in light of both Mencius

Even though the human nature is evil, but human has the good plasticity, that’s why we need the teachers to guide us, to lead us into a good way. Like we have the nature of the fondness for profit, so we need to know how to get a profit, but not do the things illegal or hurt others’ profit; and we learn to respect the ugly thins even though we don’t like it; and we learn to control our emotions, we learn to restrain, and express in a right way. As a baby, we don’t know what is the respect and what is the courtesy and humility, after we learn, those are all the things that we developed from our nature evil, like the article said: “Now it is the nature of man that when he is hungry he will desire to rest. This is his emotional nature...And yet a man, although he is hungry, will not dare to be the first to eat if he is in the presence of his elders, because he knows that he should yield to them, and although he is weary, he will not dare to demand rest because he knows that he should relieve others of the burden of

The debate of whether man is born entirely good or evil is a universal discussion that never seems to resolve. Even though a human is a complex individual who cannot be defined by a simple assessment, the people of today are convinced that there is a straightforward explanation as to why acts of wickedness exist. Some believe negative influences taint the naturally innocent heart of man, while others suppose evil men are born with an unavoidable capacity for darkness. This however, suggests that the wicked are created from birth without morals or the ability to be considered righteous. Despite the theories that exist, good and evil are not always separate. Man typically is neither solely good or bad, but a combination of the both. In the

Throughout history western and eastern philosophies have developed a vast segregation from one another. The geographical and cultural distance between eastern and western civilization determined massive differences between the two. On the other hand, the works of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates, and some eastern philosophies like Taoism have many of the same or common ideas and concepts. Both eastern and western philosophies regardless of having similarities have distinctive differences when examining the view of the conception of the good. In this rgard, each philosophy is noticed to have beliefs that strive for followers to improve their lives and to be on a path of self-purification. This essay will primarily focus on

Many people today recognize Hsun Tsu as one of the most important philosophers in Confucianism while some view him as the guy who merely disagreed with Mencius particularly when it came to the nature of man. Mencius believed that human nature is in essence, good however, Hsun Tsu believed that men are inherently evil. Despite how worthy man may seem, he must surround himself with genuine individuals, seek out an exemplary teacher and oblige by their rules in order to be transformed. Although it is apparent that Hsun Tzu’s teachings precisely differed from his superior’s, they ultimately had a positive impact on the development of Chinese Philosophy and were eventually published as parables and titled, “Man’s Nature is Evil.”

Mencius believed that human nature is good. Every person is born instilled with four main virtues; Righteousness, Ritual property, Wisdom and Benevolence. These virtues will only develop fully if it is nurtured and put to effect appropriately. He also claimed that those who are not virtuous have been “corrupted by the environment” . He believes that “Individual effort was needed to cultivate oneself, but one’s natural tendencies were good to begin with.” In this way, Mencius has integrated elements of Taoism into his theory. Basically, people are born well with good intentions, but they must work to maintain their good nature.

Hsun Tzu wrote an essay called “A Man’s Nature is Evil.” The idea behind this essay is to show that a man’s nature is evil, and that goodness is the result of conscious activity (Tzu, 2017, p. 709). This idea depicts that human beings are evil from the beginning of their lives. One must be taught “the ways of the sages”, as Tzu would describe. In his essay, Tzu compared human beings to that of a warped piece of wood. Tzu states that “a warped piece of wood must wait until it has been laid against a straightening board, steamed, and forced into shape before it can become straight” (Tzu, 2017, p. 710). I do agree that we must be taught how to be good when we are born. But, I do not agree that a man’s nature is “evil.” Instead, I believe that a person’s nature is to think for the benefit of

The author thinks human nature is uncooperative and irrationally destructive. I do not agree with that statement. Human nature essentially good. No one is born evil. Even though there is a lot of evil across the globe, there is more good. For every one bad deed, there are a hundred good deeds. God will put you on the right path.

The term seems to have a more ethical meaning. Some have argued that it is better translated as ‘goodness’10 or ‘love,’11 but these terms fail to capture the ‘completeness’ of Confucius’s meaning.12

A famous philosopher Socrates once said, 'the unexamined life is not worth living.' With that idea, the question 'Are Human Beings Intrinsically Evil?' has been asked by philosophers for many years. It is known as one of the unanswerable questions. Determinists have come to the conclusion that we are governed by the laws of science, that there is nothing we can do about ourselves being evil because we naturally are. Evil is simply the act of causing pain. In this essay I will argue that human beings are born with a natural reaction to 'fear and chaos' to be instinctively evil.

From the moment they are born, humans have a naturally evil predisposition. Although the term ‘evil’ is difficult to define, there are various views on morality. The most commonly referenced one, Moral Objectivism, holds that moral standards are universally transcendent, and that certain acts are right or wrong independent of human subjectivity. It is by this unspoken moral code that humanity’s acts are judged. There is some debate whether a fundamental human nature exists, as social and environmental influences are present from the moment someone is born. But if we can define human nature, it is beyond doubt, naturally evil. The English philosopher Thomas

The irrelevance of a static human nature that can be associated with Confucianism is one of the most interesting aspects of the belief system. Instead of the focus being on more of a definitional quality of mankind, the focus is more on the improvement of man on an individual level as well as the improvement of society in general. Confucius seems to definitely possess the ability to see human behavior on a scale that includes the broader ramifications that it can have on a society. For example, Confucius sees the accumulation of wealth as a counterproductive ambition that only detracts from one's character. A rich man may lie around drinking all day and not work on improving himself, his relationships, or the society in general. Therefore, any version of such self-indulgence is