Confucius's Human Nature

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What is human nature for Confucius? What evidence does he give to show that his views about human nature are correct?

Confucius is known for stressing that human nature is intrinsically good. He stresses that human beings are born with the ability for differentiating between wrong and right. A person may not be aware from infancy which acts are tolerable and which acts are not, but all offspring feel shame, and once the children learn which deeds are bad or good, they have a normal tendency to consent of the former and criticize of the latter (Van and Bryan 27).

At times, Confucius has been nicknamed the Socrates of the east because there are countless comparisons in their lessons. Both stressed the value of education and the function which it plays in the shaping the character of an individual. This shaping of personality may be viewed as the development of good feature upon the environment of human nature (Legge, James and Trans 47). This description essay will discuss the evidence that Confucius gives to ascertain that human nature are correct.

Confucius said that by personality, human beings are born with comparatively the same faculties and needs. Apparently there are exemptions at either tremendous and of the continuum, but in common human beings are all very comparable at birth. Based upon the actions of human beings, the feedback that humans receive in reaction and change in their behavior in response to the feedback, they each begin to undertake a different pathway. This deed feedback change process shapes the experiences of humans, creating their unique personal lives (Van and Bryan 11). In the illustration above, Confucius reveals that what humans have in common by personality is their potential for devel...

... middle of paper ...

...ards security and wealth (Nivison and David 77).

The above illustration would be meaningless and pointless if human nature was not correct and if these illustrations were not leaning toward goodness. For Confucius, the uppermost political supreme was the customary theocracy which requisite that the most righteous be the leader because good feature was understood to be similar to human nature.

Work cited

Legge, James, Trans. Confucius — Confucian Analects, The Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean. New York: Dover Publications, 1971.

Nivison, David S. The Ways of Confucianism: Investigations in Chinese Philosophy. Ed. Bryan W. Van Norden. Chicago and La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1996.

Van Norden, Bryan W. “Introduction,” in Confucius and the Analects: New Essays, ed. Bryan W. Van Norden (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 3-38.

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