“Tabula Rasa” is part of John Locke’s philosophy and is a Latin principle of understanding that the nature of humans is a blank slate. John Locke is “one of the most important political theorist of the enlightenment, [and] a founding figure of the school of philosophy known as empiricism” (Locke 125). As an Empiricist he holds that “knowledge derives from experience rather than from pure reason” (Short). “John Locke viewed human nature as not inherently self-interested or aggressive, [but neutral]” (Locke 125). Mencius and Hsun Tzu are two philosophers of the warring states period of China. Mencius says that human nature is good, and Hsun Tzu believes that it is evil. The Philosophy of both confucians’ on the subject of human nature directly
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With the use of a unique rhetorical style, Mencius makes his points clear through conversations and dialogue with others. His philosophy of human nature is that every single individual on Earth is inherently good. An evil, horrid, and wicked human being such as Adolf Hitler still had the capacity of doing good deeds; although we know that his evil greatly outweighed the good. That is the perception, according to Mencius, of what a righteous nature means; “people are born capable of being, [and doing] good” (Mencius 96). Mencius brings ups Kao Tzu’s outlook on human nature, which correlates with the philosophy of empiricism; that John Locke helped established. Kao Tzu believed that, “humans are neither … good nor ... evil, [as he states], …show more content…
In contrast to Mencius and John Locke, Hsun Tzu saw “Confucian rites, [rituals and regulation] as valuable because they [restrained, and] redirect Humanity’s inherent disposition towards evil” (Tzu 100). Through discipline and strict laws human beings could turn good, despite their natural inclinations. He had a legalistic mentality when it came to human nature. “Most of his known writings deal with forces that, in his estimation, steered people toward righteousness [such as] education, music, ritual, law” (Tzu 100). According to a John Locke type of perspective, one could also argue that those forces can teach someone to be a terrible human being. If all you ever listen too is someone talking about killing people, money, drugs and women, then music would contradict Husn Tzu argument. His teachings would be like a dull knife. It only becomes useful when it is sharpened, in the same way people need to be sharpened in order to abandon their evil nature. “A man in cramped quarters longs for spaciousness, and a poor man longs for wealth; whatever a man lacks he will seek [from] outside [of himself]. From this we can see men’s desire to do good precisely because their nature is evil” (Tzu 103). A counter to that would be that if people are inherently evil, what would make them want to do good in the first place? No matter how
With the use of a unique rhetorical style, Mencius makes his points clear through conversations and dialogue with others. His philosophy of human nature is that every single individual on Earth is inherently good. An evil, horrid, and wicked human being such as Adolf Hitler still had the capacity of doing good deeds; although we know that his evil greatly outweighed the good. That is the perception, according to Mencius, of what a righteous nature means; “people are born capable of being, [and doing] good” (Mencius 96). Mencius brings ups Kao Tzu’s outlook on human nature, which correlates with the philosophy of empiricism; that John Locke helped established. Kao Tzu believed that, “humans are neither … good nor ... evil, [as he states], …show more content…
In contrast to Mencius and John Locke, Hsun Tzu saw “Confucian rites, [rituals and regulation] as valuable because they [restrained, and] redirect Humanity’s inherent disposition towards evil” (Tzu 100). Through discipline and strict laws human beings could turn good, despite their natural inclinations. He had a legalistic mentality when it came to human nature. “Most of his known writings deal with forces that, in his estimation, steered people toward righteousness [such as] education, music, ritual, law” (Tzu 100). According to a John Locke type of perspective, one could also argue that those forces can teach someone to be a terrible human being. If all you ever listen too is someone talking about killing people, money, drugs and women, then music would contradict Husn Tzu argument. His teachings would be like a dull knife. It only becomes useful when it is sharpened, in the same way people need to be sharpened in order to abandon their evil nature. “A man in cramped quarters longs for spaciousness, and a poor man longs for wealth; whatever a man lacks he will seek [from] outside [of himself]. From this we can see men’s desire to do good precisely because their nature is evil” (Tzu 103). A counter to that would be that if people are inherently evil, what would make them want to do good in the first place? No matter how