Xunzi And Mencius: Is Human Nature Good Or Bad?

Is Human Nature Good or Bad? Xunzi and Mencius were two of the three great Confucian philosophers, along with Confucius, but although they were both Confucian philosophers they had greatly differing viewpoints on human nature. Xunzi believed that humans by nature were bad and that the only way they could become good was by deliberate efforts. Mencius believed that human nature was good and that they were born with virtuous characteristics inside of them already, these characteristics just needed to be nurtured. There are strong cases for the points made by each and also strong arguments against each case. They were both great philosophers and their viewpoints on human nature are still researched and discussed today. Xunzi, whose original name was Xun Kuang, lived from 310-220 (B.C.E), he was born in the state of Zhao and studied in the state of Qi as a young man. After leaving Qi he was employed in many other states. He is still one of the most famous philosophers and why he is considered one of the great Confucian philosophers (Elstein).
One of the things he is most known for is his view on human nature, saying that human nature is bad. This means that us humans are born with profit in mind and do not care …show more content…
First they both state that everyone is born with the same nature, Mencius with good nature and Xunzi with bad. They both also state that even though humans are born with this nature there can still be humans that act against it. With Xunzi’s case humans know that their bad nature will lead in self destruction because the sages gave them this information so they try to better themselves. With Mencius everyone has good nature, but there are still people who change their ways and don’t let their seed flourish. They also both seem to agree that acting good has better motives than acting bad and that people should be good. What they disagree on is what humans inherit and how they obtain being