Xunzi 1
Xunzi's Craft Metaphor
"Through steaming and bending, you can make wood straight as a plumb line into a wheel. And after its curve conforms to the compass, even when parched under the sun it will not become straight again, because the steaming and being have made it a certain way. Likewise, when wood comes under the ink-line, it comes straight and when metal is brought to the whetstone, it becomes sharp. The gentleman learns broadly and examines himself thrice daily, and then his knowledge is clear and his conduct is without fault"
All Central Themes in the Xunzi
- Centrality of Ritual - role of deliberate activity - importance of culture - "Human nature is Bad" - Sagehood is achievable through moral self-cultivation
Craft Metaphors
- Craft metaphors of Xunzi contrast with Mencius's agricultural, sprout metaphors - Human nature does not have an internal principle of morality or 'sprouts' - Human nature, while hard and resistant to change, can be made good through a long process of self-cultivation
Background to Xunzi
- Lived during the Warring States Period, just after Mencius - Follower of Confucius - His works were cast aside because scholars preferred Mencius - Broadly learned, Xunzi argues against the views of Mohists, Daoists, and even fellow Confucians like Mencius
The value of ritual
- Rituals establish proper order and hierarchy. Given scarcity of resources this allows for social stability. - Rituals reshape human motivations so that one doesn't simply aim to satisfy one's self-interested desires.
Xunzi on desires and deliberate effort
- Xunzi believed we can override our desires through deliberate effort - Ex: you really want to just stay in bed. But you make a "deliberate effort" to do what you think is right: get dressed and head to class
The Importance of distinctions
- Xunzi claims that distinctions are created by us, but are necessary for human life. - Ex: Elder/Younger, Teacher/Student, Parent / Child, Referee/Player, Virtuous/Vicious
What Makes Humans distinct from other animals:
MORALITY: "Water and fire have qi but are without life. Grasses and trees have life but are without awareness. Birds and beasts have awareness but are without standards of righteousness. Humans have qi and life and awareness, but moreover they have standards of righteousness. And so they are the most previous thing under Heaven"
Xunzi Vs. Mencius on Human Nature
The fundamental disagreement between Xunzi and Mencius centers on the existence of moral sprouts and whether or not human beings have a direction toward virtue or moral goodness.
The Mixed View: Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained
Dispute about Human Nature
Xunzi disagrees with Mencius about human nature. This disagreement is connected to a number of questions: 1. what is the source of human goodness 2. what is the source of human badness 3. How do we become good?
Human Nature is Bad
Xunzi focuses on craft metaphors to describe human nature. There are no intrinsically good inclinations in human.
Ritual and the State of Nature
Xunzi, like the Mohists, provide a state of nature argument, but takes ritual as the key to social harmony. "The former kings hated such chaos, and so they established rituals and the standards of righteousness in order to allot things to people, to nurture their desires, and to satisfy their seeking"
