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    Human nature is not good — Carmelics
    Home/Virtue Ethics
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    Human nature is not good

    Virtue Ethics
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    2 reasons for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Xunzi argues that human nature (xing) includes desires for gain and sensory pleasure that, if unchecked, produce conflict and disorder.
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    • 2.Ritual and moral education (li) are external impositions required to reshape nature, not expressions of an innate goodness within it.
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    • 3.The necessity of such extensive external correction demonstrates that nature itself is the problem, not merely an incomplete or neutral substrate.
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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Hobbes independently concludes that humans in the state of nature pursue self-interest competitively, producing a war of all against all.
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    • 2.Cross-cultural convergence between Xunzi and Hobbes on natural human destructiveness constitutes strong empirical support for the claim.
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    • 3.If nature were good, sustained civilizational institutions correcting natural impulses would be explanatorily superfluous across all societies.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Human nature is that which exists in human beings independently of conscious activity, not what is produced by conscious activity
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    • 2.Human beings are not already good but must work at becoming good
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    • 3.Therefore, goodness is not already present in human nature independently of conscious activity
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    Topics

    Virtue Ethics

    Related

    Cross-cultural convergence between Xunzi and Hobbes on natural human destructive...Hobbes independently concludes that humans in the state of nature pursue self-in...Human beings are not already good but must work at becoming goodHuman nature is that which exists in human beings independently of conscious act...
    +5 moreShow less
    If nature were good, sustained civilizational institutions correcting natural im...Ritual and moral education (li) are external impositions required to reshape nat...The necessity of such extensive external correction demonstrates that nature its...Therefore, goodness is not already present in human nature independently of cons...Xunzi argues that human nature (xing) includes desires for gain and sensory plea...

    Similar

    Following nature is efficacious79%Cosmic nature is providential and represents what is best for the whol...77%We take pleasure in any evidence that nature is amenable to our object...74%Our own nature is essentially non-rational74%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: ethics-chinese
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    Part of Xunzi’s argument against Mencius is that human nature is not what is produced by conscious activity but rather that which is already there in human beings independently of conscious activity. Since it is clear that human beings are not already good but must work at it, it is clear that human nature cannot be good. When Mencius is attributed the water-metaphor view of the human inclination toward goodness, Xunzi’s criticism has a point. Becoming good does not seem to be merely a matter of
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (2 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit