Human Nature is Evil | The Philosophy of Xunzi on Human Nature

The Confucian philosopher Xunzi repeated the phrase that “man’s nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity” throughout his self-titled book. He’s responding to another philosopher, Mengzi, who stated that human nature was good, even though both were Confucians.
Xunzi’s main position draws a distinction between our emotional impulsive side (our nature) and our rational side (conscious activity). Our nature can be best seen in our infancy when we didn’t consciously think things through and just acted on impulse. Conscious activity is the result from learning from teachers and following ritual principles. Because our emotions and impulses lead us to do immoral acts and Xunzi equates human nature with our emotional side, human nature is evil (according to Xunzi).
To illustrate this, Xunzi uses the example of dining with your elders. Teachers advocate for the ritual principle of allowing your elders to eat first, however, our emotional nature would cause us to immediately eat if we’re hungry. #philosophy #confucianism #humannature

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[Guys_Love_Each_Other]

If human nature was really good than no ww1 and ww2 ever occured in history, also all the wars in the name of greed or religion never ever happended.

[somnambulist]

Yes we are born evil . Evil in philosophy is described mainly is one who acts on self-interest and impulse without paying any heed to others needs and convenience. Childhood is the true reflection of it . We don't have a socially constructed "how to be a good person" blueprint carved into our mind and we act purely out of self-interest. As we grow up and grow into consciousness, we just learn to control this impulse under the fear of society and law .

But a human can become good by constantly sharpening his/her mind, getting control over their kernel desires and travelling down the road of enlightenment .

A regular joe is doesn't do evil acts outright because he is paralysed by the fear of society and law, and simply because he is incapable of doing evil without repercussions, simply because he lacks the power to do an evil and walk away scott free . This is why people at the top of the food chain are evil because they can do evil deeds unhinged without any consequences .

That doesn't mean we can't become "good"...self restraint, not giving into your impulse and intrusive thoughs and by polishing your mind you can keep the evil within us at bay, and thus can become a socially acceptable version of a good man .

[salvadoramaya]

I think we are born evil. And we just go through recycled learned behaviors from others perspective on what is considered "good". Its as if we all unconsciously aware of our evils, but we choose to ignore it, because we don't want to be judged by others. There's something creepy in that thought itself.

[abdallam]

Honestly, I feel like Xunzi is hitting on something here. we humans are essentially animals who evolved over millions of years, if we compare ourselves (humans) to the rest of the animal kingdom, we would soon figure out that the main difference is that we are conscious; we are aware of our own existence. The way animals act and behave is nothing more than survival and self preservation instincts and mechanisms ; no good, no evil. Simply survival. We humans are the same, we operate on desires and impulses that promote self-preservation. However, since we are conscious, and with it comes a unique sense of awareness, we comprehend how our actions can affect other people and what possible results could emerge that could also affect the environment we live in. Therefore, this sense of good and evil right and wrong exist as a mechanism to deter us humans from causing unnecessary and potentially irreparable damage to our species. Where I disagree with Xunzi is calling human nature evil, I don't think it is evil nor good, i think it is amoral; it is self centered and only cares about preserving itself.

Obviously there are exceptions and other interesting questions one could ask such as, why do we even do good deeds at all? why are some people willing to sacrifice themselves for strangers, and so on. On a separate note, I really like this channel for how it presents and introduces widely different philosophical topics and doesn't just fix on one idea.

[strawberrypancakes]

I find humans evil because of what we've done to pugs. Poor babies can't breathe.😢 All for appearances. Disgusting 😡

[kazz]

I have an over 9000 level of confidence this video will be awesome. So I'm going to premature like it.

[OriginalMariAnnaWolf]

Now a days ppl are too spoiled like that girl thinking "oh ur different and dont treat me like a princess something is wrong with u next guy!" Ppl just too selfish now and think their most important and cant feel anything for anyone but themselves..

[Alulim-Eridu]

The "Zi" in names like
Laozi, Mozi, Xunzi
. . .is an honorific title for
master-teacher

[jimicunningable]

I've been in cultures after a few days with no food/power because I'm a regretful veteran. We are evil to the core.

[Duality]

I feel all filosofies are situational and that is what I learned from this one.

[rimfire]

It's nice to learn more about Chinese Philosophers outside Confucius and Laozi.

[Varieties_]

Human nature is nothing but a nice combo of good and evil altogether, neither pure goodness nor pure evil, and being sided to one side of the good or evil thing is a complete nonsense for me. For Example, if someone has just been crushed by a car and they are letiraly dying in front of you wouldn't you in that case have compassion and mercy for them? Did it require any conscious process to decide what you should feel at that particular situation?

[StrangeCornersOfThought]

I believe -zi basically means master. So, Master Xun. Zhuangzi, Master Zhuang. Laozi, Old Master.

[jthewei]

I've wondered this myself too and the kid analogy is excellent and what comes to mind, good video

[kenwarner]

0:08 chatgpt watching this video "am i a joke to you"

[themasculinismmovement]

Kids have a greater propensity for evil than adults do but less agency and power to commit it, the only people they can commit evil towards are other kids their size or smaller, or smaller animals. Kids often seem innocent, but that is just one side of their coin.

[BibleTumper]

Even the so-called good and nice people are evil. I remember once I was in love with this nice young lady, but she did want a relationship with me. Over the years, she had plenty of men. We'll it was like a big loop she came back around and started flirting with me to see if was still interested in her. I said to myself, "If you don't get your raggedy as front me, I'm going to pick up a brick. The nerve of her coming back my way after having her back blown out by all those men she had. That candle for her went out a long time ago. With all those men she'd been with? Naw, I'll take a pass. The "nice young lady" was totally evil and infested now with germs and viruses.

[rosscoe]

This philosophy uses examples of children, who are clearly not developmentally advanced enough to appreciate complex issues, to further its position that humans are evil. Being young, ignorant through lack of experience is not evil.

[lisalovelylpa]

Kids don’t drop nuclear bombs. Their parents do. Their government does. Their church does.

[lordofthegremlins]

A Clockwork Orange showed the variables in things breaking away from black and white thinking to show that things aren't black and white. But also A Clockwork Orange, not so much the movie but the book, heavily displayed the evil of humanity. Alex Delarge, despite his extremes of behavior, was at the mercy of others acts of evil in which Alex was now helpless. It was making the same point, that everyone is evil. The monster...is humanity.