Is Human Nature Inherently Good Or Bad

One way to determine whether human nature is innately good or bad is to look at the moral development of children. It is long known that when it comes to the teachings of Confucius, learning begins at home. Cultivation and nurturing of ones’ values should be taught by one’s parents and elders, as young children are expected to demonstrate high levels of respect towards their family members. Without the guidance of a parent or guardian, it is easy for any child to be led astray. Just taking the case examples of misdemeanours of children who get into trouble for stealing or fighting, many of them come from homes that are not adequately filled with the guidance and leadership of the parents or parental figures. This leads to an increased emphasis

When children are left alone to develop their own sense of morality, they may be easily led astray by negative influences around them. Just like the willow that has the tendency towards goodness, a child may still have the potential to develop a poor sense of morality if he does not recognize and cultivate the 4 sprouts. However, these days we start to see a change in trends whereby moral education is shifting from one that used to be regimental and directly taught to children to one that allows them to perform self-reflection on their behaviours before and after committing an act as they grow older. The act of caning a child for example, is used to discipline one when he misbehaves or does something that is morally wrong (i.e. lying or cheating). The same goes for scolding or making the child repent for his actions by introducing some form of punishment. On the other hand, it may seem futile to

Chinese philosophy has concerned itself with the conception of human nature instead of deciding what is considered to be the ‘correct’ form of morality like Western philosophy. Antonio (131) identified 6 “deficiencies of moral agency” of humans, namely, the lack of; will, xin, moral priority when there is conflict of goods, self-examination, means to support xin and appreciation of the current situation. In sum, when humans do not have the determination, proper knowledge of rightness and basic psychological needs fulfilled, they spiral into moral failure. While Mencius seeks for the eradication of poorly intentioned desires, Xunzi aims to use ‘li’ to regulate these desires so that people can satisfy their own while not implicating others. In poorer nations, it is easy to see why cases of corruption and suffering occur. Without the basic access to food and safety, there is a constant competition to fight for survival – not just among the common people but within the leaders as well. Implementing a social structure will not benefit them much because abiding by moral rules will subject themselves to even more suffering without addressing the root of the problem. Therefore, both Xunzi and Mencius agree that before morality can be cultivated, basic needs should be fulfilled