Xunzi and Human Nature

Xunzi argues that human nature is bad and that to become a good person, one needs to have proper models and teachers to teach one how to be good as well as rituals to guide one’s behavior (cf. Xunzi 248). How I understand this argument is that to be a good person, one needs to be socialized in the society in which one is born into. I partly agree with this viewpoint. When we are born, we don’t initially know how to behave ‘properly’. We are not like animals that know how to walk ten minutes after they are born. We need to have parents and teachers that educate us and form us into responsible members of society. And it is important that we have ‘good’ role models growing up, because we often aspire to be like the person we look up to.

However, I think it is very difficult to define what exactly is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ as these dogmata differ from country to country as well as from time to time. For example, in some countries it is considered polite to greet any elderly person you see on the street, even if you don’t know them, while in other countries this might be considered strange. Also, just because something is a law or a social dogma it doesn’t mean that it is inherently ‘good’. Throughout history there have been countless laws which we would consider immoral today. Social and political change occurred when people stood up and protested these laws. Therefore, while it is important for children to learn to listen to adults and learn certain rules of politeness, for instance saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, they should also learn to not listen blindly to what someone in power is saying as well as to stand up against what seems unjust to them. Critical thinking is the key to becoming a responsible adult.

This also ties to having integrity and doing what seems the ‘good’/ ‘right’ thing to do. I think that no one can really be happy if what they do doesn’t match what they think and feel inside no matter how good their live seems to be on the outside.