Chapter 9 Eight natures

Standing up, dealing with the world, and governing the world cannot deal with "people". Therefore, when we talk about ordering chaos, understanding disasters and fortunes, and investigating poverty, we must first understand what people are.In ancient times, this was concentrated in the debate about the good and evil of human nature.In terms of the nature of their ideals, that is, their views on value, the different schools of thought do not differ much, but their ideal methods are quite different.This difference is closely related to how to view human nature. For example, believing in the goodness of nature emphasizes acting spontaneously, but not in the case of believing in evil nature. It is necessary to emphasize education to change the natural nature.What is the truth about sex?This is a complicated question in the history of Chinese philosophy.One of the complicated signs is that everyone is working behind closed doors. A says that nature is good, B says that nature is evil, C says that nature is neither good nor evil, D says that nature has both good and evil, E says that nature is good and evil, and Ji says that nature is good and emotion is evil. , and so on; the second is that the public says that the public is right, and the woman says that the woman is right, and no one can argue against the other; the third is that it is difficult to justify themselves.

The main reason for the stalemate is that they can't justify themselves, and they only see one but not the other.For example, the metaphysical basis of the theory of good nature is that the way of heaven is good, but in fact, "the way of heaven has no relatives, and is always with good people" is just some people's wish, or speculation, who has seen where the way of heaven is?If you can't see it, you can guess it by meditation, and people will naturally have different opinions. For example, what Lao Tzu sees is not like this, but "the world is not benevolent, and everything is a humble dog."Leaving aside metaphysics, judging by common sense, it is difficult to say that nature is good, because it is a fact that everyone has to admit that there is evil in the world.If all nature is good, where do these evils come from?On the other hand, there are many difficulties in discussing the nature of evil. One of the most fundamental problems is that if all natures are evil, but everyone agrees that goodness is the highest value, how can this be explained?

The issue of good and evil in human nature has been debated endlessly for many years, but the result is still nothing. The crux of the problem is that the text is not on the topic.This point has been clearly distinguished by modern moral philosophy: the so-called good and evil, the object of evaluation is "behavior", not "nature". , is not controlled by the will, so naturally there is no such thing as good or evil. This truth is not difficult to understand.First, it’s hard to say what sex itself is. We have nothing to do with it, or we can only, from the perspective of performance, it is some innate “capabilities” (what can and cannot be done), certain “tendencies” "(what to do, what not to do).The so-called innate means that it exists before consciousness and does not change due to people's likes and dislikes.For example, the eyes can see and the ears can hear, and they are born like this, so they cannot be changed into seeing and hearing; if they enjoy life and hate death, they are born like this, and cannot become happy with death and hate life.It is born and received naturally, just like many external objects, the big ones are like the sun, the moon and stars, and the small ones are like dust and mustard seeds. We cannot say whether they are good or evil.Second, in moral philosophy, the concept of "good" implies the concept of "should", that is to say, everything that is good should be done.Sincerity is good and should be done; deceit is evil and should not be done.All things that are received naturally are like the sun big and the moon small outside the body, hot in summer and cold in winter, and two eyes and one mouth inside the body. We can't say whether it should be like this or not, and it doesn't involve the issue of good and evil. .Third, the concept of "should" also implies the concept of "can", that is to say, everything that should be done can be done.Take sincerity and fraud as an example, sincerity should be done, as long as you want to do it, you can do it; fraud should not be done, as long as you don’t want to do it, you can also stop it.The sun is big and the moon is small, summer is hot and winter is cold, two eyes and one mouth, evil and death, happy life, all of them are natural, and cannot be changed according to people's likes and dislikes, so there is no question of whether it should be or not, and it does not involve the issue of good and evil .Fourth, all good things should be done and can be done, so it becomes a moral responsibility to pursue goodness and avoid evil.If the concept of good is extended to apply to some natural objects, the problem of moral responsibility will be difficult to deal with, because, obviously, we have to admit that there are some things, good or evil, which we don't have to ask, because it cannot be changed by human power. of.It is the responsibility of man to seek good and avoid evil, so the so-called good and evil can only be applied to actions within the power of the will.Human activities vary widely, and some of them are beyond the control of willpower, such as falling ill and fainting, damaging other people's utensils, snoring while sleeping, and disturbing others' sleep. Individuals are not responsible for morality, so they cannot be called evil.Activities that can be controlled by willpower are not the case. Deliberately damaging other people's objects, making strange noises when awake to disturb others' sleep, everyone admits that it is evil, so avoiding it becomes a moral responsibility.Sex, by nature, is not under the control of willpower. Whether people like it or not, since they cannot choose, it is difficult to take moral responsibility. It is inappropriate to say that it is good or evil.

However, we also have to admit that since sex is an innate "ability" and "inclination", it must have a relationship with "behavior", because it is the driving force of behavior and the source of flow.The water flow can determine the situation of the canal, and the motivation of the behavior can naturally determine the situation of the behavior.Therefore, although there is no good or evil in sex, we can also examine whether the possible result of acting rashly is good or evil, or whether it is more good or more evil.On this point, I think Xunzi's views are much superior to Mencius's because they are practical.The issue of good and evil is about human affairs, but Mencius transcended people and meditated on the way of heaven. What heaven says is nothing but human fantasy.Xunzi is not the case. He looked at ordinary people in the world and said in the chapter "Li Lun": "People are born with desires. If you want to get what you want, you can't do without seeking. If you want without measure, you can't do without contention. Conflict leads to chaos, and chaos leads to poverty." Xunzi saw that desire is a fundamental force in the world, and it is a stubborn force, but things that satisfy desire are not responsive, so they are not free from competition, that is to say, if you act rashly, the result is easy to become evil. .This kind of view is similar to modern Western psychoanalytic schools, although not necessarily all, but it is worth thinking about self-discipline and others.