Why Mencius Refute Against Xunzi

In the Mencius, translated by D.C. Lau, Mencius is urging rulers throughout China to practice a benevolent government in order to sustain a harmonious society. He also presents his view on human nature, stating that it is good. In this paper, I will develop what Mencius means by this and give supporting reasons on why he thinks this is so. Secondly, I will bring up an opposing view from Xunzi who claims that human nature is bad because they lack a moral compass and are driven by selfish desires. Then, I will present some responses that Mencius could use to refute against Xunzi such as misinterpreting where bad really originates from and that his claim on human nature can be countered through scientific findings. Based on these considerations, I argue that we have more reason to accept Mencius’ view because his view presents a strong justifiable side in which he is able to counter opposing viewpoints from Xunzi and because it is more consistent with the findings of modern psychology of human nature. This is significant because accepting Mencius’ views gives one a greater insight on morals that one can follow today to grow into a benevolent person. This also shows
I interpret this to mean that Mencius believes that all human beings have the innate ability to become good, but it is not yet fully developed. In order to develop this, one must not force themselves but they should still give attention towards it. I think what Mencius is arguing for is that even though human nature is good, it still needs a vast amount of nurture to develop it. This arises from Mencius’ example of a farmer who believes in pulling on his plants to make it grow faster, however it ends up that the seedlings have “all shriveled up” (Lau 33). From this example, I think Mencius is conveying that we should not force ourselves to become fully good but we must let ourselves naturally grow and provide it with the correct conditions to ideally become a