Hsun Tzu's Rhetoric
About Hsun Tzu (con't)
- Three stages of learning:
- The Scholar: "The man of Breading" which simply means the prepared student.
- The Gentleman: Deep in leaning
- The Sage: The man who has found the right path, thought the right thoughts, and learned the right lessons.
- Hsun Tzu became famous for declaring that human nature was evil.
- This belief resulted in a bitter disagreement with Mencius who held the reigning philosophical view of the period.
- His work came to be considered unorthodox and his work was widely neglected.
- His views on human nature being evil is based on his conviction that following ones own instincts would almost certainly lead one to an unhappy life.
About Hsun Tzu
Questions
Confusion Doctrines Vs. Hsun Tzu
- Confucian Doctrines and teachers were optimistic because they assumed people are born with a moral character.
- This moral character will lead them to a virtuous life.
- ( 310 - 220 B.C.E)
- Born to an aristocratic family in the state of Chao in Northeast China
- His education centered on the writings of the sages of ancient China and a study of Confucian doctrine.
- He felt that the forces of heaven were the forces of nature and that there were no divine forces operating within nature.
- this directly contradicted Mencius who held that human nature was fundamentally good, and credited a deity with power over the world with a positive moral drive.
- What are the three stages of learning?
- Why does Hsun Tzu encourage us to learn?
- Do you think education is the only way to achieve wisdom and be truly happy?
- Hsun Tzu thought the sensory life of nature would veer toward immortality and evil behavior.
Education
His views on eduacation
- Hsun Tzu believed that education is the only way to achieve wisdom and true happiness.
- He insist on a lifetime of learning
- "To pursue it is to be a man, to give it up is to become a beast"
- Hsun Tzu recommends that we follow educational ritual and accrue learning and wisdom.
- "Do good and see if it does not pile up"
Hsun Tzu (Xunzi)
"Encouraging Learning"