Philosophy Essay Example: Xunzi Theory

It is worth mentioning that Xunzi was one of the greatest architects of the Confucian philosophy. Xunzi was a man full of competing ideas which he often shared with other people around him. He is commonly known for his believes in rituals an essential part of reforming the original nature of humanity. He felt that human life lacks an intrinsic moral compass and therefore if left on its own it is bound to fall into disorder and contention. For this reason, Xunzi in his work encouraged learning, discusses the ideas he has about heaven and rites. This essay will look at Xunzis work as a way to explain an understand humanity.

Xunzi defined human nature as what is inborn and therefore does not need to be learned. For this reason, he viewed the humanity as bad. As a result, there was a need for social norms and rituals that could be handed down through the generations to exist. He explained that the rituals and norms were created to control the manner in which people act. He also went further to examine that humanity desires what it does not have. Therefore, human nature is naturally bad and wishes to be good. Additionally, he believes that humans are morally blind by nature. As a result, the desires bring them into conflict not because they enjoy it but because they do not know better. Xunzi believed that people do not enjoy battles at all which is the reason they desire a life resulting from good order brought through learning and rituals.

In essence, because human nature is bad, Xunzi emphasized the importance of learning that leads to acquiring knowledge of the good ways. He viewed learning as an integral part of human life. He pointed out that education is a never-ending process that is aimed at making humanity better just like the indigo plant that makes blue that is more colorful than the plant itself. Therefore, Xunzi encouraged people to learn progressively in order to become better versions of themselves. He explained that a day spent studying is of significant value than the one spent thinking. In addition Xunzi compared the reforming process of learning with straightening wood with a press frame. Therefore learning would not transform without a teacher guiding humanity through the process. Xunzi also went on to encourage people to interact with other learned people in order to be fully transformed.

Additionally, heaven was seen as a god with human character or an impersonal object that takes pleasure in rewarding the good and punishing the bad. Xunzi believed that it was one of the reasons that humanity strived to do good. However, Xunzi's viewed heaven just like nature acting in the same way it has always done. He firmly believed that heaven does not get involved in human affairs and thus neither helps the good nor punishes the bad. As a result, he concluded that the human way does not exist because heaven approved it but rather because it is good for humanity.

Xunzi further explained that heaven neither rewards good kings with peace and prosperity nor does it punish the bad ones by deposing them like people commonly believed. He clarified that the results were dependent on the kind of decisions the kings made. Therefore, he said that a good harvest and enough food were as a result of thoughtful agricultural ways and not a heavenly reward. Likewise, floods and eclipses are just things that sometimes happen but not a sign of heaven displeasure. Therefore, human nature worrying about divine favor was a waste of time since it did not exist in the first place. However, he advised that it is better to prepare for natural disasters that sometimes happen to avoid harm.

Interestingly, despite Xunzi's understanding of heaven and the relationship between humanity, natural occurrences, and heaven, he did not suggest elimination of religious rituals such as divination and sacrifices that were directed towards gods and spirits. He explained that people must perform them as part of the ritual system that brings the people in the society together without expecting any results. He added that the primary purpose of rituals was to enforce and clarify social distinction that would draw an end to contention for the limited resources and also improve social order.

Xunzi added that rituals would ensure greater prosperity and progress of the community. However, it is not in that the rituals pleased the heavens but because they put limit on the desires of the people by clarifying social distinctions between men and women, rulers and subjects and younger and older people in the society. Therefore, with a precise knowledge of people's place in the community, individuals would not contend for goods beyond their status. Rituals also emphasized the obligations of different people depending on their status and gave regulations on who was supposed to own what in the society. Therefore, Xunzi saw rituals as a limiting factor that was essential to the success of the society.

To conclude this discussion, Xunzi was a philosopher who used his different works to explain the existence of humanity. In essence, Xunzi believed that human nature was naturally bad and therefore, to become good, it was essential to acquire education through learning. He also felt that heaven did not exist to reward the good and punish the bad. Instead, the good or bad occurrences were as a result of the decisions made. Lastly, Xunzi believed that rituals were to bind people together in the society, but they were to be done without expecting anything in return.