告子人性論考辨

Abstract

Based on the records of Gaozi(around the 4th century BC) in Mencius as research materials, the paper makes a textual research on Gaozi’s theory of human nature. Combined with the ancient Chinese philosophical thoughts such as the thoughts of Mencius(372 BC-289 BC) and Xunzi(313 BC-238 BC), as well as the representative theories of human nature in Western philosophy, the paper analyzes the characteristics, status, and influences of Gaozi’s theory of human nature, and it also reveals the implications for the present day. Gaozi believed that human nature was the innate nature of human beings, which was driven by human instinct, namely, to discuss human nature from the natural attributes of human beings. During the pre-Qin period, Mencius and Xunzi proposed to judge human nature by the criteria of “good” and “evil”. In fact, “good” and “evil” belong to the realm of morality. The natures of “good” and “evil” change with the times and people’s subjective thoughts. In a purely natural state, there is no “good” and “evil”. Ideologists after Qin dynasty also used “good and evil” to evaluate human nature. Gaozi advocated that “there is no good and no evil in human nature”, aiming to show that human nature cannot be judged by “good” or “evil”. From the debates between Mencius and Gaozi, it can be seen that Gaozi’s theory of human nature has three characteristics. First, plasticity, namely, people will be affected by acquired external environment, education and other factors, which means the social attributes of human nature will be good or evil. Second, adaptability, that is, human beings can adapt to changes in the external environment. Third, development, which means, human nature is constantly developing and evolving. There are no works written by Gaozi himself, making it difficult to verify him and his thoughts. However, it is commendable that Gaozi’s theory of human nature was not influenced by political factors, and he discussed human nature from a very objective and straightforward perspective, which had a profound impact on future philosophical thoughts. The influences greatly enriched the discussions of human nature in the history of ancient Chinese philosophy. The enlightenments of Gaozi’s theory of human nature to present era are as follows: Firstly, people’s external behaviors should be consistent with their inner moral concepts, so that the external appearance corresponds to the inside; secondly, the unity of opposites between good and evil promotes the developments of human beings, and Gaozi’s theory of human nature has advanced the developments of ancient Chinese philosophical thoughts.