Asian Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Asian Philosophy - Essay Example Even though his writing is not to a certain extent vibrant and colorful that of Zhuangzi, his approach is much well-designed and powerful, sometimes bursting into poetry that influentially expresses his infatuation for the Confucian way of life (ibid). A great part of Xunzi’s attempt is committed to passionately defending Confucianism against different challenges. For instance, he fervently expresses disapproval of Mozi’s denouncement of ritual and music and claims forcefully that these cultural types are completely indispensable. He also rejects Laozi and Zhuangzi for supporting that people accept the perspective of Heaven and leave out traditional virtues in favor of submitting to the natural torrent of things (Ivanhoe, 2001). For Xunzi, the hazards to Confucianism originate not merely external to the tradition, but as well as from within it, in the appearance of Mengzi’s principle that human nature is good. In Xunzi’s judgment, such an argument weakens the power of ritual as a practical guideline to behavior, ruins the essentiality of acquiring knowledge, and merely flies in front of the facts. Xunzi makes the contradictory assertion that human nature is bad, but this should not be interpreted as claiming that people in nature take pleasure in evil deeds (ibid). Rather, his emphasis is that people lack any innate path to right behavior and conduct, and that without the outside control of ritual they will resort into bad behavior and be reduced to a disordered, impoverished condition strongly suggestive of the state of nature portrayed by Thomas Hobbes (Ivanhoe, 2001). On the other hand, Mengzi contends that humans have a nature, which they should go after. Indeed, he contradicts Xunzi’s philosophy for suggesting that ethical nurturing must integrate transgressing one’s nature. Nevertheless, Mengzi argues against the idea that there are developing righteous predispositions in