Hsun Tzu Encouraging Learning Analysis

Hsun Tzu, a follower of Confucius, believed that human nature was to be fundamentally evil. Tzu, in “Encouraging Learning, wrote to Confucians questioning why should they be educated and what human nature really was. Since Confucius never stated his thought on human nature, some people suspect that humans needed to be educated not because they were evil, but because it was moral, and that way they could become into the person Confucius taught them to be. Tzu disagrees with this because of his belief, that humans, in fact, were born with wrong ideals. Tzu considers human nature to take its course on people, and that is why some people are inferior to others. But, with proper training and education, Tzu agrees Confucians can become a better person, and not just that they are becoming into the people that they are meant to be. It could be that Tzu wrote this to straighten out the mystery of what human nature was and how to fix humans evil nature.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was born into a literary family, with his father being a famous orator and writer.

Seneca made a name for himself by being a scholar, philosopher, scientist, and politician. In “On Liberal and Vocational Studies” Seneca writes a letter to people who want to know what he thinks is education, and more specifically, liberal studies. He responds to what the purpose of such studies are and if education makes someone a better person. Seneca agrees that one should be learning, but there is no point to learning unless it serves a true purpose. People should not merely learn how to do, for example, a math problem, but rather how to apply that math problem to life. If there is no purpose to the education, it is useless. What might of motivated Seneca was people trying to teach him and others information that served no importance to

him.

Frederick Douglass was an African American slave in the nineteenth century. Early on in his life he learned how to read, which led him to obtaining some education. Douglass writes to the people who do not want the abolishment of slavery, to prove that slavery is immoral. He also writes to inform others that education is what holds slaves back from escaping. He responds to his experience of being a slave, and being a slave who is educated. He knows slavery is wrong and the reason no one educates slaves is because the slaves would realize even more how immoral their lives are. He wants to educate himself more, but only so he can be free. He may of been motivated to write this to show how education is the only way to become truly free.

John Henry Newman was a professor at Oxford who resigned in 1845 to convert to Catholicism. He writes to prospective universities and students to share his opinion on how people should be educated. Newman believes that students should be involved in many courses and universities should have diversity.He concludes that students who memorize facts is not real learning so if they get involved, they will really learn something. Newman was previously a professor so when he resigned people may of been still looking for his teaching. He may of wrote this in response to those people, so they could find other professors like himself at universities.