Hsun Tzu Essay

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Hsun Tzu Point of View Hsun Tzu believes that human nature is evil and is filled with selfishness. He also believes that over time our behavior and character changes due to the influence by our environment. We grow and adapt traits from how we are raised and from the people who we surround ourselves with. Hsun Tzu leans towards dispositionalism because he believes that one’s character can overpower the situation. A metaphor that Hsun Tzu used is a straightened board. Once a board is straightened it will always stay that way. It represents that we shape ourselves into who and what we want to be and once that is achieved it will maintain that way. Therefore if we are obliged to be good we will learn from our cultural norms, punishments, lessons, …show more content…

Our emotions and reasons are intertwined together which leads us to what our heart desires. Our feelings and desires are internal meaning that it comes from within. Mengzi claimed the metaphor of a sprout that if a seed is in the right environment it will grow into something beautiful. The seeds contains wisdom, benevolence, righteousness, and proprietary. For example, if an acorn is being grown in the right place then the outcome of it would be a beautiful large oak tree. Mengzi used that metaphor to apply it to people and that if we put ourselves in the right places filled with good people and a positive environment, then we have directed ourselves into a good path. Therefore, it proves why it depends on the way we sprout which will determine either we stay a particular way or become the opposite, meaning that that we can morph towards the evil side. Mengzi believes that as long as we keep reflecting upon ourselves, we will continuously have the capacity to grow and when we activate our sprouts it will grow larger and get stronger. The sprout symbolizes the morality implicit is within us. Our natural inclination is based upon the environment. We tend to do things based off of internal acts from what the heart desires and have natural impulses that we act

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