Mencius · Philosophy

Human Nature Is Good: The Four Sprouts

Mencius’s claim that human nature is inherently good, shown by the spontaneous alarm anyone feels on seeing a child about to fall into a well, and that morality grows from four inborn ‘sprouts’ or beginnings we all carry.

What you'll be able to recall

You learned that Mencius argued human nature is good from the spontaneous, disinterested alarm anyone feels on seeing a child about to fall into a well, and that we are born with four moral ‘sprouts’ (commiseration, shame, deference, and a sense of right and wrong). Explain the argument and the four sprout…

Leads to Xunzi.

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