Lecture14 Hsun Tzu Oct 25 Chinese Philosophy Lectures杜兰大学中国哲学课堂教学PPT.ppt

Ch. 17 Answer: “There is no reason for that. It is the same as if there had been rain without praying for it... We do these things not because we can thereby get what we want. They are simply a sort of decorum. The superior man considers them as a sort of decorum, while ordinary people consider them as having supernatural force” PHIL 2931 Hsün Tzu (Xunzi) Schedule Life of Hsün Tzu, and his status in Confucianism Position of Man (Metaphysics) Theory of Human nature Origin of Morality Social organization and rules of conduct (Political Philosophy) Theory of rites (Li) and Music Confucianism Greatest Sage: Confucius Second Sage: Mencius Third(?): Hsün Tzu 荀子 Compare with Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle Status Hsün Tzu is a naturalist if Mencius is an idealist. Hsün Tzu holds an opposite position from Mencius about the human nature Hsün Tzu was neglected in the Confucian tradition since after the Han Dynasty 漢朝 Life 298-238 B.C (?) (China was united by Ch’in/Qin in 221 B.C.) He was born in the state of Chao/Zhao 趙 (in the southern part of the present Hopei 河北and Shansi 山西 provinces) When he was fifty he went to the state of Ch’i/Qi 齊, where he was probably the last great thinker of the academy of Chi-Hsia 稷下, the greatest center of learning at that time (Mencius was once a scholar there as well) Map Life (2) The book bearing his name contains 32 chapters, many of them are detailed and logically developed essays which probably directly written by himself (Compare that with Analects and Mencius) Both Han Fei Tzu (韓非子) and Li Ssu (李斯) were his students. Han is the greatest legalist (and probably the last famous scholar in the Pre-Ch’in period); Li is the prime minister of Ch’in, who helps the emperor united China. Position of Man (Metaphysics) Hsün Tzu’s philosophy may be called a philosophy of culture. His general thesis is that everything that is good and valuable is the product of human effort. Values comes from culture and culture is the achievement of man It is in