THE COLUMBIA SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY
Welcomes you to an ONLINE meeting:
Hannah Kim (The University of Arizona):
« Aspiration, Ambition, and Confucian Debates on Human Nature »
With responses from Timothy Connolly (East Stroudsburg University)
ABSTRACT: A standard introduction to classical Confucianism teaches that Mengzi thought “human nature is good” and Xunzi, that “human nature is bad”. But the exact nature of their disagreement is subject to ongoing debate, with some underplaying the disagreement (they just mean different things by “human nature”) while others take the disagreement to be about the nature of agency, moral education, or dispositions. In this talk, I’ll argue that Agnes Callard’s distinction between ambition and aspiration helps us clarify what the disagreement is about. Mengzi thought humans need to fully pursue the values they already have, while Xunzi thought humans need to aspire towards values they don’t have and aren’t predisposed to. This account has the benefit of capturing Mengzi’s and Xunzi’s respective views on agency and education and providing Xunzi with a picture of moral motivation that even a selfish agent could develop.
DATE: November 8, 2024
TIME: 5:30-7:30pm EST
Zoom info below:
Topic: Columbia Society for Comparative Philosophy Seminar
Time: Nov 8, 2024 05:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://baruch.zoom.us/j/2799529123?pwd=U0ZwUm0vOVBKUldkUkdKUFVUSmxEZz09&omn=81845232881
Meeting ID: 279 952 9123
Passcode: BaruchPhil
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