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The Debate on Human Nature in Early Confucian Literature
- Philosophy East and West
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 53, Number 3, July 2003
- pp. 323-339
- 10.1353/pew.2003.0028
- Article
- Additional Information
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The doctrines on human nature and moral development maintained in ancient China by Gaozi, Mencius, and Xunzi, respectively, have been interpreted mostly as a contradiction within the Confucian school. It is argued here that they represent distinct, yet possible and congruous, modes of interpreting and re-elaborating Confucius' teachings, two opposing yet largely complementary currents that have developed within the Confucian school.