孟子性善论与荀子性恶论对比研究
A Comparative Study of Mencius’ Theory of Good Nature and Xunzi’s Theory of Evil Nature

人性论问题向来是中国哲学史上讨论最激烈的问题之一，在人性是向善还是向恶上，孟子提出了“性善论”。他宣扬人性本善，强调“存心养性”，以求保持人们天生的善良与本性，并对此加以完善扩充，直至成为至人君子。荀子则主张性恶论，他认为人的天性有恶的道德价值，更侧重于“化性起伪”，荀子强调道德作用的重要性，他希望通过教育与法度等等来纠正人性中恶的部分，从而使自己成为尧舜禹那样的君子。孟子与荀子的学说从本质上来看同出一源，但两者的理论在诸多方面依然存在显著差异。
The issue of human nature has always been one of the most fiercely debated issues in the history of Chinese philosophy, whether human nature is oriented towards good or evil. On the issue of human nature theory, Mencius proposed the “theory of goodness in nature”, which advocated the inherent goodness of human nature and emphasized the importance of “nurturing nature with the heart” in order to maintain people’s innate goodness and nature, and further improved and expanded upon it, until he became a perfect gentleman. Xunzi advocated the theory of evil in human nature, believing that human nature has a moral value of evil and emphasizing the importance of “transforming nature into falsehood”. Xunzi emphasized the importance of moral function and hoped to correct the evil part of human nature through education and laws, so as to become a ruler like Yao, Shun, and Yu. The theories of Mencius and Xunzi fundamentally share the same origin, but there are still significant differences between their theories in many aspects.