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<p>The term <i>xing</i> 性, which frequently appears in Warring States philosophical discourses, has been conventionally interpreted and translated as “human nature,” conveying the general sense of the essence or fundamental nature of humanity, and the “theory of human nature” has long been designated as a core theory of classical Confucian ethics. Following some scholars’ challenge of this convention and applying the theoretical approaches of the division between ethics and morality and contemporary moral psychology, this essay argues that classical Confucians do not specifically emphasize a “theory of human nature” but instead focus on the construction of a prototype of moral psychology, which aims at the psychological constitution and development of moral agency, virtue, and ideal character. This project is completed mainly through two interrelated stages. The first is to internalize the social-ethical norms of the Zhou 周 ritual tradition to become psychological-moral beliefs and virtues, and the second is to interpret moral values in relation to mental properties and activities. As a result, classical Confucians gradually formulate an interacted and integrated moral-psychological mode of <i>xin</i> 心<i>-</i>heart/mind governing <i>xing</i> 性-disposition and <i>qing</i> 情-emotion while <i>si</i> 思<i>-</i>thinking and <i>zhi</i> 志-intention directing <i>xin</i>, describing the dynamic process by which the moral agent cultivates moral dispositions, stimulates moral emotions, makes moral judgments, determines moral choices, motivates moral actions, and realizes moral character.</p>

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Theory of Human Nature or Moral Psychology: New Examination on Classical Confucian Ethics

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月2日

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  • Jinhua Jia

摘要

The term xing 性, which frequently appears in Warring States philosophical discourses, has been conventionally interpreted and translated as “human nature,” conveying the general sense of the essence or fundamental nature of humanity, and the “theory of human nature” has long been designated as a core theory of classical Confucian ethics. Following some scholars’ challenge of this convention and applying the theoretical approaches of the division between ethics and morality and contemporary moral psychology, this essay argues that classical Confucians do not specifically emphasize a “theory of human nature” but instead focus on the construction of a prototype of moral psychology, which aims at the psychological constitution and development of moral agency, virtue, and ideal character. This project is completed mainly through two interrelated stages. The first is to internalize the social-ethical norms of the Zhou 周 ritual tradition to become psychological-moral beliefs and virtues, and the second is to interpret moral values in relation to mental properties and activities. As a result, classical Confucians gradually formulate an interacted and integrated moral-psychological mode of xin 心-heart/mind governing xing 性-disposition and qing 情-emotion while si 思-thinking and zhi 志-intention directing xin, describing the dynamic process by which the moral agent cultivates moral dispositions, stimulates moral emotions, makes moral judgments, determines moral choices, motivates moral actions, and realizes moral character.