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Summary Of ' Extending The Ethical Wealth Of Nations '

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According to Dr. Jennings’ “Extending the Ethical Wealth of Nations”, the whole article twines around the intrinsic worth of values and institutions. This reminds me about two Chinese philosopher in the traditional Chinese Confucianism, Mencius (372-289 BC) and XunZi (310-235 BC). Both of them had a theories about intrinsic value, which have huge effect in Chinese institutions, but in poles apart. Mencius takes the view that the nature of being is goodness but Xunzi believes it is evil.
Mencius advocated the theory of original goodness in human nature. His theory has affected the classical Chinese culture deeply and has been considered the most important theory of his thought. Mencius illustrated that:
The feeling of commiseration belongs …show more content…

In short, theory of virtue is a kind of view of human nature. Human 's nature is to good, and doing good things is easier than doing evil things. He believes that good of human nature is an indisputable fact just like water flows downward. As in the western, Adam Smith has similar recognition in The Theory of Moral Sentiments. He considered that human nature is good, naturally concerned about the fate of others, and includes the sympathy and empathy. This takes concerted action to the altruism and the ethical values in the paper.
On the contrast, Xunzi argues that human tends to evil in the theory of original evil of human nature, and being evil is easier than being good. Xunzi elucidated that:
Human nature is evil; its goodness derives from conscious activity. Now it is human nature to be born with a fondness for profit. Indulging this leads to contention and strife, and the sense of modesty and yielding with which one was born disappears. One is born with feelings of envy and hate, and, by indulging these, one is led into banditry and theft, so that the sense of loyalty and good faith with which he was born disappears. One is born with the desires of the ears and eyes and with a fondness for beautiful sights and sounds, and, by indulging these, one is led to licentiousness and chaos, so that the sense of ritual, rightness, refinement, and principle with which one was born

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