近两周上课主题是关于人性的弱点——残忍（Cruelty），以毛姆的小说《患难中的朋友》为文本，讨论关于人性残忍的一面，进而扩大到讨论人性的问题。
要谈论人性（Human Nature）的问题，很难不首先解决人性的善恶优缺的问题。对于人性的善恶，有以下几种看法：1）人性本善，这以中国的传统经典哲学为代表，如中国的孔孟仁义说，及《三字经》开篇第一句；2）人性本恶，中国有旬子为代表，西方则有基督教世界里，源于圣经的故事的原罪说，即当亚当和夏娃在蛇的引诱下，偷吃了知识树上的果子，从此懂得了善恶之分。这被视为有罪，因为是违背了上帝的意志：上帝在创造了他们之后对他们说，伊甸园里什么东西都可以吃，唯独知识树上的果子不能吃。他们吃了这禁果，从此被赶出了伊甸园，这在基督教世界里，是人类犯下的第一宗罪行，所以称为原罪。此后的“原罪”被认为是人思想与行为上犯罪的根源，是各种罪恶滋生的根，会把人引向罪恶的深渊，又因人难以自拔，所以需要上帝的救赎。3）基于达尔文哲学，人性从根本上说是非道德的，既不善，也不恶，人类在自然界中物竞天择，适者生存。这里的“非道德（amoral）”不是“不道德(immoral)”，是说与道德与否无关。4）人性有一部分是善，一部分是恶，其变体可以为：人性既可以是善的，也可以是恶的；有的人是善的，有的人是恶的。例如俗说：一半是天使，一半是魔鬼。5）人的天性既不善，也不恶，而是天生精神分裂性：时好时坏。显然，这是一种心理学精神分析说。
上述这几种说法，是对进行课堂讨论提出的问题的总结，将人们对人性的善恶观点的不同看法归纳成了这五种，都在一定程度上有道理，也深知不可能且并未打算得出一个确定的结论。
附：英文思考题。
I．Think about the following questions：
1. What is human nature? Are humans born good or evil?/ Human Nature: Inherently Good or Evil?
2. Is there an essential human nature? If so, what is it? Are humans essentially good and innocent? Or are they essentially evil?
3. Can one resolve the Great Question of Human Nature without solving Good and Evil too?
4. One of the enduring questions of East Asian philosophy concerns how human nature should be construed: are humans by nature good or evil?
5. In Chinese Philosophy, is human nature originally good or evil? Support or justify your answer.
6. How do you think human nature is partially good and partially evil?
(a) Human nature is neither good nor evil, (b) Human nature can be either good or evil, (c) The nature of some is good, and the nature of others is evil.
II. How do you think of the following statements?
a) Human nature is a delicate balance of light and dark or good and evil. Most of the time this precarious balance is maintained; however, when there is a ...
b) Every human being has some scale of knowing good and evil.
c) Paradox: the natural tendencies of human nature are all good, evil is not good, and yet all humans have a fixed tendency toward evil.
d) According to Darwinian philosophy human nature is fundamentally amoral - neither good nor evil.
e) All human beings have two contrast temperaments: good and evil.
f) Both Nature and human nature contain two vital aspects, good and evil, as well as “Self-Other” relationship, which defines the concepts of good and evil.
g) It is a vision of human nature that is not inherently good, nor inherently evil, but instead, inherently schizophrenic.
h) This is what is meant by the saying that human nature is good. If a man does evil, it's not the fault of his natural endowment.
i) Goodness is human nature, indeed, but evil is the nature of human beings too.
j) The hypothesis of human nature, whether good or evil, is a double-edged sword.
k) Good and evil are defined in terms of how well human beings conform to God's character.
l) God desires human beings to be good, and evil is punished.
m) Likewise, traditional concepts of evil, represented by rebellion against a holy ... Since Nature was unquestionably good, so was human nature-no Fall here.
n) Finally, this leads us to the third popular source of evil: human nature itself ... tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they chose to be their own gods. (The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.)
o) Once one tastes knowledge of good and evil, one is cast out into a world of pain. ... We can't change human nature and all live in a Christian/Communist world.
p) Evil is also a part of our own fallen nature. When sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, the rebellion against God became part of human nature.
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