Rationality and Moral Agency — a Study of Xunzi ’ S Philosophy 1

"Rationality" is generally regarded as a concept exclusive to Western philosophy. In this paper I intend to show that even if in Chinese philosophy there is not a term equivalent to “rationality” in Western philosophy, Chinese philosophers have discussed rational beings in their own way. More specifically, I will argue that in Xunzi’s philosophy humans are rational beings, and their ability to think and act rationally is what makes moral agency possible. Although Xunzi might not have used the word "rational," his moral agents are perfectly rational. Unlike Mengzi's moral agents whose morality is an outgrowth of their innate moral sentiments, the morality of Xunzi's moral agents is conditional on their prudence. “RATIONALITY” IS generally regarded as a concept exclusive to Western philosophy. It is commonly believed that in Chinese philosophical traditions there is not a concept of rationality. 2 Although there is a huge body of literature on the concept of human beings in Chinese philosophy, it seems that very few have attributed rationality to human beings as portrayed by ancient Chinese philosophers. In this paper I intend to show that even if there is not an equivalent term for “rationality” in Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosophers have discussed rational beings in their own way. 3 More specifically, I will argue that in Xunzi’s philosophy *Dr. XINYAN JIANG, Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Redlands, 1200 East Colton Ave, P.O. Box 3080, Redlands, CA 92373, USA; Guest Professor, Shanghai Normal University, China. Email: [email protected]. A relatively recent version of this paper was presented under the title “Are Human Being Rational”, at the 14 International Conference for Chinese Philosophy in Sydney, Australia, on July 14, 2005. Earlier and shorter versions were presented at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor on March 10, 2001, at California State University at Long Beach on October, 16, 2001, and at the University of Redlands on March 11, 2004. I would like to express my appreciation to my commentator Michael Carroll and many audiences for their valuable comments and suggestions. My thanks also go to an anonymous reviewer for his/her helpful comments. For a more detailed discussion, see Chad Hansen 179-207. Whether in Chinese philosophy there is a concept equivalent to that of rationality in Wetsern philosophy is not the focus of this paper. I do not intend to get in the debate over the issue. What I am trying to argue is that rational agents have been discussed by some Chinese philosophers such as Xunzi no matter whether in Chinese philosophy there is a concept of rationality as understood in Western philosophy. Nevertheless, it is worth to mention that in Chinese philosophy the widely discussed concept of li (理) is not about the rationality of human beings. It is basically connected with certain objects of human knowledge and refers to regularity, form, pattern, order, essence, and principle, but not human activity or capacity. For a more detailed discussion of li, see Zhang Dainian 51-53, and Cheng Chung-ying 157-159. A. S. Cua has argued that “li” in the Xunzi sometimes may be understood as “reason” or “rationale” (see Cua 21-22). I agree that “li” in the Xunzi may be interpreted as such, but it seems to me that textual evidence shows that for Xunzi li as “reason” still refers to certain objects of human