Warfare: The Test of Human Nature

Authors

Paulee Fogleman

Keywords

BYU Asian Studies, Chinese philosophy, Warring States

Abstract

A common theme many Chinese philosophers explore and debate is the state of human nature and how one can best follow the Way. Bryan W. Van Norden, a scholar of Chinese philosophy, explains that the early Chinese thinkers were looking for the Dao, or the “right way to live one’s life and organize society,” also known as the “ultimate metaphysical entity that was responsible for the way the world is and the way that it ought to be.”1 As the philosophers of the “Hundred Schools of Thought” sought to explain the chaotic time that was the Warring States period (475–221 bce), warfare and its role in everyday life became a topic of much debate as it pertained to the natural goodness or badness of human nature. Was human nature inclined to war out of greed and an inherent evilness, or does war occur out of the innermost desire to protect what is good and virtuous?

Recommended Citation

Fogleman, Paulee (2021) "Warfare: The Test of Human Nature," BYU Asian Studies Journal: Vol. 6, Article 2.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/asj/vol6/iss1/2