Saints and devils

Are some people just born as the most empathetic or the most evil? Throughout history, we have seen many people growing up to become some of the most influential figures in history such as those with good and bad reputations to their name. An example would be Mother Teresa and her acts of charity, conflicting Pol Pot and his dictatorial regime. As such, what influences the paths we take upon morally and is this something that is embedded into us.

Mencius states from his "Theory of good human nature" that humans are born inherently good and that is a natural built in instinct to act kind towards others. If this is the case this brings up the question how people become corrupted and change their ways to become evil. Maybe, what this means is how good human nature is subjective that can be interpreted differently by different people such as peoples' ideals lead them to commit atrocities that others may find as appalling.

On the other hand, this can be opposed by Xunzi's "Theory of evil human nature", which after Mencius' death, was delivered as an opposing argument to the ideas he brings up. This states the idea of "xing" as a state of human nature that we begin as rather than Mencius who claims it to be the ideal state of a human. Both philosophers claimed how we as humans do have the potential to become better and that from a starting state of good and evil, there is a way to change. When I think about this, I think it matters not whether we are born as good or bad as long as we strive to reach a position of more moral awareness.

Now, from this starting point of human nature, the greatest influence I think that causes changes to us is the environment which one grows up in. If we compare the environments that Hitler grew up in for example, where Germany was in a state of economic turmoil after WW1 and a general standard for antisemitism to blame Jews for their problems, this would be seen as the correct ethics in that place and time causing one to grow up as a genocidal maniac. If Mother Teresa was never exposed to religion, would she stick to the ideals that she held to become a figurehead of kindness? This shows how the time, place, family, friends, education and so much more factors influences the way we think whether one thinks they hold their own opinions or not.

To conclude, Aristotle's idea of 'Tabula Rasa' and human beings being a blank canvas at birth, is what I think I align to the most as I think though we may have natural instincts, this can be overcome by the changes the environment around us creates. I think that with the human effort to change and the various areas of growth, one may grow up to become a saint of their ideals while a devil to another. Maybe the angels of our time may be the devils of another time and place.