This letter, nominally, was addressed to Yuan Hui.

Dao Yan didn't write his name, and Yuan Heng only said that he was a monk friend who was inconvenient to go down the mountain.

Yuan Jue bluntly said that he couldn't understand the problem in the letter, so he came to ask Jiang Xinghuo for advice.

Dao Yan's letter mainly wrote about two questions that bothered him and could not be solved.

Is human nature always greedy and selfish?

If so, is it impossible to achieve a harmonious society?

In fact, this is also the bottleneck of Dao Yan's difficulty in making it difficult to advance his demonic skills after he went mad.

If human nature is always greedy and selfish, what kind of Datong society can be realized, then this set of theories will not make sense!

Dao Yan rummaged through the three sect classics in the Great Heaven Realm Temple, and in the end he had to admit that he couldn't figure it out on his own.

So.

Why don't you ask the omniscient Jiang Sheng?

Yuan Hui, who was sent by the emperor to work, took over the task of delivering the letter by the way, and Li Jinglong also joined in the fun.

"What does Yuan Jushi think of this letter written by your friend?"

After Jiang Xinghuo read it carefully, he turned his head and asked.

Yuan Hui poured a sip of wine, raised his head and poured it down.

"According to the experience of old life, human nature actually does not matter whether it is good or evil."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and said, "You might as well talk about it." ”

Yuan Hui put down the huge wine gourd and tried his best to speak.

"If human nature is evil, then why did Qin Hui write "Title Fan Wenzheng Gongshu Boyi Song" in his early years?"

"Gao Xianmiao is far away, and Rin is angry."

"Han Fan has it from time to time, who has this heart."

"At this time, Qin Hui, isn't he bent on being an upright and clear minister like Han and Fan?"

Without waiting for Jiang Xinghuo to answer, Yuan Heng continued.

"So in just a few years in the following years, Qin Hui changed from the main battle faction that advocated resistance to Jin to a cowardly and cowardly surrender faction, and even made a 'trumped-up' frame Yue Fei's eternal injustice If it is explained by the theory of sexual evil, is it really Qin Hui was originally a wicked person, but in the early years, because of the education of Confucius and Mencius's poems, the evil hidden in his heart was temporarily suppressed?"

"The old man thinks not." Yuan Heng then said earnestly

Li Jinglong interjected at this time and asked.

"What if it's the other way around, and talk about sexual goodness?"

Yuan Jue explained to Li Jinglong: "Since human nature is inherently good, then to take the simplest example, since Emperor Shenwu, how can a group of madmen and wicked people in Northern Qi explain? The head of the concubine was made into a wine cup, the leg bone was made into a pipa, the naked swagger through the market, the baby was taken to feed the wolf dog, the scorpion pond was thrown for fun, and the beast was made a prince. Is this the inherent goodness of human nature? ”

Li Jinglong said disdainfully: "Hulu is no different from a beast, this is a fact. ”

"So you mean it's because they're so crazy because they have Hulu blood?" Yuan Jue asked.

Seeing Li Jinglong nodded.

Yuan Jue said again: "Then a new problem arises, if human nature is good, isn't Hulu's human nature good?" ”

Li Jinglong fell into deep thought.

Clearly, he walked into a loop.

Jiang Xinghuo patiently listened to Yuan Hui's argument, and then asked.

"So Yuan Jushi thinks that the theory of sexual goodness and sexual evil is not right?"

"Sort of." Yuan Huifu added, "But the old man feels that there are still good things in human nature. ”

"For example?"

Yuan Hui groaned softly.

"For General Yan's head, for Ji's blood.

For Zhang Suiyang's teeth, for Yan Changshan's tongue.

Or for the teacher's table, the ghosts and gods weep strongly.

Or to cross the river, generously swallow the hu.

When it runs through the sun and the moon, life and death are sufficient.

The earth is based on it, and the heavenly pillar is respected. ”

This is Prime Minister Wen's "Song of Righteousness", at this time, the Ming Dynasty can be described as a classic reading for all ages, and it is best to interpret 'Heaven and Earth have righteousness'.

At first glance, it sounded impassioned and inspiring, but Jiang Xinghuo's mind was in a trance, and then fell into memories.

It was the third generation, Suiyang City (Shangqiu).

This is the northernmost fulcrum of the Jianghuai defense line, and Chen Qingzhi's "white robe into Luo" was based on this.

This is "Suiyang place, more than 100 large-scale battles in the past dynasties, right and wrong are difficult to discuss, but historians have noticed that it is in this ancient battlefield that determines the rise and fall of many generations of dynasties, the rise and fall of one after another, so there is a saying that won the Central Plains in ancient times."

It is a real key of the Central Plains.

Therefore, Suiyang has become the most frequent and fierce place for Datang and Dayan.

And in this towering and precipitous city, in a vast military camp, more than a dozen generals in military uniforms sat around, and the atmosphere was so dull and oppressive that it was suffocating!

One of the older generals stood up, bowed to the old man sitting in the first place, and said, "Qi Zhongcheng, now that the pseudo-Yan has reassembled 180,000 iron horsemen, it may invade the hinterland of our Jianghuai River in the south at any time, I don't know what Zhongcheng plans to do?" ”

Jiang Xinghuo, as the captain of the accompanying school, sat closest to the door of the camp tent, holding the knife and had long lost the strength to speak.

The situation in Suiyang City is very bad, the food is almost exhausted, each soldier only has one spoonful of rice a day, as for the people. Many women and children have died of hunger, and men are barely breathing, and that's it.

As a witness, Jiang Xinghuo's focus has never been how tragic the battle of Suiyang was to defend the city.

It's the complexity of human nature.

The old man on the first seat sighed, looked up at the outside of the tent, and said slowly: "Jianghuai money and grain taxes are the foundation of my Tang Dynasty's defeat into victory, Your Majesty is worried about this and can't sleep at night, I wait to guard Suiyang, defend the Jianghuai defense line, today the pseudo-Yan attacked south again, if I don't wait to defend the city, then the victims are the tens of millions of Jianghuai people behind me!" ”

When the generals heard this, their eyes dimmed.

Although Guanlong has been fierce since the Western Wei Dynasty, its combat power is far inferior to that of Hebei. Especially in the case that the Yan army broke through the Tongguan Pass and took advantage of the situation to expand the sphere of influence, the Tang army's army had to retreat to Shu and Hedong for defense, and the new emperor of Hedong had already been cut off from Shu and Jianghuai.

So, in the end, it is 100,000 soldiers and civilians who died in a city.

Or, millions of households in Jianghuai were slaughtered?

The first question is, does the voluntary sacrifice of the smaller group in order to preserve the larger collective reflect the goodness of human nature?

The old man shook his head when he saw the soldiers sad, and comforted: "Don't worry, although the Yan army seems to be strong, but after all, it is only a temporary bravery, as long as we resist, Your Majesty should soon send more reinforcements over." If we insist on holding on, Datang will have a chance to make a comeback sooner or later! ”

The spirit of the generals is still sluggish, and if they want to hold on firmly, there is no food at this time, how to keep it?

Jiang Xinghuo, who had good eyes, saw that when the old man spoke, there were not many teeth left in his mouth.

As soon as the old man's words were finished, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door, and a scout with an anxious face ran to the tent and knelt down: "Report Cheng, the situation is not good, the Yan army's iron cavalry has come to the city!" ”

"What?!"

The generals changed color, and the old man stood up from his chair suddenly.

That night, in the wilderness fifty miles away from Suiyang City, flags were unfurled, horses neighed and thundered, and under the dark night, it was like a group of hungry wolves, countless iron armor cold lights flickered, and the breath of slaughter permeated the four fields.

The Yan army stood in formation, and the three thousand heavy cavalry of the vanguard had already approached Suiyang City, only five arrows away.

And on this night, the old man invited Jiang Xinghuo and others to dinner. His concubine.

It was also on this night, Suiyang City, that the order began to feed on *.

The second question is, does the cruel sacrifice of one part of the smaller group in favor of the others reflect the evil of human nature?

The picture of the memories dissipated, and Jiang Xinghuo asked a little stunned.

"That Yuan Jushi said, Zhang Xun defended Suiyang, and the soldiers who defended the city also fought to serve the country, so as to avoid being slaughtered by Jianghuai's * , which is good, it can show that human nature also has a good side in a desperate situation, Zhang Xun is a loyal minister with a righteous heart. But there are as many soldiers in the city as *, *hungry and have no strength, and are eaten as food,* is it willing to be eaten? If from the perspective of being eaten*, Zhang Xun is the demon king of sexual evil, how to explain the theory of human nature? ”

Yuan Hui also hesitated.

It has never been mentioned in "Song of Righteousness", as a representative figure with righteousness, how can Zhang Xun's humanity be interpreted from different angles?

Anti-swallow heroes? Protecting JAC? Or the Demon King?

Yuan Hui let out a long sigh and said with a complicated expression: "So, what the monk said is not right, and what the old man said is not right. ”

Li Jinglong looked at Jiang Xinghuo steadily, and asked, "What does Mr. Jiang think about the matter of human nature?" ”

Jiang Xinghuo said after pondering the ink and preparing to write a reply.

"I think there are two things that need to be answered in this letter about the theory of human nature."

"The first aspect is [to criticize the errors of the transcendental theory of human nature]."

"The second aspect is that [from a metaphysical point of view, the essence of human beings is sociality]."

In other words, first criticize why the 'transcendental theory of human nature' is wrong, and then explain what the essence of human beings is from a 'metaphysical' perspective. In this way, we can understand what is wrong with the fallacy of the theory of human nature. ”

Li Jinglong was stunned,

He understands every word,

can be connected,

What is the meaning?

Yuan Heng, on the other hand, has become thoughtful, and the controversy between the good and evil of nature has lasted for two thousand years since the pre-Qin Dynasty, and there has never been an overwhelming authoritative statement, and everyone has their own words.

Now Jiang Xinghuo said that he can explain it clearly in two aspects?

Yuan Hui couldn't help but have some doubts from the bottom of his heart.

This kind of suspicion is not a doubt about the wisdom of Jiang Xinghuo himself.

is doubting, there is no problem of fighting for a result for two thousand years, Jiang Xinghuo can write clearly in a letter?

After studying the ink, Jiang Xinghuo began to write a reply to the monk he had never met.

The title of the letter is "A Metaphysical Critique of the 'Transcendental Theory of Human Nature'".

"In the first part, Jiang wants to [criticize the error of the transcendental theory of human nature]."

Jiang believes that the fallacy of the theory of human nature lies in its insistence on a priori views.

"What is 'a priori'?" Looking at the words on the letterhead, Li Jinglong couldn't help but ask.

Yuan Hui was also a little puzzled, like Dao Yan, Yuan Hui was also proficient in the three religions, but he was sure that he had not heard of this term.

Jiang Xinghuo pointed to the letter paper, and he was writing carefully one stroke at a time.

"The so-called transcendental is also the fundamental characteristic of idealistic cognition, that is, the belief that human consciousness is the most important, and the things (matter) that exist in the world are secondary. Thus it is believed that human consciousness is something innate, preceding the things that exist in this world. ”

That is, the transcendental theory of human nature says

- Human nature is an abstract concept of a living, real person. ”

Li Jinglong rubbed his eyes and asked puzzledly, "Isn't human nature innate?" ”

"It's not." Jiang Xinghuo motioned for him to calm down, and then continued to write.

This transcendental theory of human nature believes that the abstract concept of 'human nature' in fact prescribes the actions of each individual. That is, good people do good things, and evil people do evil things. This view that abstract concepts determine human behavior is what I call 'conceptual theory'. ”

Li Jinglong asked while watching from the side.

"What is 'Epistemology'?"

"Eight words." Jiang Xinghuo replied simply, "Tracing back to the source, the source is the source." ”

Jiang Xinghuo then wrote on the letterhead.

"Epistemology often goes beyond things to reach the 'origin' of things, and attempts to trace from the 'origin' to the 'source' of things."

"In this way, it is often thought that the 'source' of things is equal to the 'essence', and the 'essence' is also equal to the thing, confusing the three meanings."

I haven't written for a long time, my wrist is a little sore, and I turned my head to look at Yuan Jing and Li Jinglong, who were a little dazed, Jiang Xinghuo put down the pen and said.

"Don't understand? It's okay, I know you don't understand it now, just explain it to you. ”

Yuan Hui and Li Jinglong nodded and listened humbly.

Jiang Xinghuo said simply and straightforwardly.

"On the first level, real people are things, right?"

"Yes."

"Second, the transcendental theory of human nature holds that 'human nature' is the 'essence' that determines human beings, right?"

"Yes."

"Thirdly, the reason why there is a dispute between the theory of good sex and the theory of evil sex is because we can't understand the 'source' of human nature at all, right?"

"Like, yes."

"Then why can't you figure it out?" Jiang Xinghuo asked with a smile, and then replied by himself, "Because the theory of human nature was wrong from the beginning!" ”

Yuan Hui asked a little incredulously.

"What does Mr. Jiang mean that the theory of human nature itself is wrong?"

"It can't be, so many sages have debated the question, how can the question itself be wrong?"

Li Jinglong is also incredulous.

Jiang Xinghuo put down his pen and said: "So, if I want to answer the question of the theory of human nature, this is why the first aspect of my writing is [Criticism of the Error of the Transcendental Theory of Human Nature]. ”

Jiang Xinghuo picked up the pen and continued to write on the paper.

"Jiang believes that in the past 2,000 years, the theory of human nature has felt that he has seen the second layer, which is the 'essence' of human beings, but has not seen the third layer, which is the 'source' of human nature, so he will argue about whether sex is good or evil, and what is the 'source' of human nature."

"But in fact, the theory of human nature is wrong from the second level of 'nature'."

Yuan Hui watched Jiang Xinghuo walk the dragon and snake, and pondered for a while.

The theory of human nature, from the second layer of 'this' is wrong?

Isn't human nature innate?

That's what the sages of the ages have said!

It is precisely because of the premise that the second layer of 'nature', that is, 'human nature is born from human nature', that it is necessary to argue whether the third layer of human nature is inherently good or evil.

If it was wrong from the beginning, and human nature is not born by man, then it means that the sages have gone astray from the beginning!

A chill began to emanate from Yuan Heng's spine.

Yuan Jue suddenly realized that this seemed to be a historic moment that could be recorded in the history of Chinese philosophy!

This young prisoner in front of him is using his pen to overturn the debate about human nature for 2,000 years!

Let me tell you that the sages have been fighting for 2,000 years is all wrong!

And this "Metaphysical Critique of the 'Transcendental Theory of Human Nature'" will also become a groundbreaking work in the new era of Chinese philosophy history under his personal witness!

Yuan Hui's ten fingers began to tremble slightly unconsciously.

And Li Jinglong also held his breath and waited for Jiang Xinghuo to continue writing, explaining why the theory of human nature was wrong from the beginning, and why human nature was not born by nature.

Jiang Xinghuo continued.

"If we want to understand human nature, we should focus on real people, who are infinitely rich beings."

"And any abstraction of man comes at the cost of losing the richness of human essence, especially the transcendental theory of human nature."

"The transcendental theory of human nature believes that the essence of human beings in concepts has been obtained through abstraction, but the essence of real human beings has been lost, and abstract concepts cannot completely replace and explain human beings."

Li Jinglong finally came out of the dead loop, and he suddenly realized that if what Jiang Xinghuo said was right, then the theory of human nature was indeed a false proposition.

Because of human nature, it is not congenital at all!

It doesn't matter whether it's innate good or inherently evil!

Seeing this, Yuan Jue frowned and asked: "Then since Mr. Jiang thinks that the theory of good and evil is wrong from the beginning, and the mistake lies in the fact that the concept of 'human nature' is not innate, then Mr. Jiang thinks that how did human nature come about?" ”

Jiang Xinghuo wrote.

"The second aspect is that [from a metaphysical point of view, the essence of human beings is sociality]."

The word metaphysical, Yuan Hui understood without any obstacles.

This is the saying in Taoism, the metaphysical is called the Tao, what is the Tao? Lao Tzu said: Xuanzhi and Xuan, the door of all wonders, the good is like water, so it is more than the Tao.

And what Jiang Xinghuo wrote, if it is understood by normal people, is that from the perspective of the avenue/truth, the essence of human beings is social.

Jiang Xinghuo wrote while slowly dictating.

Jiang believes that from a metaphysical point of view, the essence of human beings is sociality, and the so-called human nature of a certain historical stage is endowed by the sociality of this historical stage. In other words, the concept of the second layer of 'human nature' itself is constantly changing with the progress of historical stages. ”

"Every living and realistic person must be a person living in society, once a person is abstracted from the society in which he lives, then he is no longer a 'person', and the essence of man is social."

Yuan Hui seemed to have an understanding, and suddenly frowned and asked Li Jinglong hurriedly.

"If no one knows about you and everyone forgets about you, are you still you?"

Li Jinglong replied a little dazedly: "Of course I am. Or who else? ”

"You, is it really still you?"

Seeing Li Jinglong's wandering, Yuan Heng changed his statement.

"If you are a prisoner who has been held in solitary confinement in the Imperial Prison for a lifetime, remember that all of you have died, and only the jailer brings you food every day through the door, even if you are still alive, in society, are you still you?"

"I'm not me?"

Yuan Jue simply said: "The old man understands what Mr. Jiang meant, people are not individuals, people are meaningful in society, in other words, individual humanity is meaningless!" ”

Li Jinglong's cold hair stood on end, as if he had passed an electric current, and his whole body arched.

If he was really imprisoned by Zhu Di for a lifetime and had no connections, power, and status, then, is Cao Guogong Li Jinglong still Cao Guogong Li Jinglong?

Is it still important whether you are dead or alive to people in the outside society?

Do you still exist?

Jiang Xinghuo was only distracted by their conversation for a moment, and then continued to write.

"Human nature is not a priori, nor is it innate, but acquires it from society."

"It is in sociality that the existence of human nature can be found, and people must be in society and in practice to become themselves."

"Man is a product of society, not of some transcendental essence."

"Human nature is not predetermined by nature, but is constructed in society."

Seeing these words on the letter, Yuan Heng was like an initiation.

Yuan Hui's brain wanted to release the excitement that made him tremble all the time.

This is an epoch-making statement in the history of Chinese philosophy!

Human nature is not innate, it is born in the acquired society!

Whether it is Mencius's theory of sexual goodness or Xunzi's theory of sexual evil, it is wrong from the root!

And he, Yuan Hui, witnessed with his own eyes how this letter, which is destined to go down in history, came about!

What a glory is this?

When Yuan Heng thought about how much impact this letter would have on the entire Confucian system, he couldn't help but be fascinated.

It's as if Confucianism, the edifice built by the sages of the past generations for thousands of years, has been dug out of a corner from the foundation!

Immediately, a corner collapse will bring about a tsunami-like chain reaction of landslides.

The entire Confucian community of the Ming Dynasty will undergo an unprecedented change!

This is a change in thinking that turns the world upside down!

And he, had the privilege of being a part of it!

At the end of the letter, Jiang Xinghuo systematically replied to several questions raised by Dao Yan.

So why will the ideal Datong society be realized in the future? Why does the transcendental theory of human nature (the theory of sexual evil) now seem to directly refute this possibility? Are people always greedy and selfish? ”

"Jiang's answer is only because the human nature (greed and selfishness) of this historical stage is given by the social nature of the historical stage (social oppression and insufficient material and spiritual supply), when we stretch our horizons, take the millennium as the scale, and with the evolution of the historical stage in the future, the 'human nature' at that time is by no means the same as now, Jiang is convinced of this."

At the end of the letter, Jiang Xinghuo wrote a sentence from Nietzsche's "Morning Glow: Reflections on Moral Prejudice" as an end.

"Our eyes are our prisons, and everywhere we look is our walls."

——Jump out of the present to see the future.

So...... Do you see?

(End of chapter)