Xunzi on the Perfected Sage and the Uncodifiable Way

Abstract Thorian Harris argues that early Confucians consider sages to be morally fallible, not morally perfect; furthermore, on his account they praise the alternative character ideal of loving learning throughout life as the appropriate ethical goal. This is a significant claim, but it is overly broad. The early Confucian Xunzi 荀子 does explicitly hold up moral perfection as his highest ideal, attributes it to sages, and in this differs from Kongzi 孔子 and in some respects Mengzi 孟子. This essay compares and contrasts Xunzi’s views with Harris’s account, and closes with a brief discussion of why Xunzi might hold the views he does.