Abstract for the Kant in Asia International Conference
at Hong Kong Baptist University
20-23 May 2009
Scott R. Stroud, ˇ§Desire and the Project of Moral Cultivation: Kant and Xunzi on the Inclinationsˇ¨
Kant and Xunzi share a common reading by many interpretersˇXthat they both portray the inclinations or desires as bad elements in human nature. On this reading, desires are to be extirpated or rendered ineffectual in human activity. I will argue that such an interpretation is mistaken, and that a more accurate account features desire as one more aspect of human nature that needs to be ordered in a sustainable fashion. My paper will explore the thought of Kant and Xunzi to see how they conceptualize desire as prone to disorder, and how desire fits in to their social solutions of ritual and community activity. Both share a similar commitment to the ends of ordering an agent's desire in the project of moral cultivation, and both evince a commitment to similar means in reaching such a goal.