The social contract and education: Confucian viewpoints

Abstract

This article explicates a Confucian perspective of the social contract and its relation with education through the philosophical thought of Xunzi. It is argued that Xunzi shares the early European social contract theorists’ presuppositions that human beings are naturally motivated by selfish desires, and therefore require a collective agreement to avoid interpersonal strife and chaos. However, Xunzi’s social compact does not originate from the people, and is instead conceived and promoted by exemplary sage kings, who need the consent from the masses to maintain legitimacy and power. Xunzi’s aim of education is to reform and transform everyone’s bad nature through li (normative behaviour). The two major educational implications are the primacy of moral inculcation and habituation for students, and role-modelling by school leaders and teachers. Both implications are illustrated using the pedagogical approach of Appreciative Inquiry (AI), which calls for a whole-school approach to support and sustain the social contract.