The Seventh Discourse

The Will to Power and the Formation of the Self

Tsia Tung: Master, last time we argued the origin of evil but could not arrive at any satisfactory conclusion.

Fu Hsiang: The reasons you both gave, were not in themselves incorrect. Bad conditions can worsen an already flawed character, and karma can visit misfortune upon a person. But it is true that there is something missing from these accounts. The problem, as you both saw, was how to explain the original corruption. This problem has occupied the attention of thinkers for a long time. It is not likely that we can find the root without patient examination on the origins and development of human beings. Do you really wish to pursue this quarry wherever it may run?

Tsia Tung: Master, I feel we must hunt down the solution wherever the argument takes us.

Men Chow: I agree.

Fu Hsiang: Well, since you are unanimous, perhaps we should begin with a very old answer. In the Bible of the Christians, the book of Genesis begins with an account of how men came to be corrupted.

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