郭店楚墓儒家簡〈性自命出〉的人道思想是以性、情、心等觀念為主要理論結構，然而簡文「性自命出，命自天降」的命題亦是理解簡文人道思想的關鍵，即經由「命」指涉本性之源在「天」。尤有進者，簡文並非將價值直接從本性中導出，而是從價值經驗指出「性」的活動在「情」的因素，由此人性之有價值性可言，亦是「人道」的開始。根據簡文的「心術」觀念，
人道即是以心實踐性情之價值。因此，〈性自命出〉的人性價值觀可詮釋為即心言性情的理路，具體表現則強調詩書禮樂等成德之教，簡文以「義」視之，即價值理序的形成。

The “Humanity” expressed in the Xing-Zi-Ming-Chu text excavated at Guodian
is paved on (human) nature, emotion and mind. The key to grasping the text
is to heed the propositions that the “destiny” is the provenance of human nature and “heaven” is the source of the “destiny”. The text does not assert that “value”is derived directly from (human) “nature”, but that “value experience” comes from factors of the activity of the “nature” in concrete “emotion”; this activity is the origin of the “Humanity”. Probing deeper, according to the text, it is the
implementation of “mental arts” that gives rise to the “Humanity” by the mind’s concretely expressing the values of “nature” through the emotions. Therefore, we may infer that the text presents a human nature value perspective that explicates (human) nature and emotion on the basis of mind. For the text, the relevant contents of mind are to be reinforced through instruction in the Book of Odes, the Book of Documents, the Records of Rites and the Book of Music. The text regards this instruction as crucial to the formation of the moral order according to the standard of justice (yi).