Confucian Philosophy

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Confucian Philosophy
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China in Spring and Autumn

• Ca. 500 BC
• End of Zhou Dynasty
• Disintegration of state
• Rise of petty kings
• Social disruption everywhere

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Confucius (???)

• 551 479 BC
• Aims at moral renewal of China
• In a return to the practices of the past
• Which reflect a Way of Thought
• or a Dào (?) followed in the past
• Which can be known through
• the study of the ancient literature.
• Confucianism is called the
• School of Literati (??, Rújia)
• So he teaches the Dào

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Sources The Five Classics

• Classic of Changes (??, Yi Jing)
• Classic of History (??, Shu Jing)
• Classic of Poetry (??, Shi Jing)
• Book of Rites (??, Li Jì)
• Spring and Autumn (??, Chun Qiu)

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Confucian Dào

• Fundamental teachings are in the Four Books
• Analects (??, Lún Yu)
• Record of Confuciuss teaching
• Great Learning (??, Dà Xué)
• A chapter of the Classic of Rites
• Doctrine of the Mean (??, Zhong Yong)
• Another chapter of the Rites
• Mencius (??, Mèngzi)
• Written by Confuciuss great follower

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Confucian Dào

• His Dào is a Virtue Ethics
• Concerned with character not moral laws
• The right character expresses itself by right
  actions
• The right characters would bring social harmony
• The right characters are defined by their virtues
• To follow the Dào is to have the right Virtues

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Rén (?)

• Benevolence, humanheartedness, goodness, love,
• we should feel an attachment to other people
• Between any two people is an appropriate
  attachment
• Which depends on the relationship between them
• Five relationships (??, wulún)
• Sovereign and subject
• Parent and child
• Husband and wife
• Elder and younger sibling
• Friends
• Appropriate actions express rén but what
  actions?

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Li (?)

• Rites, conventions, propriety
• The Five Classics tell us how to behave
• They tell us how proper rén should be expressed
• They give guidelines not strict rules
• The essence of li is more important
• The essence of li is rén
• Propriety comes from attachment to these forms of
  behaviour
• The li were established by ancient sages
• If followed properly social harmony will result

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Li (?)

• Proper application of li requires that things be
  recognised for what they really are
• If a king is not a real king, then applying the
  kingly li to him will not lead to social harmony
• Confuciuss priority the Rectification of Names
  (??, zhèng míng)

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Li (?)

• Analects 13.3
• If names be not correct, language is not in
  accordance with the truth of things.
• If language be not in accordance with the truth
  of things, affairs cannot be carried on to
  success.
• When affairs cannot be carried on to success,
  proprieties and music do not flourish.
• When proprieties and music do not flourish,
  punishments will not be properly awarded.
• When punishments are not properly awarded, the
  people do not know how to move hand or foot.

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Zhong (?)

• Analects 4.15
• The Master said, Shên! My way has one (thread)
  that runs right through it. Master Tsêng said,
  Yes. When the Master had gone out , the disciples
  asked, saying What did he mean? Master Tsêng
  said, Our Masters way is simply this
  conscientiousness (zhong,) consideration (shù.)

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Zhong (?)

• conscientiousness
• we must always make our best effort

13
Shù (?)

• consideration
• Negative
• Analects 12.2
• Chung-kung asked about benevolence. The Master
  said, Do not impose upon others what you do
  not wish for yourself

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Shù (?)

• consideration
• Positive
• Analects 6.28
• As for Goodness you yourself desire rank and
  standing. Then help others to get rank and
  standing. You want to turn your own merits to
  account then help others to turn theirs to
  account in fact the ability to take ones own
  feelings as a guide that is the sort of thing
  that lies in the direction of Goodness

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Shù (?)

• The method of the Measuring Square
• By knowing what you want you know what others
  want
• Analects 7.28
• Is benevolence really far away? No sooner do I
  desire it than it is here.

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The Gentlemans Education

• Strive to become a Gentleman ( junzi, ??)
• Depends upon character not birth
• Is achieved by training in the li
• This will lead to having the proper rén

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Yì (?)

• Righteousness
• Do what ought to be done because it ought to be
  done
• Analects 4.16
• The gentleman understands righteousness the
  small man understands profit.

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Mìng (?)

• Destiny
• In doing what ought to be done one may incur loss
• The Gentleman realises this and knows Destiny
• Analects 20.3
• He who does not understand Destiny cannot be a
  gentleman.

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Dé (?)

• Moral Power
• The Gentleman possess a power to influence others
  by his example

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Human Nature

• Is Man basically Good, or Bad?
• Mencius says Good

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Human Nature

• Mèngzi, 2a.6
• My reason for saying that no man is devoid of a
  heart sensitive to the suffering of others is
  this. Suppose a man were, all of a sudden, to see
  a young child on the verge of falling into a
  well. He would certainly be moved to compassion,
  From this it can be seen that whoever is devoid
  of the heart of compassion is not human, whoever
  is devoid of the heart of shame is not human,
  whoever is devoid of the heart of courtesy and
  modesty is not human, and whoever is devoid of
  the heart of right and wrong is not human. The
  heart of compassion is the germ of benevolence
  rén the heart of shame, of dutifulness yì
  the heart of courtesy and modesty, of observance
  of the rites li the heart of right and wrong,
  of wisdom zhi. Man has these four germs just as
  he has four limbs. For a man possessing these
  four germs to deny his own potentialities is for
  him to cripple himself.

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Human Nature

• Is Man basically Good, or Bad?
• Mencius says Good
• Xúnzi (??) says Bad

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Human Nature

• Xúnzi
• If human nature were good, we could dispense
  with the sage kings and desist from the practice
  of ritual and rightness. Since human nature is
  evil, we must elevate the sages and esteem ritual
  and rightness. Therefore the straightening board
  was created because of warped wood, and the plumb
  line came into being because of things tat are
  not straight. Rulers are established and ritual
  and rightness are illuminated because the nature
  is evil. From this perspective it is clear that
  human nature is evil and that goodness is the
  result of conscious activity.

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Human Nature

• Is Man basically Good, or Bad?
• Mencius says Good
• Xúnzi (??) says Bad
• Resolved Man is good. Zhu Xi (??) (1130-1200 AD)
  

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Nature of Government

• The proper task of a gentleman is government
• By his example and his Dé he can create harmony
• He should only take office in states where the
  Dào is respected

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Nature of Government

• A Ruler must rule lightly
• By his example and his Dé he can create harmony
• Analects 12.19
• If your desire is for good, the people will be
  good. The moral character of the ruler is the
  wind the moral character of those beneath him is
  the grass. When the wind blows, the grass bends.

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Nature of Government

• A Ruler must rule lightly
• By his example and his Dé he can create harmony
• He need hardly act at all
• Analects 2.1
• He who governs by means of his virtue is, to use
  an analogy, like the pole-star it remains in its
  place while all the lesser stars do homage to it

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Nature of Government

• A Ruler must rule lightly
• By his example and his Dé he can create harmony
• He need hardly act at all
• But this does require that he first rectify names
• Analects 2.3
• The Master said, "If the people be led by laws,
  and uniformity sought to be given them by
  punishments, they will try to avoid the
  punishment, but have no sense of shame. If they
  be led by virtue, and uniformity sought to be
  given them by the rules of propriety, they will
  have the sense of shame, and moreover will become
  good."

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Nature of Government

• What a ruler should aim at
• The welfare of the people (?, min)
• Analects 12.7
• Tzu-Kung asked about the government. The Master
  said, Give them enough food, give them enough
  arms, and the common people will have trust in
  you

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Nature of Government

• What a ruler should aim at
• The welfare of the people (?, min)
• They are not capable of much moral education
• Analects 8.9
• The common people can be made to follow the path
  but not to understand it

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Nature of Government

• Watch out, ruler!
• An abusive ruler is no ruler at all, and may be
  overthrown
• He can keep rule only as long as he has the
  Mandate of Heaven (??, Tianmìng)
• Mencius 1B8
• "One who robs rén you call a robber one who
  wrecks yì you call a wrecker and one who robs
  and wrecks you call an outlaw. I have heard
  that Wu punished the outlaw Zhou - I have not
  heard that he murdered his lord.