Confucianism

Ren

- Confucian virtue meaning Human-heartedness or Humanity. - It is the disposition of deep concern for the welfare of others. Thus Kongzi describes it as "love" for one another.

A vice

- A disposition to act in a morally bad way.

A virtue

- A disposition to act in a morally good way

The relevant notion of disposition

- A psychological tendency to act in certain ways in given situations. This is a feature of one's personality It is not merely a habit.

Han Feizi's Legacy

- Among all the views we looked at from classical Chinese political thought, Han Feizi's worked. It was promoted by the Qin dynasty (which followed the Warring States Period) and brought about social stability (although it was later vilified).

The principal of impartiality, Universal Love

- An action is right just in case it is impartial to ones self - An action is wrong just in case it is partial to ones self - To be partial is to be biased toward someone (or something). - To be impartial is to be unbiased toward someone (or something).

Xunzi on Human Nature

- Believed human nature is bad. - States we are disposed to act in selfish ways (especially in regards to profit and pleasure. - Moral education is thus extremely important.

Mengzi

- Born in the 4th century BCE, at least a hundred years after Confucius died. - Often considered the second most important Confucian philosopher. - The common Latinized version of his name is Mencius - Not much historical fact is known about him, although it's traditionally believed that he was trained under Kongzi's grandson, Zisi.

Music

- Mozi believed musical performances are immoral because they are Partial if they are diverting funds away from food and clothes and the poor.

Yi

- Confucian virtue meaning Rightness. - it is the inner sense of which actions are in accord with ren and its manifestations in any given situation. Example- it is knowing that stealing candy would hurt the owner of the store.

Xiao

- Confucian virtue meaning filial piety. - It is respect and honor for one's parents and ancestors.

De

- Confucian virtue meaning power. - Other common translations: "virtue" and "charisma." - It is power to spread virtues to others. - If your superiors are abusive jerks, then you should focus on developing de because (a) you'll be acting according to ren and (b) you'll be acting according to xiao.

Li

- Confucian virtue meaning propriety. - Other common translations: "correctness," "ritual," "etiquette," and "customs." - Isn't technically a virtue. However, we can think of it as outward expression of ren. It's important to note that properly following it is to be motivated by ren.

The most well-known schools

- Confucianism - Mohism - Legalism - *Daoism

Two further characterizations of ren

- Conscientiousness: being attentive to other's concerns. -Altruism: being selfless. In the Confucian context, this is to follow the silver rule: do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.

Mengzi's Project

- Defended Confucianism as he understood it. So, he accepted Kongzi's ethics and political theory. - Most well-known for his view on human nature. - The text attributed to him is titled Mengzi.

The silver rule

- Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.

Xunzi's explanation for goodness

- Every person desires to be perceived as a good. Hence, people do good in order to be perceived as good. - This explanation is claiming that we only do good deeds because of selfish desires.

Explanation 2: Failure to nourish yi

- Evil actions come about because we haven't developed yi enough to realize the right course of action from the bad one. - So its an intellectual failing not intentional. This is why moral education is important.

Mengzi on the Explanation of Evil

- Explanation 1: external circumstances - Explanation 2: Failure to nourish yi

The Structure of Social Harmony

- First, each individual member of the society is to be virtuous. - The basic five social relationships will consequently be virtuous. - Therefore, social harmony (more or less) will be achieved.

The Golden Rule

- For one would do for others as one would do for oneself. - Favor people just as you would favor yourself. Therefore, you don't act with bias and you are impartial.

Mengzi's Counter Argument to human nature being neutral

- Gauzi states that external factors determine whether a person acts good or bad (metaphor to willow tree). So human nature is neutral. - Then Mengzi argues that: 1. If human nature is neutral, then becoming a virtuous person would be abrasive (hard to do). 2. Becoming a virtuous person is not abrasive. 3. Therefore, human nature is not neutral.

Anti-Confucianism

- Han Feizi's legalism is an anti-Confucian system. - It is a top-down approach to bringing about social harmony. - Han Feizi put Confucians on the list of "five vermin." These are groups of people that Han Feizi believed used state resources without contributing anything in return. They are: 1. Confucians 2. Wandering orators 3. Private swordsmen 4. Draft dodgers 5. merchants of luxurious Goods

Legalism

- Han Feizi's response to the political-social problems. - A form of government promoting strict punishment for those who break the laws and favors for those who follow the laws. Moreover, legalism maintains that everyone is beholden to the law.

Xunzi

- He was a respected scholar and court figure during his time. He was a defender of Confucian as well. - Differed from Kongzi and Mengzi on two important points: 1. Human Nature 2. Human essence - His text is simply called the Xunzi and divides into chapters.

Critique of Confucianism and Mohism

- His criticism of Confucianism and Mohism was quite simple: neither worked.

The Steward of Caps and the Steward of Coats

- Know story - Strictly following one's assigned duties is just as important as following laws. - the lesson: don't overstep your duties and don't shirk them, otherwise you will be punished by death.

Kongzi Biography

- Kongzi was born into an impoverished family in the small state of Lu in the Shandong peninsula in northeastern China. His father was a low-ranking aristocrat and his mother a concubine. - Kongzi had a socially humiliating youth, often working petty odd jobs, like caring for livestock, or accounting. - At 50 Kongzi was appointed Minister of public works and then minister of crime. - Later he had a falling out with his superiors and was forced into exile. In 484 BCE, however, he returned to Lu, spending the last five years of his life teaching and editing books.

Philosophy before Kongzi

- Kongzi's influence was not as a revolutionary thinker—he was a synthesizer and a transmitter of past traditions.

The bottom-up approach

- Kongzi's strategy for restoring peace to society that emphasizes change in individual people over change in governmental policies.

Han Feizi

- Lived from 280 - 233 BCE. He was the last. - Great thinker of the Zhou dynasty. He studied under Xunzi.

Mengzi on Human Nature

- Mengzi believed that human nature is good. - Mengzi provides an argument against the view that human nature is neutral and gives an argument for his view.

Explanation 1: external circumstances

- Mengzi is claiming that external circumstances cause one to deviate from our innate goodness.

Mozi's Universal Love

- Mozi aimed to establish a unified code of ethical conduct by providing a simple principle upon which we can evaluate an action as right or wrong. - The principal of impartiality— named "universal love".

Expressions of Li

- Mozi condemned common, Confucian expressions of Li. - He believed that these fancy rituals did not show concern for others and were partial and did not follow ren.

Funerals

- Mozi condemned fancy funerals.

Mozi's Economic Policy

- Mozi's impartiality also categorizes him as an economic egalitarian. Thus, he believed that state and personal funds should be equally distributed among the population. - everybody would have the same amount of funds and resources.

Mozi and the Supernatural

- One interesting consequence of Mozi's consequentialism is his insistence that we ought to believe in ghosts. 1. We should act in ways that bring about social harmony. 2. Beliefs in ghosts will do this because they punish the wicked. 3. Therefore, we should believe in ghosts.

The Rectification of Names

- One ought to act in a way that virtuously satisfies the obligations implied by one's role in the relevant relationship. - A normative claim, a claim about what one ought to do. -Two implications: 1. If one does not act in such a way, then one cannot be justifiably called by the name of the role. 2. If one does act in such a way, then one can be justifiably called by the name of the role.

The Confucian Virtues (RYXDL)

- Ren - Yi - Xiao - De - Li

Extravagant Clothes and Housing

- Similar to Mozi's other condemnations extravagant clothes and housing is immoral because it is partial.

Mengzi on Human Essence

- States that ren is the essential feature of humans. Having ren

Mengzi's Arguments for his view that human nature is good

- The Argument from Sage-Kings - The Argument from a Child in Danger

analogy of correcting crooked wood

- The end Xunzi brings up the analogy of correcting crooked wood. This is a direct reference—and rebuttal—to Mengzi's analogy in 2A6 (i.e. the argument from abrasiveness).

The most fundamental relationship

- The most fundamental of these roles is the parent-child relationship, for if it goes awry (especially in youth), then the other relationships are likely to go awry as well.

Mohism

- The philosophy of Mozi, followers are called Mohists.

The Warring States Period

- The remarkable and constant warring between feudal lords caused historians to name the time this name. -The Eastern Zhou Dynasty was neither peaceful nor prosperous because lords were constantly at battle with one another for land.

the two handles

- The two basic features of legalism. - One "handle" regards those who break the law. It is the punishment of death. - The other "handle" regards those who follow the law. It is praise and veneration. - Han Feizi's legalism is thus a system of government that rules by fear and self-interest. how does one of these handles relate to his teacher?

The Five Binary Relationships

- There are five basic social relationships between people: 1. Parent-child 2. Husband - Wife 3. Elder sibling - younger sibling 4. Ruler - Subject 5. Friend - Friend - Each relationship has a superior and an inferior.

The top-down approach

- This is a strategy for restoring peace to society that emphasizes change in the governmental policies over change in the individual citizens. - Of all the people we'll look at in this section, only Han Feizi obviously fits into the second view.

The Hundred Schools of Thought

- This slogan represents the fact that there were many "competing" responses to the social unrest. -There were so many different political philosophies developing in response to social unrest

Wen

- To engage in Arts like music and poetry.

The Dao

- Translation: "way" - For Kongzi's philosophy, this refers to the proper system of ethics. So, the junzi perfectly follows the dao because the junzi exemplifies all the Confucian virtues.

Consequentialism

- What makes an action right or wrong are the consequences of the action. So, for Mozi, impartial actions are right because they bring social peace whereas partial actions are bad because they bring about social unrest.

Virtue, Vice, and Context

- When analyzing some action in terms of virtuous or vicious behavior, one has to pay attention to the context in which the action occurred. -Example of kicking the puppy to save other puppies.

Xunzi on human essence

- Xunzi claims that human essence is the ability to make distinctions especially social ones. - Kongzi and Mengzi relate human essence to an emotional feature. On the other hand, Xunzi claims that it's an intellectual quality.

The Analects

- a collection of short sayings by and about Kongzi. - Tradition has it that shortly after Kongzi's death his disciples assembled the Analects in order to preserve his teachings. - However, the traditional view of the Analects' origin is likely false. The work was probably assembled over the course of the 200 - 300 years after Kongzi's death, which in turn left a lot of time for interpretation, editing, and rearranging. So, some scholars conclude that the Analects likely contain nothing that Kongzi actually said—there might be nothing of his original statements left at all!

virtue ethics

- a system of ethics that determines actions as either virtuous or vicious, and claims that one ought to act in a virtuous manner. - Confucian philosophy is a system of this

Han Feizi on Human Nature

- agreed with his teacher: human nature is bad.

The Junzi

- literal translation: "lord's son;" common translation: "gentleman." - The morally excellent person. Such a person exemplifies all the Confucian virtues. - In the Analects, Kongzi's discussion of the virtues often appeals to this.

Han Feizi replies to Confucianism Critiques

1. The implication is that laws should be stated in an unambiguous way and lacking any conditional exceptions. 2. The implication is that developing virtue is not as important as social order. Hence, it's not a problem if people are vicious as long as they abide by the laws.

Mozi

- lived from 480 - 390 BCE, so he lived after Kongzi, but before Mengzi and Xunzi. - His name literally translates as "Master Ink." - Some scholars think that Mozi was either an ex-convict or an ex-slave because the face of convicts and slaves were often times tattooed. He was a paramilitary leader of a small utopian minded society. - His text is simply called Mozi. It was probably not actually written by him, but is instead a compilation of his teachings put together by his students.

Han Feizi Personal Life

- wasn't a notable public speaker because he had a stuttering problem, although he was a very accomplished writer. Eventually he had a falling out with an emperor and was imprisoned. Facing a harsh sentence of execution, Han Feizi knowingly drank poison given to him by a friend, thus dying by suicide.

Kongzi on the Role of Government

-For Kongzi, the government's most important role is to help cultivate virtue in individuals. - Spreading moral education is the government's central task. - Nonetheless, the government should also help provide material comforts since poverty and hunger aren't entirely helpful for achieving the government's primary task.

Kongzi

-His name literally means "Master Kong." -'Kong' is a word uttered to express thankfulness when prayers are granted. -"Confucius" comes from a 1600 Jesuit and Latinized interpretation of his name.

The Eastern Zhou dynasty's Feudalism

-a system of regional government in which wealthy land owners (called lords) offer protection and land to others (vassals) in return for certain services (typically farming).

The Argument from Sage-Kings

1. All humans have the same nature. 2. Sage-kings have a good nature. 3. Therefore, all humans have a good nature.

The Argument from a Child in Danger

1. All humans have the same nature. 2. All people have the disposition to save a child in danger (without the aim of receiving rewards). 3. This disposition is indicative of a good nature. 4. Therefore, all humans have a good nature.

The three domains of Li

1. Ceremonies- Li is expressed by following the elaborate rules for social events such as marriages, military events, government holidays, strict observance of public holiday, etc. 2. Customs- Li is expressed by following the expected everyday social norms with precision. 3. Proper relationships- Li is expressed by adhering to an expected role in relationships.

Xunzi's Counter Argument to Mengzi

1. If people are innately good, then Confucianism is useless. 2. Confucianism is not useless 3. Therefore, people are not innately good. (must be neutral or bad).

Why Ren is the most important virtue

1. It sets humans apart from other animals. It is thus the essential feature of humans. 2. It is the virtue from which all other virtues are derived. Hence, it is the foundational virtue.

Confucianism Critiques of Han Feizi

1. People will become evasive insofar as they manipulate legal statements in their favor. 2. People will have no sense of shame insofar as they become vicious.

Some manifestations of xiao

1. Putting parents needs before you own. 2. Making your family name respectful. 3. Honoring dead family members. 4. Not being rebellious.

Kongzi on Human Nature

1. The claim that human nature is bad means that humans are innately selfish. 2. The claim that human nature is good means that humans are innately selfless. 3. The claim that human nature is neutral means that human nature is neither good nor bad. - The first two views do not imply that we can't act against human nature. It only means that it's initially difficult to do so. - A common assumption of the third view is that external influences determine whether one is good or bad. - Finally, all views assume that there is a universal human nature.

The Modified Golden rule

Do to others what you want done to yourself only if what you want done to yourself has social harmony as a consequence.

The cultural climate and philosophy

The violence rampant in the culture of the time period had one positive effect: it prompted many great thinkers to ponder about the methods for achieving long lasting social peace.

read notes on han feizi to better get his view

ch. 49 on notes

go over notes on Kongzi on Human Nature

on notes