Transcript myweb.lmu.edu

4.24 The Master said, “The gentleman
wishes to be slow of speech and cautious
with regard to his actions.”
 4.25 The Master said, “Virtue is never
alone; it always has neighbors.”
 6.20 The Master said, “One who knows it
is not the equal of one who loves it, and
one who loves it is not the equal of one
who takes joy in it.”

7.16 The Master said, “Eating plain rice
and drinking water, having only your bent
arm as a pillow—there is certainly joy to
be found in this! Wealth and fame attained
improperly concern me no more than the
floating clouds.”
 7.37 The Master said, “The gentleman is
relaxed and at ease, while the petty man is
anxious and full of worry.”
 9.18 The Master said, “I have yet to meet
a man who is as fond of Virtue as he is of
sex.”

14.27 The Master said, “The gentleman is
ashamed to have his words exceed his
actions.”
 15.30 The Master said, “To have a fault
and not change your ways—this is truly to
be at fault.”









He was not a religious leader nor did he claim any
special divine status
He was a thinker, political figure, educator, and
founder of the Ru School of Chinese thought
His teachings are preserved in the Analects (a
collection of “sayings”)
He lived under the Chou dynasty which period was
corrupt, violent, full of wars and absent of true
moral life
His curriculum was to apply ethics to social issues
Tao: is associated with human conduct and social
order 9.29
His mission: to restore order and goodness in society
He promoted social order based on humanity, custom,
and individual moral cultivation
Archetypal figure who combines religious
inspiration and extraordinary insight into
the human condition
 sapiens = “wise”
 Focused on identifying the root causes of
happiness and unhappiness


“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and
I understand.”

“Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night
without moon and stars.”

“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you
do not stop.”

“Men's natures are alike, it is their habits that carry
them far apart.”

“When anger rises, think of the consequences.”

“When we see men of a contrary character,
we should turn inwards and examine
ourselves.”

“Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first
principles.”

“Respect yourself and others will respect
you.”

“Study the past if you would define the
future.”
A philosophy emphasizing human welfare
and dignity
 Basic belief: human intelligence and effort
are capable of improving present
conditions

Full humanness: achieved by learning how to
balance the needs of the self and others; the
individual and society
 Centrality and universality
 Equilibrium or harmony

› Equilibrium to the individual >>to the family >>to
other relationships >> to the state >> to the world
>> to the universe

Consisting of moderation and normality
“I know why the Way is not pursued.
The intelligent go beyond it and the stupid
do not come up to it. I know why the Way
is not understood. The worthy go beyond
it and the unworthy do not come up to it.
There is not one way who does not eat and
drink, but there are few who can really
know flavor.”
It originates from heaven and is present
in the world in the form of mandate of
heaven.
 This mandate is a set of moral guidelines,
principles and virtues which define the
life of moral perfection.
 The Tao, or true Way is the life of moral
perfection.
 Moral perfection is the ultimate goal of
our lives.

Our moral tendencies are given to us from
Heaven. This means that everyone is
capable of moral perfection.
 Confucius believed that human nature is
essentially social. Whether it is inclined
towards good or evil, primarily it is shaped
by the social environment.


REN/JEN
› Three meanings:
 1. refers to particular virtues of character:
benevolence or love
 2. stands for a class of virtues: wisdom, courage,
confidence, gravity, forgiveness, trustworthiness,
earnestness, kindness (jen-virtues)
 3. the quality of moral perfection (the ideal state of
having possessing all possible virtues)
› humanity, focuses on love and care for others,
kindness
› having a caring attitude toward others including
nonhuman beings
› 12.1, 6.22
The ethical concept of jen covers the
arena of individual and social morality
concerning motive, action, character, and
feeling.
 It is the ground of morality
 The highest goal of moral cultivation


LI
› propriety, focuses on traditional ritual code, a
set of formal procedures for proper behavior
› embodied expressions of what is right

YI
› rightness, one’s sense of what is right,
understanding what is proper and appropriate,
what is reasonable or rational 17.23

JUN ZI

XIAO REN

XIAO
› exemplary person
› 14.27
› petty man 16.8, 7.37, 12.19
› filial conduct
› family and human flourishing 1.2, 4.18
5 relationships:
1. Ruler – subjects
2. Father – son
3. Husband – wife
4. Elder brother – younger brother
5. Friend – friend (16.4)


16.4 Kongzi said, “Beneficial types of
friendship are three, as are harmful types
of friendship. Befriending the upright,
those who are true to their word, and
those of broad learning—these are the
beneficial types of friendship. Befriending
clever flatterers, skillful dissemblers, and
the smoothly glib—these are the harmful
types of friendship.”
9.19
 1.15
 4.16
 4.5
 2.4
 6.18


Ren, li, and yi operate more like satellite
notions revolving around the ideal Tao.
They constitute a family of
interdependent notions.
It is an ethics of moral virtue
 Emphasizes obligations and duties, but as
socially determined roles
 A man of moral perfection understands
the value of good moral character and
acts accordance with it simply because it
is the right thing to do
 Guidelines: how human relationships ought
to be structured -- the formation of good
societies
