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76 Cards in this Set

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Confucianism

"To reform Society, we must reform the individual."




The Junzi develops ren + de by following the Dao, which is to practice xiao in order to cultivate li & yi

Kongzi


1. Before him there was little in the ways of philosophy 2. First philosopher in China 3. Known as more of a synthesizer of old texts rather than a revolutionary.

Three objections to laws

1. Laws only treat the surface behavior, not the underlying root


2. Law encourage people to be more clever and evasive


3. You cannot have a law for every situation

Confucian Recipe for Success

The Junzi develops ren + de by following the Dao, which is to practice xiao in order to cultivate li & yi

Junzi

Gentleman, follower of the sage kings



Xiao

Filial piety, be respectful to your parents. If you know how to do this, then you will know how to treat others in society that are above you.

Dao

"The Way" or " The path" Dao means something like a method or a formula

Li

Rights, or rituals. Propreity, or the proper code of conduct.




Includes things like etiquette, morality, and everything in between




It’s the expression of goodness in the relationship between your actions andother people

Yi

”Righteousness” ”Harmonious Ease”

-Inwardexpression of goodness


-Moralcompass


-Involvesthe relationship between you and your actions

Ren

=”Goodness”

-Involvesthe relationship between you and others


-“Conscientiousness”“Benevolence” -Requiresrecognizing the moral worth of others and treating them accordingly -Carefor others


-Ren isHighly Social

De

”Virtue”

-Charismaticvirtue


-4.25“Virtue is never solitary, it always has neighbors”


-12.19“The wind and the grass analogy”

The Rectification of Names

-Bringing words into accord with the things they pick out inthe world


-Thishelps to avoid merely verbal disputes




-When we don’t understand each others words problems quicklyarise




-Important because of the normative component to language areterms prescribed to how we ought to behave,




-If we don’t meet theserequirements, we abandon the term

Shu

"Sympathetic Understanding" The idea of the negative golden rule.

Mengzi

-When talking about Confucism he is second best known philosopher behind kongzi



-Largely writing in response to two schools: -Yangist- play up self-interest and human nature “If fixing the world only require pulling a single hair from one’s arm, a yangist wouldn’t do it” -Mohist- Advocate impartial caring “If skinning oneself in order to make the world a better place were possible a mohist would do it” (everyone is of equal moral worth and thus should receive as much love as you would treat your mother)




-Mengzi seeks to defend confcianism as the “goldilocks position” between these two extremes

Mengzi defends that humans are innately good, why?

-Pg. 148 6A7

-We have seedsof goodness in us.


-We mustcultivate them, like barely seeds, lest they die.




-Pg. 129 2A6


-The wellstory about innate feelings of compassion

Differences between Kongzi and Mengzi

1) Kongzi speaks very little about human nature,Mengzi claims we’re innately good

a. The role of moral education is to take hold ofthis core and extend it to others. (Mengzi)




2) Mengzi focuses more explicitly on cultivatingpreference for family


a. We call this the hierarchy of consideration(Charity begins at home)




3) Mengzi’s understanding of the core of goodnessbeing in your heart


a. Having only one source.




4) More explicitly focuses on context, and what todo in a given situation


a. Develop wisdom (Zhi)

Hearts of virtue that occur naturally in Humans

Heart of Compassion (Pg. 147 6A6)

o Ren·




Heart of Disdain


o Yi (Having an underlying self-respect)·




Heart of Respect


o Li/xiao (There is a natural inclination to showrespect in a certain way Yizi Extravagant funeral 3A5 P.133)(What child doesnot know to love his parents?)·




Heart of Approval/disapproval


o Zhi (wisdom)

Hierarchy of consideration

-Family first then friends then other people then Animals



-Linescan be draw on how you should act depending on another human beings relation toyou

What should we prefer first?

Our family, and then others. Similar to a concentric circle.

Extensions of Ren to others

-Extending Ren is also part of cultivating love of family inthe first place

-Ifyou are not extending you benevolence to other people, you are probably notbeing very benevolent to your own family.




-Sometimespeople are too far corrupted to become Junzis

Mengzi example story and the importance of exercising judgement and context

Ox+Bell Story

-Hierarchyof consideration


-Nature ofgoodness as a feeling, emotion or sentiment


-Hearts ofcompassion (innate)


-Exerciseof wisdom to figure out what to do -So stayaway from the kitchen

Xungzi and Mengzi comparison

“Where Mungzi is the kindergarten teacher that always tellyou good job and keep trying no matter what you do, Xunzi is the football coachthat no matter what tells you you are a maggot and you can always do more.”

Xungzi

-Last Great Confucian thinker of Warring States Period

-Often seenas a more minor figure.


-Probably actually wrote the Xunzi


-Supposedly taught Han Feizi (legalist philosopher)


-Noticeablysimilar views on human nature even though both are from different schools ofthought


-QEDthis expresses my meaning “If you understood what I said you can clearly seethat I am right”

Xungzi opinion on human nature

-It’s Bad.

-We areinnately self-interested (agreed with the yangist, difference being theyembraced it and xungzi aims to correct it)


-If we follow self interest, chaos will result. (likehobbes, he is very pessimistic on life) (our self interest in near sighted)

What humans do have, according to Xungzi. One must adhere too...

Intelligence



-We’re ableto make distinctions




Makes a distinctionbetween Nature (when you let things run their own course) and Deliberate Effort(working to overcome what comes naturally)




THIS IS THE KEY DISCTINCION BETWEEN XUNGZI (pessimist) AND MUNGZI(optimist)


-The pointis that it takes work and learning to be good

The importance of education (according to Xungzi)

-Get a teacher first

-Easierto see from a mountain than your toes -educationwithout a teacher is worthless


- “There is a constant thread of the way that is truethroughout time and must be carefully adhered to.”


-Our teachers must help us find it

Fixity (Xungzi)

-Draw your lineage back to the Sage Kings (the dudes whojust got it right) they were moral perfection incarnate.

-They’rethe only ones that didn’t need teachers their word is law


-Keep studying the sage kings at every possibility


-Thisresults in fixity (a firmness of purpose)

Importance of Precise Language (Xungzi)

-Pg. 293 Stick to traditional uses of language, new termsjust lead to confusion -Particularlycalling out the School of Names

-In the interest of communicating correctly, don’t let language change




-P.294 Once the name of something is determined, we mustrigidly follow the names of things, although rarely we can change meanings ofnames, but that is the job of the Kings, not the common people -




Languageis based in custom, but once set, should be resistant to change

The importance of ritual (according to Xunzi)
- ph. 272- The purpose of ritual is to give proper form

- It helps to form yourself into a junzi

What makes us human? (Xungzi)

Unlike Mengzi, it has nothing to do with innatevirtue-

For Xungzi what makes us human is not that wehave the hearts of virtue, what makes us human is our ability to makedistinctions.o Particularly normative distinctions


o We have been given the teachings of the SageKings, we ought to pursue them




Morally we make the distinction that it is okayto eat apes, but not okay to eat humans

School of Names

-Most famous member was Longzi, a court entertainer who argued humans have three ears



-Largely focused on the use of language, and how it can gowrong

“Languageis dangerous to misuse”




-They startwith a claim that is clearly false and then use the ambiguity of language to prove the false observation true




-Veryfew writings exist today, but very influential in breeding concern aboutthe limitations of language

Indiscernibility of Identicals (White Horse Story)

-Indiscernibility of Identicals

-If twothings are identical they will have all the same features (Leibniz)


-Thisapplies to extension


-A white horse is a horse, we’re claiming identity,


-whitehorses and horses have different extensions and therefore are not the same andthat a white horse is not a horse

Yangism

(Represents a turning point is philosophy)



-After Yangist, every one has to talk about human nature




-See human nature as inherently selfish

Psychological Egoism

theclaim that humans, in fact, are motivated by (only) self-interest (descriptive)

Ethical Egoism

Humansshould only do what is in our self-interest (normative)

Privatism

psychologicalegoism+ Immediate family and friends

Robber Zhi

Basically tells Kongzi to shut up and that pursuing hedonistic ways are the only way to enjoy life

Yangism Impact on other Schools of thought

(Represents a turning point is philosophy)

-After Yangist, every one has to talk about human nature

School of names impact on other schools of thought

Either beextremely careful with language, or get rid of it entirely

Metaphysics

The study of reality, what it is and what is it like

-extremelybroad


-Whatexist? Do we have free will

Epistemology

The study of the theory of knowledge -What isknowledge? How do we get it? -It meansto have a justifiable true belief

Logic

The study of correct reasoning



If A implies B, than you can assume that B istrue.

Value Theory

Study of value



-Ethics-Right vs. Wrong, morality, goodvs bad


-Aesthetics- Study of taste, beauty, etc

Philosophies of....

Science Mind Etc

2205-1768BCE: Xia Dynasty

First established dynasty in China. Very few things are known.

1766-1122BCE: Shang Dynasty
(first dynasty where laws and rules were written) (bone and turtle shellwritings) (china that is largely agrarian, and are the root of society)(respectfor ancestors was extremely important)(ancestors could be contacted viaritual)(emphasis on looking to the past for knowledge)(spirits wereintermediaries to Shang Di-lord on highthat the shang dynasty believed in)(Shang di is incomprehensible which iswhy spiritual intermediaries were necessary.)(Only a select few people hadaccess to this knowledge)
1122-256BCE: Zhou Dynasty
(Indtroducedthe idea of Tianming “heaven’s mandate) (Tian- diety meaning “heaven”)(Naturalization, meaning it was more about the nature of reality than aboutspirits, etc) (Start to think in terms of actions, events, nature rather thanspirits only)(Opens up knowledge to people beyond just the select few) (In 771BCE is the end of the Western Zhou dynasty lots of corruption and cripplingdefeats) (King You and Bao Si create impact of self-indulgence and moral decayon society)
-403-221BCE: Warring States Period
characterized by fractured statesvying for power) (people begin to ask how do we return peace and stabilityto society)
221BCE-Qin Dynasty
(OfficiallyLegalist)

Mozi

Mohism creator



o First philosopher to work logically through aclaim




He formed and ruled over a pseudo military groupspan

Mohism

- Everyones moral worth is equal to our own



Pg. 68 Mohism Mission statement “The business of thebenevolent person is to promote what is beneficial and reduce what is harmful.”so-fartL

The problem of partiality and the importance of Impartial caring

The problem with society is that people arepartial. They prefer their own needs and interests to those of others. [CorePhilosophy]



What’s the solution then? Embrace impartialcaring.


o Everyone needs to be single-minded in thispersuit

Consequentalism

is the class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct.



-Themoral worth of an action is dictated by consequences. (Mozi is the first consequentialist in Chinese philosophy)

Deontology

Themoral worth of an action is dictated by principles the action conforms to

Virtue Ethics

Themoral worth of an action is determined by conformity to virtues (KONGZI)

Mozi Viewson Aggressive war

-Aggressive war is morally unacceptable on consequentialistgrounds

-Pg. 77 You are being irrational if you condemn murder butnot Aggressive War


-Analogy ofBlack and White

For Moderation in Expenditures (Mozi)
-P. 78 Clothes keep us warm and/or cool. Anything else isexcessive and should be eliminated

-Same forhouses




-Pg. 80 Generally eliminate what is not useful and give theproceeds to the poor




-Mozi pays little attention to psychological needs




-Peter Singer “Famine, Affluence,Morality” (A modern day Mozi)-Story of the toddler drowning inmall fountain

Moderation of Funerals



pg. 82 If you are spending money and morning youare not doing it right-



Insofar as the I requires excess and waste, weshould get rid of them


o (But mozi thinks li don’t require lavishfunerals anyway)




Pg. 87- Funerals aren’t even beneficial as talking tothe gods




Pg. 89 Adequate Funeral is modest

Han Feizi on Conf. and Mohism

Both agree sage kings are models



Both take morality and appropriate moral conductas the basis of peaceful society




Both don’t work

Han Feizi objection to Conf. and MOhism
They disagree about what the sage-kings say



Pg. 352 - The “Golden age” really wasn’t that golden


o Pg. 341 There was still a need for executions,etc


o What order there was resulted from theenforcement of laws




Even if the past was good AND because of virtue,why should we think it will work today?o We have proof that it doesn’t work


Pg. 240 Rabbit and Stump watching

Situationism

Success or failure depends on circumstances, notcharacter .



People are self-interested


Do not confuse self-interest with Benevolence




Why fight nature? Let’s set up laws to harnessthe power of self interest




o We need not talk of morality at all




If changing “superficial behavior” brings peace+ stability what more do we need?


o This is a response to Kongzi


o Amoral philosophy

Recognizing the selfishness of human nature and using that to your advantage

People are self-interested

Do not confuse self-interest with Benevolence


Why fight nature? Let’s set up laws to harness the power of self interest

Legalism as a "Amoral Philosophy"

We need not talk of morality at all



If changing “superficial behavior” brings peace+ stability what more do we need?




This is a response to Kongzi




Amoral philosophy

Importance of Clear laws

1. Usethe laws to set firm standards

a. Simple, so as not to confuse, with no exceptions


i. This addresses evasiveness objection with firmstandards people won’t be evasive



Universal Applicability of Laws

g. 322 No exceptions, not even for rulers Thus, society peace can resist bad rulers

Enforcement of Laws

1. Makethe laws such that following them is always in one’s self-interest



Knowyour advisors, but make sure that they don’t know you




Pg. 314- You want (as a ruler) honest feedback,not meant merely to persuade




You’re going to have to delegate;&#t

Two Handles approach to Law Enforcement

The two handles: Make following laws in one’sself interest via lavish rewards and harsh punishment

Promotion of Merit

Two handles approach also apply to dealing w/ministers



hireon a basis of ability




Pg. 325 Stewards of caps and cloaks


.


Reward only those who do what they say they willdo


Rewarding anything else leads to chaos

5 vermin of effective governing

Scholars

Orators


Swordsmen (Private Mercenaries)


Draft-Dodgers


Merchants and Craftsmen




All 5 destabilize government by creating unnecessary divisions + notfulfilling their stations

Keeping your intentions opaque and safe from persuasion

Knowyour advisors, but make sure that they don’t know you

Arguments for impartial caring (Mohism)

One is morally obligated to do their best topromote benefit + decrease harm



The best way to promote benefit is to embrace IC(and promote it)




So one ought to embrace IC (If they accept1&2)




-Pg. 70 Going away to war, you want your neighbors to beimpartial in caring for your family


-Thereforeimpartiality is rational

Arguments against Mohism

It’s literally impossible

-Theclassics falsify this claim (according to Mozi)


-Okay, so it’s really hard, to the point that I can’tmaximize benefit-


Pg. 75 We do much harder things merely to impress people,impartial caring is comparatively easy

Cultivation of Self (Xungzi)

-Examine yourself 3 times a day; How are you doing inbecoming a junzi?



-Becritical and honest of your faults, look to other’s mistakes for guidance.




-“If you miss oneshot of one hundred then you are not a good archer”-Pg. 261 -




Placeyourself among those who will give you direct, but honest appraisal -




Constantly strive for perfection using every teacher,friend, and ritual at your disposal to attain it




You arenever going to attain sage king status

Argument: If human nature is self interested, thenwhy is it so hard to not be self interested? (Xungzi)
-Answer: Because We’re self interested. -



“Any one can grow barely seeds, but it takes a rare individual to be a true junzi”

Argument: If we are innately good, then we don’t needrituals or examples of the sage-kings. (xungzi and mengzi)
-But we do need these things! So we must not be innatelygood.



-“Have you ever observed children at aplayground?”




-Empirical Evidence

Objectionto Xungzi:If we are innately self interested, then why do we try to become junzis?
-Because we want what we don’t have (if humans are innatelybad, they will want to become good)

-We desireto become good because we are innately bad.


-We desire the beneficial perhaps, the objectively goodthings