Confucian Ethics

What should virtues be for, according to Confucius?

to save the world

Who are the leading figures of Confucianism?

confucius and mencius

Who was the first private teacher, born during time of war, and spent 14 years preaching to rulers of Confucianism?

confucius

Who was known as “the reluctant arguer”?

mencius

What is Confucius’ ideal society?

an aesthetic, or poetic/artistic, one

Step 1 of how to achieve the ideal society

cultivate your own character; keep the sprouts of morality in your heart.

Step 2 of how to achieve the ideal society

take care of other people; morality is partial by nature so just extend it.

Mencius’ 4 virtues

benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom

How to cultivate your own moral character

learn, self-reflect, choose your friends wisely, practice ritual, listen to nice music

Why is cultivating moral character not actually hard?

we already have the sprouts of morality/already have basic sympathy, we just need to extend them to the rest of the world.

How to take care of others

follow Li

Li

A system of political rituals and cultural customs that defines social roles and responsibilities.

Why is following Li not actually hard?

Li caters to human nature

Is Li partial or impartial

partial; morality is partial by nature

If successful and rich Confucius tells us to do what?

take care of the whole world

Corruption

a problem of confucianism; li builds partiality into the state what stops it from becoming nepotism?

Doris’ attack

there are no robust character traits, situational elements play a major role- therefore there are no sprouts of morality.

Response to Doris from Confucianism

situationist elements have been already figured out by using Li.

Daoist objection

morality is not in your heart- one only speaks about morality during corruption and morality only hurts human nature.