Question 3: Confucian Ethics
Confucian ethics is developed from the philosophy of Confucius, who is believed to have lived between 551 BC and 479 BC. A Chinese teacher and philosopher Confucius is well known for his quotations that are a little more that considered usual. To some extent, his quotes are considered unusual. He had a way of developing ethical standards among his students and disciples drawing from unusual inferences, aphorisms and allusions. His philosophy emphasized on morality on the part of the government and personality. He taught on values of correct behavior, emphasized on the development of social relationships, the need for justice and sincerity in leadership and societal interactions (Riegel, 2012). This paper analyses Confucius’s ethics by presenting several of his teachings by analyzing a few of his quotes. Subsequently, the discussion weighs the relevance of Confucian ethics against conventional ethical standards pointing out the relevance and usefulness of Confucian ethics in inculcating values and morals.
Confucius’s principles were based on Chinese traditions and beliefs that champion family loyalty, worshiping of ancestors, respect for husbands by women and respect for parents by children. A lot has been attributed to Confucius in the development of value systems in China for instance; he is believed to have conjectured the early form of the golden rule when he was quoted saying “do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.”As a matter of fact majority of Confucius quotes are used in everyday experiences among the Chinese and other people in the world as well. In another instance when a disciple of his asked him if there is one word that a person can infer on for guidance throughout life Confucius’s answer was affirmative. He gave the word reciprocity and continued to explain that people should never impose on others what they would not want done to them. The negative form of the golden rule as used herein by Confucius has made this quotation be known as the silver rule. None the less it is as well very precise and elaborate in its transmission of wisdom and hence inculcating values among people (Karyn, 2007).
In one of his well-known conversations that have been recorded in history Confucius converses with a governor who tells him of a person in her village by the name true person who was dedicates to truthfulness and held this principle quite highly. On one, occasion when true person’s father stole a sheep he reported his father to the authorities. Confucius’s reply to the governor was that true people in his village conducted themselves differently where a father covers his son and vice versa in true lies. Such quotes were characteristic of Confucius’s teachings emphasizing on ethics through loyalty and allegiance to family and country (Karyn, 2007).
His greatest teachings on ethics and moral standings can best explain Confucius ethics emphasizing on the superiority of personal exemplifications over explicit rules of behavior and or code of conduct. Unlike many philosophers Confucius ethics did not focus on following the rules or even developing of knowledge around rules. For this reason, the ethics developed by Confucius are considered as somewhat virtual ethics since they cannot be attached to any formalities in the community. His moral teachings emphasized on emulation of moral examples and the employment of skilled judgment drawing from exceptional example. His teachings taught on self-reliance to act morally or rather the need to look within oneself and depend on the self in making appropriate decisions in regard to moral values. Hence, Confucian values are not based on moral standards that society place on issues or individuals, rather Confucius principles are based on hidden meanings that can be indirectly inferred to project particular levels of morality in society. Confucius’s quotes entailed majorly issues of family, loyalty and politics and leadership where he employed allusions, innuendos and tautology to create quotes that had hidden meaning in order to cultivate culture and ethics among individuals in the society. He also used his everyday experiences to develop intelligent quotes that people could draw wisdom from and generate or inculcate values of humanity and morality. For instance, in one occasion when Confucius learns of a fire that jetted down the stables his response to the tragedy is based on a question. He asks if anyone was hurt in the incident. To this end he moves the people’s attention from holding value in property and to appreciating the value of human life instead. This is because he does not mention the loss incurred when the horses in the stable were burnt to ashes. Therefore, through this he instills knowledge in people that generates values in them developing their morals as well. For this reason, Confucius’s values are considered as an exemplification of humanism due to the values of humanity that they project.
Confucius ethics is, therefore, concerned majorly with virtues to the self in sincerity particularly in the cultivation of knowledge. This is based on the premise that the importance of cultivation of knowledge in one’s sincerity develops competence in the understanding of the values that one holds rather than just take them as rules that are imposed on you to follow without question. Confucius ethics has various applications in everyday life and for this reason have been used by different philosophers to explain certain aspects of social, political and economic issues in society. However, not all persons believe that Confucius ethics applies in the three spheres of life (economics, society and politics) in Confucianism is regarded as more of a religion. Yeh and Lawrence (1995) explain that Confucius principles cannot be used to explain economic growth as they lack a definite connection between them to be termed as sufficiently related. Nonetheless, the values that the Confucius ethics present can be utilized to shape behavior but due to the unusual nature in approach to the development of ethical standards Confucius ethics are mostly sidelined in formal education and cultivation of ethical standards among communities in China and across the globe. Nonetheless, this does not imply that Confucian ethics has no applications in today’s society and situations. As a matter of fact Confucian ethics are used today in various fields one of which is in medicine where the patient-doctor relationship has been built and or tailored around Confucian values and belief. This is because the doctor patient relationship is one mutuality in terms of participation. This puts the doctor and the patient at equal responsibility where the patient is aware of the value of their own life and can be able to make healthy decisions affecting them rationally without having to rely purely on the take of the doctor. This ideology is based on Confucius’s concept of persons that are based on the Chun-tze theory that he developed. According to the theory, the Chu-tze refers to the morally upright person who is a combination of two ideals namely; the autonomous person and the relational person. The values in the teaching are such that an individual is not only free human being in themselves but they are part of systems and society in which they make contributions that result in the promotion of the welfare of one another and the welfare of the society as a whole (Fu-Chang, 2001).
More importantly, Confucian ethics provides alternative means to the conventionally acclaimed and widely used means of communicating ideas to individuals in regard to the development of morals, values and standards of ethical behavior in society. Moreover, Confucian ethics differs from the conventional framework that is usually adopted for the transmission of cultures through the effective use of unusual allusions, innuendos and tautology. The Confucian ethics may not fall under what is considered normal or acceptable in teaching ethical values, but the result is the same as that of other conventional means of inculcating values and beliefs on persons. Hence, the relevance in the contribution that Confucian ethics has made cannot be underestimated. With regard to the question on whether to support or not to support the Confucian way of inculcating ethics as opposed to the norm; it is of absolute importance to recognize that the Confucian ethics are built around individual introspection through which one can draw inferences to develop values and morals. Therefore, Confucian ethics should be utilized for individual purposes where one can be left to draw inferences on them so as to gauge for themselves the need to develop certain values and morals. Notwithstanding, this should not imply that an individual inferring on Confucian ethics should ignore conventional rules and means for ethical development and learning. Rather, the different forms of ethical inculcation should be utilized hand in hand with Confucian ethics to develop individuals on a well-rounded aspect of ethical standards.
Generally, the discussion has presented an overview of the Confucius ethics delving into the differences that there is between its approaches in inculcating morals and values among individuals in comparison to conventional means for inculcating ethical behaviors. Centrally, the discussion finds that Confucian ethics though with unusual approach in teaching morals and values equally generate moral standards among individuals in society as much as other widely acceptable ethical teachings approaches do. Hence, Confucian ethics are essential in society especially for the individual for inference in developing ethical values as presented.
References
Fu-Chang, D. (2001). How Should Doctors Appproach Patients? A Confucian Reflection on Personhood. Journal of Medical Ethics, 27, 44 - 50. Retrieved 6 14, 2014, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1733353/pdf/v027p00044.pdf
Karyn, L. (2007). Understanding Confucian Ethics: Reflections on Moral Development. Australian Journal of Professional and Applied Ethics, 9(2), 21 - 27. doi:ISSN: 1328-4576.
Riegel, J. (2012). Confucius. Retrieved 6 14, 2014, from The Stanford encyclopedia of Philosophy Spring 2012 Edition: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2012/entries/confucius/
Yeh , R.-S., & Lawrence , J. J. (1995). Individualism and Confucian Dynamism: A Note on Hosfede's Cultural Root to Economic Growth. Journal of International Business Studies, 655 - 669. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490191
