Confucius “The Analects”

From ancient time, the question of good and decent society has been the major concern in philosophical thought. Philosophers and political figure, clergy and common people have tried to answer the question “What makes of a good society?” Confucius creates its own values and moral rules changing understanding about a self and the decent society. His philosophy can be describes as a critical thoughtfulness which has a great influence on his world interpretation and views on decent society.

 Confucius states that individuals should be free from committing immoral acts.

“The man of virtue makes the difficulty to be overcome his first business, and success only a subsequent consideration;-this may be called perfect virtue" (Confucius, n.d.). Decent society can be constructed by doing what is right, and only when a person can reach the state of true utility he lives in a good society. All actions of people are aimed toward the positive, and purpose is in nature.

Confucius is against formal laws which limit freedom and welfare stating that only moral principles play a crucial role in social order.

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On the other hand, Confucius believes this to be a sort of self-deception, demeaning freedom and turning lives into something which is determined. “Extravagance leads to insubordination, and parsimony to meanness. It is better to be mean than to be insubordinate" (Confucius, n.d.). Every personal can be a leader if he keeps strong moral principles and values. Confucius underlines that if a person follows moral rules there is no need to guide this person.

Living opposed to such wisdom has caused stress and unnecessary war which led to social and moral decay. To do so one must make choices in the full recognition in order to become consciously free and take responsibility for actions. An inauthentic life on the other hand is that which pretends and tries to reject the idea that humans are free.

This approach is a very attractive one to take because freedom can be agonizing and people often make excuses to detach themselves from the choices they make. If the state guides and controls its citizens it deprives them freedom and free will which lead to stress. If people cannot control their needs and desires they can be compared with animal driven by instinct of self-preservation and fear. This leads to unnecessary wars and conflicts such as the thirty years war (1618-1648), Nazism, Napoleonic wars, etc. If rulers do not follow moral principles, it leads to wars.

Confucius states that a society should live nobly and in peace for at least a hundred years before people can count on the continuity of a society that remains noble and peaceful. This argument can be explained by the fact that a hundred years is a period of time when three generations of people will change each other living no space for old virtues and traditions. "If a truly royal ruler were to arise, it would stir require a generation, and then virtue would prevail" (Confucius, n.d.).

Their values, religious and ethical, reflect on their relationship to a higher order of existence, whether one perceives it as an eternal force, the universe, a defined spiritual entity, or a concept that answers to a basic human need for a sense of order behind the turbulent appearance of everyday life.  Notions of "the noble society" are based in the instinctual/intuitional self that has been covered over and ignored by modern thought (Jensen, 1997).

Any part of the world will resemble an utopian society because the society cannot be classless. Every society is based on the opposition between poor and rich classes, labor and capital, rulers and subordinates. Economic equality is impossible, because the core of the society is the division of labor and resources which determine social class and economic conditions of its citizens. Increased freedom causes frustration among members of the society because it limits their behavior and their attempts to satisfy their personal goals. Also, a society cannot exist without rulers and military, because it has to protect its citizens from foreign intervention.

References

1. Confucius The Analects. n.d. Available at: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/rel/conf/Analects.html
2. Jensen, L.M. Manufacturing Confucianism: Chinese Traditions & Universal Civilization. Duke University Press, 1997.