Pros And Cons Of Confucianism

Essay 1: The Default In Human Nature

The question of good or evil has plagued human thought for centuries. Every distinct society throughout history has had a unique philosophical mindset that guided the practices in structured daily life. The west was indoctrinating Christianity into their constructed idea of self; The east without psychologists or therapists had Confucianism to make sense of life. Philosophy like religion has a main objective that aims to explain what we experience within our reality; maintaining an undertone of contentment with the inevitable fate of death. We will first look at the two schools of thought within Confucianism. There is the idealist perspective that we are naturally good with social influences corrupting
our benevolence like a moving brook eroding us over time. In addition, we look at the contending realist perspective that we are born with evil intentions, and most work to achieve benevolence. The stance that this paper will maintain is of the latter. Human nature is inherently evil, in regard to the philosophical viewpoint of Confucianism. Firstly, the world view of Confucius is that we are constantly working to achieve Ren, hence indicating our current default setting is that of bad intentions. Secondly, we will look at the idea that nobody has achieved likeness of a sage in the eyes of the master, further affirming a default of evil. Finally, we will look at the change in default within our rulers, as the means to obtaining Shu within society; therefor consciously altering human nature brings about positive outcomes.

The generally accepted notion by idealist scholars, built upon by Mencius was that “Man is inherently good" (Stevenson 30). To solidify and further affirm this statement we are given the following thought experiment: “My reason for saying that no man is devoid of a heart sensitive to the suffering of others is this. Suppose a man was, suddenly, to see a young child on the verge of falling into a well. He would certainly be moved to compassion, not because he wanted to get in the good graces of the parents, nor because he wished for the praise of his fellow villagers or friends, nor yet because he disliked the cry of the child" (Stevenson 30). This reveals a pure impulse for righteousness over selfish profit. As is the norm for idealists, it is understood and agreed by Mencius that human beings are creatures of desires; however, they cling to a thought experiment that does not exhibit true rational reality. In this context or frame of thought the thinker must assume that selfish desire is what will eventually corrupt man's good heart if the moral imperative is not taken but in truth; there is a default of evil with a mindful decision to do what is right.

On the contrary, the realist camp empowered by the works of Hsun-Tzu contends “Man's nature is evil; goodness is the result of conscious activity"(Stevenson 31) The theory given is that there are four incipient tendencies for profit, envy, hatred and desire, which if left not intentionally subjected will turn into the four evils of strife, violence, crime, and wantonness.
What really strengthens the realist perspective is the idea that we can knowingly alter the default by conforming to the decree of heaven, that of having virtues; alternatively, resist the decree of heaven and maintain the default of sinful
nature.

If one is youthful today, man cannot stay youthful tomorrow for time is never constant; the only truth is the change. We do not have control of circumstances in life, but rather we are in control of how we act within the restraints shown to us. Fundamentally within Confucianism is the drive to forever be working, never idle in your pursuit. In the Analects, Kongzi said, “In the past, I have not eaten all day and not slept all night, my thoughts in turmoil, all to no advantage, it would have been better to study”(Ning 40) The key is not the working, but rather the pursuits that you work towards; constant molding to achieve ultimate moral perfection is the way to sage hood. So if the pursuits are keys, in a visual world. What do these keys look like? The way to sage hood and consequently, deviation from the default lays with knowledge, and ceremony. To achieve Ren you must submit yourself to the study of the past and the classics to obtain knowledge. The pursuit of sage hood within itself is omitting the default, the tendency to act without Jen or simply naturally evil. As is the case with most things in life, achieving sage hood is not a easy task, most will never build upon the default.

Kongzi advocated in attaining the decree of heaven, shaping one's self into a sage. However, Kongzi was pessimistic one could ever attain the decree of heaven,“I have no hopes in meeting a sage, although all human beings are potential sages, in reality, this is an uncommon occurrence. Most humans exist in a dreadful state"(Stevenson 21). If the master himself denounces human nature as virtuous but rather that it exists in the default state of evil how can the idealist contend the antitheses. At the very most master saw a gentleman to be a much more feasible aspiration, if one followed the rites (LI) and acted with benevolence (Jen). such a level of Ren.

The imperative that Confucianism tells is that society has its roles.
The respect of the filial piety within one's home will affect everything; like a pebble creating ripples in the water. If we are benevolent within our home, we shall as well show Jen in other facets of life. Those who have the right to rule, as not all men are created equal should therefor exhibit Ren. With Ren, the ruler like the ripple effect of upholding the filial piety can show Shu to his subordinates. “The rule of virtue is like the North Star, fixed in its position and surrounded by other stars” (Ning 66) The rule of virtue is very important with in Kongzi teachings “Lead through decree, control through punishment and the people will avoid punishment and be without shame; lead with virtue, control through propriety and there will be honor and character” (Ning 67) The idea is that a noble society, is created by changing the default of human nature in the ruler; Shu will flow into the lives of the
ruled.

When it comes to human nature we need to make conscious decisions to be benevolent, it then can only be said that the default in human nature is inherently evil; unless we are to alter the default settings. To change the defaults we need to practice within the rites, obtaining knowledge and honouring ceremony. The defaults make it extremely difficult to obtain sage hood but with knowledge, one can aspire to be a gentleman and no more a rogue. If those who ruled no longer ruled within the default but exhibited Ren, Shu will embrace the kingdom. (Default: not the only setting ~ Ctrl-Alt-Delete)