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Philosophy 101
Confucianism
In the book, Twelve Theories of Human Nature, David L. Haberman introduces
Confucianism with a main focus on the Analects which he describes as "the most reliable source
of Confucius's ideas". Haberman notes that Confucianism is rooted in the common decency of
man and teaches obedience to superiors whilst giving these superiors a lot power and leaving the
taught majority in a subordinate position. Thus Haberman argues that Confucianism relies on the
morality of the heads of family and state which could be undermined if such heads of family and
state lack sufficient morality for just decisions. I agree with this argument because there is no
real indication of whether or not someone is morally correct especially prior to them obtaining
office because they have no track record to reflect on. Haberman also notes that Confucianism is
dependent on an elite of literati, the Confucian scholars, who study the past to find the guide to
moral perfection. Haberman then argues that there is a flaw since Confucianism uses the past as
a guide to becoming perfect morally, then certain groups could give privilege to their own view
of morality. I agree with this argument since Confucianism is based on exceptional morality,
then it would incline the scholars to be that of sages to not favor their own ideological agendas
and even Confucius did not think sages were very common. Overall, Haberman expresses
Confucianism as a pragmatic system of common decency that looks to the past for guidance to
moral perfection whilst leaving life's path to destiny and that it could be seen as restricting to
those that are more liberal or metaphysically focused.