Asian Philosophy Midterm

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Basic similarities of Asian philosophies: 1) All attempt to capture features that we normally don t pay attention to. 2) All claim our lives are fraught with danger because we ignore #1. 3) All provide guidance on how to avoid hazards. Major philosophical traditions developed in China when the society was in dark times. There were intense rivalries between the states, with brutal and bloody wars wreaking havoc on the society. Because of the accompanying widespread government corruption and a breakdown of social order and moral decline, these were among the darkest times in China s history. This state of society influenced philosophers because they recognized the need for social reform. There are six major schools of Chinese philosophy. Confucianism is a humanistic philosophy that advocates the personal development of moral virtue. Daoism is a philosophy emphasizing the need to return to nature. It focused on nature and the natural order of things. Legalism postulates that humans are
evil and need to be controlled using laws in order to prevent chaos. Moism focused on immediate benefits to society and universal love. promotes universal love with the aim of mutual benefit. Everyone must love each other equally and impartially to avoid conflict and war. Yin-Yang School advocated that the universe functions through the polarities of yin(negative) and yang(positive) forces. It proclaimed that by realizing how things change naturally we can improve our lives. The School of Names reflected on language in

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ancient China centered on names and their relation to stuff.

4. The Mohist objection to Confucianism was that there should be universal love not hierarchies and kinship. Confucians would respond to this by saying ________ The Legalist objection to Confucianism would be

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The Daoist objection to Confucianism would be

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Confucians thought that society would become peaceful and harmonious when people practiced moral self-cultivation. They believed that is it possible to transform oneself and all of society through the cultivation of virtue, and that this is necessary if society and the individual are to flourish. A junzi is the ideal gentleman. He maintains a superior ethical and moral position while gaining inner peace through being virtuous. Ren is the ultimate virtue. It is human heartedness, compassion, benevolence. Ren is what makes us human. Ren is seeing the worth and value of others and treating them accordingly. It is respecting the dignity of human life.

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Li is propriety and etiquette. It is necessary because it is the outward expression of ren. Xiao is filial piety. It is reverence, love, loyalty to parents. It important to society because the family unit is the most important for a stable environment. Yi is righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. It is one s moral sense of right from wrong. Connects with other virtues

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Confucius believed in the rectification of names. He thought that names were not merely descriptions, and that they carried normative aspects. It would lead to a harmonious society because everyone would know their role.

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Mengzi and Xunzi both believed in the fundamental principles of Confucianism. They believed in moral cultivation, that ren could be developed, and that junzihood can be achieved by everyone. Mengzi emphasized the virtue of yi because he thought having a strong moral compass was the most important. Mengzi believed that all humans are inherently good. He thought that all people were born with nuggets of virtue. Mengzi s ideal Confucian government would be very limited. His ideal government would be a sovereign ruler that provided decent political and economical conditions. He thought the ruler should provide a good environment and it turn the people would be loyal. Mengzi believed that evil came as a result of a person s environment. He thought we all had the capacity to be good and moral but we need the proper conditions. Evil is a result of external influences. Xunzi emphasized Li because society would be chaos without it. He thought emotional nature is contrary to courtesy and humility. Xunzi believed that all people were born evil. Evil means selfinterested. He thought people all had times were they would be selfish and seek out satisfaction, for example if they were cold or hungry. Xunzi s ideal government would be very strict and very involved. There would be regimented wide scale rules for behavior. He would have to overcome the evil of human nature and embed Li in the government to get people to behave. Blunt metal must be ground to be sharpened.

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