Socrates and Confucius
Socrates died 2,400 years ago. To be more specific, he was put to death, a criminal destined on a capital allegation. How gravely Athens took her philosophers! It plugs the contemporary intellectual by way of resentment more than fear that one may well die for such a reason (1).
Of Confucius, it was, on one occasion, asked: "Is he the one who knows that what he does is in vain yet keeps on trying to do so?" One really does not know if Confucius ever felt a sense of despair in the self-styled job of trying to put right the nature of other men; but in view of the fact that he was a dedicated teacher, had he been there to respond; he would have said: "Yes, I am the one who is true to himself (3)."
However, the official allegation that cost Socrates his life -- "Socrates is guilty of not believing in the gods the city believes in, and of introducing other strange divinities; and he is guilty of corrupting the young" -- has placed philosophers to presenting apologia forever since, as if in shielding Socrates as of this allegation philosophy can describe and appreciate itself (1).
Confucius, in his mid-fifties and thereon till a few years prior to his death (in 479 B.C.E. At the age of seventy-three) Confucius strolled about the Chinese kingdom, looking for and teaching those of all lessons who were enthusiastic to learn. Confucius said: "To learn and frequently practice what one has learned -- is this not a pleasure?" As for himself, he said: "To be able to acquire new knowledge while reviewing the old, qualifies one as an instructor of men. Knowing through silent reflection, learning without satiety, and teaching others without becoming weary -- these are the merits I claim (3)."
Socrates was a man of neither wealth nor individual beauty, the butt of the comedians of the day for his fit to bust eyes and overconfident walk. His style intelligence ran in the direction of old clothes and bare feet. Even his followers contrasted him to a satyr, an eerie combination of monster, man, and god. However, this man, as well-known then for cruelty as foremost ladies are at the present for beauty, has been the Helen of philosophy (1).
However, Confucius was constant in his reason by an authentic sense of "human-heartedness." In Confucian formation, this is the principle of jen -- its Chinese written nature a compound of man and two, evocative of one man carrying another, a representation on behalf of humanity. When asked in relation to the nature of jen, Confucius said: "There is one central idea that runs through all my teachings -- love men (3)."
With reference to Socrates, the majority of the major philosophical schools all through the initial six centuries subsequent to his death traced their genesis to Socrates, as well as energetically border lined additional claimants to the Socratic heritage. Stoics, Skeptics, and Cynics all pompously maintained him as their creator and looked to him as their excellent sage (1).
On the other hand, humanism is the alliance that runs all the way through all his teachings. It is the pleasant-sounding reference as of which all regularity in his system of moral precepts is sensibly attained. All the way through his teachings, Confucius is evidently saying, as he did specially on one occasion: "Without jen (benevolence) a man can not long endure adversity, nor can he long endure prosperity. A man of jen rests in jen, a man of wisdom finds it beneficial (3)."
The illumination established in him a hero and sufferer of independent cause, at the same time as Romanticism sensed the burn of his old blaze when it revived sarcasm as a fortunate vehicle of philosophy. Even at present, these are the two interpretive camps by means of which the still arguing heirs associate. It is not the most horrible way to measure whether philosophers are "analytic" or "continental" to ask them what they find most...
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