Example research essay topic: Forced To Leave Political Philosophy - 1,584 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

Master Kung, also known as Kung Fu-tzu is known to be the Confucius of the west. He is one of the most well known philosophers in Chinese history. Confucianism has evolved so much over the years that no one knows the original thoughts of the master. Master Kung established a tradition of cultural values. Confucius wanted to attain a position in government so he could influence the ruler, thus helping him make wiser decisions. He was appointed to a governmental position in Lu but it was brief.

So he traveled the neighboring states hoping to attain another position, and he did but he often spoke his mind when he shouldn't have and was forced to leave again. When he returned home he realized that through his teaching he would be able to affect the people more. Confucius taught that all human affairs were structured by five relationships: father and son, husband and wife, elder and younger brother, ruler and official, and friend and friend. He had a major emphasis on the family because three of these relationships focus on the family. Confucius was more of a summarizer and rephrase of truths than an original thinker.

He focused on the relation of human being to human being and the relation of governor to governed. Confucius Life Confucius is described, by Sima Qian and other sources, as having endured a poverty-stricken and humiliating youth and been forced, upon reaching manhood, to undertake such petty jobs as accounting and caring for livestock. Confucius surname Kong (which means literally an utterance of thankfulness when prayers have been answered), his tabooed given name Qiu, and his social name Zhongni, all appear connected to the miraculous circumstances of his birth. We do not know how Confucius himself was educated, but tradition has it that he studied ritual with the Davis Master Lao Dan, music with Chang Hong, and the lute with Music-master Xiang. At the age of fifty, when Duke Ding of Lu was on the throne, Confucius' talents were recognized and he was appointed Minister of Public Works and then Minister of Crime. But Confucius apparently offended members of the Lu nobility who were with Duke Ding for power and he was subsequently forced to leave office and go into exile.

In any case, by most traditional accounts, Confucius returned to Lu in 484 BCE and spent the remainder of his life teaching, putting in order the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents. Book X of the Analects consists of personal observations of how Confucius thought himself as a thinker, teacher, and official. It has been regarded as providing an intimate portrait of Confucius and has been read as a biographical sketch. By the 4 th century BCE, Confucius was recognized as a unique figure, a sage who was ignored but should have been recognized and become a king. Confucius Social Philosophy While Confucius believes that people live their lives within parameters firmly established by Heaven-which, often, for him means both a purposeful Supreme Being as well as 'nature' and its fixed cycles and patterns-he argues that men are responsible for their actions and especially for their treatment of others. We can do little or nothing to alter our fated span of existence but we determine what we accomplish and what we are remembered for.

Confucius represented his teachings as lessons transmitted from antiquity. He claimed that he was "a transmitter and not a maker" and that all he did reflected his "reliance on and love for the ancients. " Certainly his claim that there were antique precedents for his ideology had a tremendous influence on subsequent thinkers many of whom imitated these gestures. But we should not regard the contents of the Analects as consisting of old ideas. Much of what Confucius taught appears to have been original to him and to have represented a radical departure from the ideas and practices of his day.

Confucius also claimed that he enjoyed a special and privileged relationship with Heaven and that, by the age of fifty, he had come to understand what Heaven had mandated for him and for mankind. (Lunyu 2. 4). Confucius was also careful to instruct his followers that they should never neglect the offerings due Heaven. (Lunyu 3. 13) Some scholars have seen a contradiction between Confucius' reverence for Heaven and what they believe to be his skepticism with regard to the existence of 'the spirits. ' But the Analects passages that reveal Confucius's attitudes toward spiritual forces (Lunyu 3. 12, 6. 20, and 11. 11) do not suggest that he was skeptical. Rather they show that Confucius revered and respected the spirits, thought that they should be worshipped with utmost sincerity, and taught that serving the spirits was a far more difficult and complicated matter than serving mere mortals. Confucius's oil philosophy largely revolves around the concept of ren, "compassion" or "loving others. " Cultivating or practicing such concern for others involved deprecating oneself. Those who have cultivated ren are, on the contrary, "simple in manner and slow of speech. " (Lunyu 13. 27).

For Confucius, such concern for others is demonstrated through the practice of forms of the Golden Rule: "What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others; "Since you yourself desire standing then help others achieve it, since you yourself desire success then help others attain it. " (Lunyu 12. 2, 6. 30). He regards devotion to parents and older siblings as the most basic form of promoting the interests of others before one's own and teaches that such altruism can be accomplished only by those who have learned self-discipline. Learning self-restraint involves studying and mastering li, the ritual forms and rules of propriety through which one expresses respect for superiors and enacts his role in society in such a way that he himself is worthy of respect and admiration. Subjecting oneself to ritual does not, however, mean suppressing one's desires but instead learning how to reconcile one's own desires with the needs of one's family and community. Confucius and many of his followers teach that it is by experiencing desires that we learn the value of social strictures that make an ordered society possible (See Lunyu 2. 4. ). Nor does Confucius' emphasis on ritual mean that he was a punctilious ceremonialist who thought that the rites of worship and of social exchange had to be practiced correctly at all costs.

Confucius taught, on the contrary, that if one did not possess a keen sense of the well-being and interests of others his ceremonial manners signified nothing. (Lunyu 3. 3). While ritual forms often have to do with the more narrow relations of family and clan, ren, however, is to be practiced broadly and informs one's interactions with all people. Confucius Political Philosophy Confucius' political philosophy is also rooted in his belief that a ruler should learn self-discipline, should govern his subjects by his own example, and should treat them with love and concern. "If the people be led by laws, and uniformity among them be sought by punishments, they will try to escape punishment and have no sense of shame. If they are led by virtue, and uniformity sought among them through the practice of ritual propriety, they will possess a sense of shame and come to you of their own accord. " (Lunyu 2. 3; see also 13. 6. ) Most troubling to Confucius was his perception that the political institutions of his day had completely broken down. He attributed this collapse to the fact that those who wielded power as well as those who occupied subordinate positions did so by making claim to titles for which they were not worthy. "Good government consists in the ruler being a ruler, the minister being a minister, the father being a father, and the son being a son. " (Lunyu 12. 11) If I claim for myself a title and attempt to participate in the various hierarchical relationships to which I would be entitled by virtue of that title, then I should live up to the meaning of the title that I claim for myself.

Confucius' analysis of the lack of connection between actualities and their names and the need to correct such circumstances is usually referred to as Confucius' theory of zheng ming. For Confucius, what characterized superior ruler ship was the possession of de or 'virtue. ' Conceived of as a kind of moral power that allows one to win a following without recourse to physical force, such 'virtue' also enabled the ruler to maintain good order in his state without troubling himself and by relying on loyal and effective deputies. The way to maintain and cultivate such royal 'virtue' was through the practice and enactment of li or 'rituals'-the ceremonies that defined and punctuated the lives of the ancient Chinese aristocracy. Confucius Sayings Confucius was a man who talked about the virtues and principles of life dealing with family, government, and work. These concepts were often reflected in his quotes. These are a few to ponder the mind: 1.

Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have. 2. It is not possible for one to teach others who cannot teach his own family. 3. He who merely knows right principles is not equal to him who loves them. 4. If you enjoy what you do, you " ll never work another day in your life. 5. They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.

Research essay sample on Forced To Leave Political Philosophy