Axial period: Non-Western thought

Chinese Philosophy

Prelude

Chou (Zhou, Western) dynasty from around ~1000 B.C.E. to ~770 B.C.E.

Started off as a ‘Golden Age’, all was united under one rule

Eventually barbarians drove the Chou east and empire disintegrated Eastern Chou ~720 to

Independent states arose that were no longer loyal to the emperor Spring and Autumn period (722 to 481 BCE) Warring States period (5th century BCE to 221 BCE)

• Ended with unification of empire by the Qin

Chinese thought

Period of 100 philosophers Confucius Lao tzu (Laozi) Mo tzu (Mozi) Mencius (Mengzi) Hsun Tzu (Xunzi) Chuang tzu (Zhuangzi) Legalists

Confucius

b. ~551 BCE Master K’ung (Kung fu-tzu)

Western contemporaries Presocratics

• Heraclitus• Eleatics

• Xenophanes• Parminedes

• Pythagoras 4 stages of life

15-30 Learning period• ‘At fifteen I was bent on study; at thirty my mind was firmly established’

30-55 Teaching and Politics• ‘At 40 I had no doubts. At fifty I knew the will of the heavens.’

55-68 Traveling period• ‘At 60 my ear obeyed truth’• Sought to have political ideas put in practice by current rulers

68-72 Period of revision• ‘At 70 I could follow what my heart desired without transgressing what

was right.’• Back to teaching, founding of Confucian school of thought

Confucius

Offered a philosophy of man and society

Provides a doctrine of social order with emphasis on benevolence (ren) and propriety (li)

Saw himself as the preserver of a declining culture

Confucius: Governance

Confucian society Benevolence

Harmony of social relations, love of mankind• ‘In the practice of propriety, harmony is valuable’• “The superior man attends to the root of things. From the root

of things grows the Way. Filial piety and fraternal submission are the root of benevolence.”

Propriety Focus on adherence to traditional (Chou) ways which were

better and now lost• Key theme of ceremony, which entails all rites, customs,

manners, conventions, social etiquette (i.e. good manners) Feudal in nature, but with right action people would be happy

and at peace

Confucius: Conduct

The Ethics of the Sage Member of ruling class (a la Plato’s philosopher-king),

though his ethics would be considered universal outlined as follows: One must act as society dictates they should Love all men Treat others as oneself

• The single thread: likening-to-oneself• “Tzu-kung asked ‘Is there a single word which one could

act on all one’s life?’ The Master said ‘Wouldn’t it be likening-to-oneself? What you do not yourself desire do not do to others.”

• The golden rule Think highly of justice and despise benefit (personal

profit)• “Advance the upright and set aside the crooked.”

Confucius: Politics

Same idea of benevolence applies Benevolent government, virtuous rule

In favor of class distinction, but the rulers should be men of virtue Similar to Plato’s guardian “If he presides over them solemnly, they’ll revere him.

If he is filial and kind to all, they’ll be faithful to him. If he advances the good and teaches the incompetent, they’ll eagerly seek to be virtuous.”

Value education and culture, keep penalties at a minimum, such things will lead to a peaceful and content populace

Confucius: Knowledge

Education Emphasized learning over

innate knowledge Very few sages

Education should be equally available to all, regardless of class

Not just the passing of knowledge but the cultivation of virtue

Emphasis in applied science (practical concerns) over pure science

What you are acquainted with know it, and what you are not, acknowledge as such. This is true knowledge

Socrates

The Master said, "Yû, have you heard the six words to which are attached six becloudings?" Yû replied, "I have not.“

"Sit down, and I will tell them to you. "There is the love of being

benevolent without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to a foolish simplicity. There is the love of knowing without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to dissipation of mind. There is the love of being sincere without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to an injurious disregard of consequences. There is the love of straightforwardness without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to rudeness. There is the love of boldness without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to insubordination. There is the love of firmness without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to extravagant conduct."

Confucius: The Tao

The Tao Tao “the Way”

For Confucius the proper course of human conduct and organization of government exhibited by the rulers and societies of antiquity

Te “Power or Potency” Virtue of a thing in the manner of its purpose

• Recall Aristotelian entelechy, potentiality The capacity to act in accordance with the Way

The Golden Mean ‘The due medium is virtue, this is the highest attainment’ ‘To go too far is as bad as to not go far enough’ Aristotle’s later Doctrine of the Mean

Confucius: Summary

Valued human society highly, but neglected the world of nature for the most part Application over Theory ‘When I hear a man speak, I must also see

him act.’ Praised stability, harmony, unity, opposing

disorder and rebellion Promotion of spiritual needs over material The rewards of experience

Confucius says…

Lao Tzu & Taoist philosophy

6th century BCE (Laozi) ‘Old master’ ‘the old child’ Very little known about true author, supposed

contemporary of Confucius Tao Te Ching

The Way and its Power Only the Bible has been translated more (more

than 80 in English) Shift of focus to the individual, and how one

should respond to the world Although sometimes seen as rivals to Confucius,

in many instances the Taoists are more complementary

The opposites of the Pythagoreans Winning by yielding Doing nothing

Lao Tzu: the Tao What is Tao? Tao as Origin The No-thingness that gives rise to the infinity of nature (“the

10,000 things”) as experienced It was from the Nameless that Heaven and Earth sprang;

The named is but the mother that rears the ten thousand creatures, each after its kind. (1)

There was something formless yet complete,That existed before heaven and earth;

Without sound, without substance,Dependent on nothing, unchanging,

All pervading, unfailing.One may think of it as the mother of all things under heaven.

Its true name we do not know;Were I forced to say to what class of things it belongs

I should call it Great (25) For Tao is hidden and nameless.

Yet Tao alone supports all things and brings them to fulfillment. (41) Tao gave birth to the One;

The One gave birth successively to two things,Three things, up to ten thousand.

(42)’

Unlike the Prime Mover however, the creation is spontaneous and non-interfering

So there is the Tao that can be named (“the 10,000 things”) and the Tao which cannot, the formless yet complete nothing that was before, yet there is simply Tao

Lao Tzu: the Tao Tao as principle

That by which things become what they are

Non-Being vs. Being Being and Non-Being give birth

to one another Metaphysically different but

necessary to what is (Tao) Being as manifestation of Tao Things continuously change

according to a pattern, or Way, Tao, which is unchanging and eternal The changeless by which things

change

We put thirty spokes together and call it a wheel;But it is on the space where there is nothingThat the usefulness of the wheel depends.

We turn clay to make a vessel;But it is on the space where there is nothingThat the usefulness of the vessel depends.

We pierce doors and windows to make a house;And it is on these spaces where there is nothing

That the usefulness of the house depends.Therefore just as we take advantage of what is,

We should recognize the usefulness of what is not.

(11)

Lao Tzu: the Tao

Push far enough towards the Void,Hold fast enough to Quietness,

And of the ten thousand things none but can be worked on by you.I have beheld them, whither they go back.

See, all things howsoever they flourishReturn to the root from which they grew.

This return to the root is called Quietness;Quietness is called submission to Fate;

What has submitted to Fate has become part of the always so.To know the always-so is to be Illumined;

Not to know it, means to go blindly to disaster.He who knows the always-so has room in him for everything;He who has room in him for everything is without prejudice.

To be without prejudice is to be kingly;To be kingly is to be of heaven;To be of heaven is to be in Tao.

Tao is forever and he that possess it,Though his body ceases, is not destroyed.

(16)

Lao Tzu: the Tao

Nothing under heaven is softer or more yielding than water;But when it attacks things hard and resistant there is not one of them that can prevail.

For they can find no way of altering it. (78)

Tao as function Principle of Non-action

Action in accordance with Tao, Non-Action toward what goes against nature

Wei wu-wei: Action by Non-action Not so much what is done but the attitude: effortless spontaneity Egoless non-possessiveness

(Not) Doing is (Not) doing as Tao, effortless, spontaneous creation out of nothingness

Lao Tzu: the Tao Tao as virtue Act in accordance with nature

Truly, if one uses the Way as one's instrument,The results will be like the Way;

If one uses the “power” as instrument,The results will be like the “power”.

If one uses what is the reverse of the “power”,The results will be the reverse of the “power”.

For to those who have conformed themselves to the Way,The Way readily lends its power.

To those who have conformed themselves to the power,The power readily, lends more power.

While to those who conform themselves to inefficacy,Inefficacy readily lends its ineffectiveness.

“It is by not believing in people that you turn them into liars.” (23)

The sage is no-man, possessing nothing, nameless marked by being yielding, contentment, simplicity

I alone am inert, like a child that has not yet given sign;Like an infant that has not yet smiled.

I droop and drift, as though I belonged nowhere.All men have enough and to spare;

I alone seem to have lost everything.Mine is indeed the mind of a very idiot,

So dull am I…...

But wherein I most am different from menIs that I prize no sustenance that comes not from the Mother's breast. (20)

Lao Tzu: the Tao

Tao as technique Way of ruling

Treatment of all as equal, doing what is needed, not doing what is not

The Sage has no heart of his own;He uses the heart of the people as his heart.

Of the good man I approve,But of the bad I also approve,And thus he gets goodness.

The truthful man I believe, but the liar I also believe,And thus he gets truthfulness. (49)

By not-ruling, the state will be at peace

Mo Tzu and the Mohists

b. ~470 BCE (Mozi) Western contemporaries

Sophists Socrates

Most likely an artisan A reaction against Confucian teachings Explains benevolence (ren) through the concept of

Universal Love (jianai) So the first hippie was Chinese? Not exactly

Mo Tzu

Like we have seen with some Greeks, makes arguments by discussing alternatives and suggesting they are untenable

Some divergence from Confucians: Judges institutions by their utility rather than tradition

• Are they beneficial to people? Disagrees with their deterministic view that all has been

decreed by heaven Sees Confucians as overly extravagant and wasteful in their

rituals• Neglects those in need• Frugality a virtue

Find inconsistency and hypocrisy in their ideas of reverence for past

• E.g. those of the past engaging in those practices to begin with were clearly not doing what the Confucians are now, i.e. were creating their own customs

Disagreed that one should follow superiors/elders blindly

Also, they wear strange clothes and probably smell bad too.

Mo Tzu

Universal love Be nice to the nice people!

Outlines the idea of universal love and what it is not Concern for others, treating with respect, not harming

etc. vs. lying, cheating warring etc. Compares the individual engaging in universal love vs

not Confronts the argument that it can’t be done on the

large scale Was in the past Other changes have taken place on such a grand

scale even within a short time• People want to please their superiors

Mo Tzu

What is beneficial? What is harmful? lying, cheating warring etc.

Where do such harms come from? Lack of concern for others

We see that it is not conducive to living well, what do we replace such action with? Concern for others and a focus on mutual

benefit How so?

Act in accordance with universal love on all levels

Mo Tzu

The doctrine of universal love seems near Confucian concepts, but there are differences

Love without grades Confucians hold some, e.g. family, above

others Against classism

Results in insult and humiliation A main reason to engage in universal love

is so that it will be reciprocated Better than the alternative

Mo Tzu

Politics Embraced the trend toward centralization ‘Elevate worth and employ ability’

So though in favor of heavy government which provides a unifying morality, give the man his props

Promote those that do well (contrast Confucian seniority), and criticize those who don’t

Mo Tzu

Logic Note two forms of dialectic

One consists of truth propositions in which only one can be correct The other is more general and reflects concerns about what is right

• Mohist logic Several functions of a broad dialectic

Distinguish right and wrong Determine good vs. bad government Note similarities and differences Examine the principles of names and actualities Distinguish the beneficial from the harmful Determine the correct course of action to be taken

Forms of the general dialectic Imitation (model, theory) Comparison Parallel reasoning Analogy Induction (generalization) Refutation (falsification)

Mencius

~372–289 BCE Western contemporaries

Aristotle

Continued the ideas of Confucius Disciple of his grandson

Like Confucius held court with many rulers and officials but without much implementation of ideas

His ideas were more formally stated and worked through, compared to the aphorisms of Confucius

Mencius

With Mencius we see shifts in focus and some discrepancies with earlier Confucian ideas

For Confucius, all men are alike and only differ in training/education Mencius goes further to state that man is by nature good, however

this innate ability must be consciously recognized and developed “All men have a mind which cannot bear to see the suffering of

others” Also rejects fatalism of Confucius

Ceremony and ritual are now focused inward in acting virtuous 4 virtues: benevolence, right action (justice), propriety, and wisdom Although takes a different approach than Confucius, believes the

Mohists do not concern themselves enough with filial relations etc. Man can achieve virtuous state, in contrast to Confucian sages of

antiquity being the only ones having achieved it Our innate capacity for good allows for it

Mencius

Politics and Ethics Although more along the lines of Mohist universal love

than Confucian, was not as utilitarian as they Focused on the rights of others, unlike Confucius, in

terms of respect for others rather than Mohist consequences Do it because it is benevolent, right, not on calculation

of benefit Like others, believes good governance entails being a

compassionate ruler who strives to win his people’s support

Hsun Tzu

~310-237 BCE (Xunzi)

Ideas stem from and continue Confucian thoughts, but can be quite contrasting

The Confucian emphasis on propriety and humanity (benevolence) can be seen as split between Mencius and Hsun-Tzu Mencius focus on benevolence

• Man innately good Hsun Tzu focus on propriety

• Man is innately evil, requires ceremony, government for right action

Hsun Tzu

Heaven and Earth, separate from man, leave tools at his disposal with no instructions on how to use them

Human nature is evil, only through education, society and training does one acquire goodness

So for Mencius, we have the seeds for good and develop those

For Hsun Tzu, we have a predisposition toward evil but a capacity for good, and through our environment may become so

The role of government is to ‘keep us in line’ so to speak, i.e. allow for the cultivation of the good

Hsun Tzu

Like Aristotle, focus of our being resides in the heart ‘Good’ men have natural desires that tend them

towards such Use their heart to control impulses

Others follow their bad (i.e. anarchic) nature Hsun-tzu continues with the Confucian emphasis on

morality or right action along with ceremony Morality is the defining characteristic of the individual,

ceremony places restrictions on man’s natural inclinations

Hsun Tzu

Logic Theory of naming

• See Mohists Function of names are to note similarities and

differences, and to denote actualities Actualities primary, names secondary General names, and classifying names which are

extensions of those names E.g. ‘thing’ as the most general name

3 fallacies regarding names Using names to confuse names Using actualities to confuse names Using names to confuse actualities

Chuang Tzu

~4th century BCE (Zhuangzi) Western contemporaries

PlatoAristotle

Irrationalist Continued the Taoist trend though a

bit different approach than seen with Lao Tzu*

*We’re not actually sure he followed Lao Tzu

Chuang Tzu

Written with fables, allegories, metaphors, analogies… becomes a playful exposition of Taoist thought

Written from varying points of view on positions, often misleading as to which his might be, and even ending with no resolution (another question)

Focus on the individual experiencing Tao The person is necessary to experience Tao,

and once the knowledge is gained it must then be forgotten

Chuang Tzu

Tao simply is, and is without distinction; in fact, one cannot make distinctions whatsoever.

“One night, Zhuangzi dreamed of being a butterfly — a happy butterfly, showing off and doing things as he pleased, unaware of being Zhuangzi. Suddenly he awoke, drowsily, Zhuangzi again. And he could not tell whether it was Zhuangzi who had dreamt the butterfly or the butterfly dreaming Zhuangzi. But there must be some difference between them! This is called 'the transformation of things'.”

“How do I know that enjoying life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death we are not like people who got lost in early childhood and do not know the way home?”

“I go nowhere and don't know how far I've gotten. I go and come and don't know where to stop. I've already been there and back, and I don't know when the journey is done. I ramble and relax in unbordered vastness; Great Knowledge enters in, and I don't know where it will ever end.”

Just as the Tao is unnamable, it is impossible to classify that which is in fact Tao

“Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!”

Chuang Tzu

Ethics Such lack of distinction carries over into Chuang Tzu’s

ethics There is no true basis for distinguishing right from

wrong The sage keeps his heart in a state of indifference,

and engages in non-action to allow things to go their natural way

“Right is not right; so is not so. If right were really right it would differ so clearly from not right that there would be no need for argument. If so were really so, it would differ so clearly from not so that there would be no need for argument. “

“The life of things is a gallop, a headlong dash – with every movement they alter, with every moment they shift. What should you do and what should you not? Everything will change of itself, that is certain!”

Legalism

Amoral science of statecraft As wars increased among the states, rulers

became more distant from the philosophy of those like Confucius and Mo Tzu, instead preferring more practical approaches

Legalists sought to impose order through the construction of laws which serve the state and ruler Punishment and reward

Han Fei

Legalism

Legalists rejected the institutions of the past Different customs from the past, we have no basis for

adhering to one over the other What works now?

Forward looking, took an evolutionary approach to understanding the past Must adapt to change

Man is motivated chiefly through self-interest Not really good or bad

‘Anti-egoism’ based on human nature (self-interest), as opposed to Confucian patriarchal morals Being selfless and adhering to law is the manner in

which to judge man Virtue is living in accordance with the state’s interests

Legalism

Han Fei’s metaphysics and dialectics Attempted to put legalism in the context of the Taoism

of Lao Tzu (even lapsed into verse a la Tao Te Ching) Notion of pattern and opposites that we have seen

also among the Greeks Opposites form an underlying unity (continuum) to

which things belong It is in the nature of things to change

With human beings, they are easily prone to extremes and at such points their weaknesses are born out

Knowledge is understanding of the determinants of change

Although in an ideal state people would not require a ruler, desires of the ruler result in the impossibility of rule by non-action In this sense, anti-Taoist