Midterm <3 Flashcards
(62 cards)
1
Q
Historical Context
What dynasty?
A
The Zhou Dynasty
- Wester Zhou (1045-771 BCE)
- Eastern Zhou (771-256 BCE)
- Spring and Autumn Era (771-465 BCE)
- The Warring States Era (475-221)
2
Q
Confucius
A
- real name: Kongzi
- lived during the spring and autumn era, a time of political division and warfare
- returned to his hometown Lu as a failure, his reverence came after his death
- Analects - composite text compiled by his students
3
Q
Confucius’s teaching method
A
- applied wisdom flexibly to the situation instead of blanket statements
- gives us a method of cultivating sensitivity rather than a playbook or code of conduct
4
Q
Confucius: Ritual
A
- rituals bring people together and teach us how to behave in different roles
- help restrain us and make us better people need to be carried out thoughtfully and meaningfully, not just going thru the motions
- rituals can be altered when appropriate
5
Q
Confucius: History and Tradition
A
- the ancient past (early western zhou) was an important source of knowledge, wisdom, and practice
- apply lessons learned from the past to the present, develop them where appropriate - develops organically
6
Q
Confucius: the Living and the Dead
A
- Confucius preferred thinking about living humans and their ethical obligations rather than the deceased ancestors or spiritual powers
- did believe in rituals for dead and supernatural but we also have obligations to humans
7
Q
Confucius and goodness
A
- Ren is the highest virtue
- Ren (goodness, humaneness) meant figuring out how to act in a way that benefited others and not just oneself
- not enough to do the right thing, must be for the right reasons
- not enough to do good, you must be good
- get joy from helping people
- if you’re a failure but a good person then don’t worry about the reward - ill-gotten success is not real success
8
Q
Confucius - what are the hallmarks of morally superior people? (sages and gentlemen)
A
ritual and goodness
9
Q
Confucius and Family and Society
A
- the success of family and state were mirrored in each other
- responsibilities to family more important than duty to non-relations
- a moral person would support a healthy family, which in turn would contribute to.a healthy society and strong state
10
Q
Confucius and virtue ethics
A
Confucius was a virtue ethicist, wondering how can I be a good person who lives well, and therefore does good things
- more concerned with being a good person rather than how to have good actions, that will follow
11
Q
Confucius and Role
A
- believed our ethical obligations depend on the role(s) we are in
- we have multiple, overlapping identities, and we have moral obligations to be the best versions of whatever role we occupy
12
Q
Confucius and Xiao
A
Xiao: filiality - important virtue to Confucius
- filiality- relationship of a child to a parent
13
Q
Confucius and Particularism
A
- Confucius was. a particularist, believed ethical conduct has to be tailored to the particular situation at hand
14
Q
Confucius and Learning Goodness
A
- believed all people could and should work on themselves to become good
- seemed to think that humans require training to become good, not a natural trait
15
Q
Mozi
A
- lived during 5th century BCE
- traveled during Warring States era
- Mohist/Mohism Philosophy
16
Q
The afterlife of Mohist Philosophy
A
- popular in Warring States era, gradually declined and became scattered and lost
- very misunderstood/ignored
- appreciated today for its use of consequentalism and logic
17
Q
Goals of Mohism
A
- put an end to the chaos of the Warring States
- ensure people were fed and secure, avoid unnecessary wars, poverty, depopulation, and social chaos
- lashed out on his rivals who he saw as lazy, careerist hypocrites who only wanted to benefit themselves (Confucius and his followers)
18
Q
Mozi and Consequentialism
A
- more interested in actions and outcomes than what makes a person good
- judged action by amount of benefit it brought to the greatest # of people
- believed he could train people to change their habits and behavior through rewards and punishments, eventually changing their character
19
Q
Mozi - reward and punishments vs Confucius
A
Mozi: believed he could train people to change their habits and behavior through rewards and punishments, eventually changing their character
Confucius: believed that you could not force someone to the “Way
20
Q
Mozi and Impartial Caring
A
- caring for others regardless of who they were and their relationship to you
21
Q
Mozi - Impartial Caring vs Confucius
A
Mozi: care for others regardless of the relationship
Confucius: greater duty of care to our parents and relatives
22
Q
Mozi and Heaven’s Will
A
- Heaven, ghosts, and spirits are active in our lives: watching, judging, and taking action to either reward or punish us accordingly
- the good will always be rewarded and the bad will always be punished
- dismissed Confucius and his followers as fatalists (all events are inevitable, so choices and actions don’t matter)
23
Q
Mozi and Heaven vs Confucius
A
Mozi: believed Heaven played an active role in our life, and rewards and punishes people
Confucius: heaven more of an overseer, and the good are not always rewarded
24
Q
Mozi and Moderation and Avoidance of War
A
- offensive war is bad, only endorsed defense
- believed in moderate rituals - funerals, music, and expenditure didn’t bring the greatest amount of benefit to the greatest amount of people
- these things cost time, energy, and money, that could be better spent elsewhere in ways that benefited everyone
25
Mozi and Meritocratic Hierarchy
- heaven was supremely virtuous, appointing virtuous kings who appointed virtuous ministers, etc.
-good people and even rulers could come from anywhere, important to raise up the good and weed out the bad
- doesn't believe in nepotism and elitism - this is the impartial caring portion
26
Mozi and the Three Gauges
- a standardized system of ethics based on three questions
1. did the sage kings act in this way?
2. have people throughout history actually heard of such a phenomenon?
3. If this were implemented as a policy would it benefit the greated number of people
- Mozi emphasized people following different virtue standards leads to chaos, crucial to follow the three gauges
27
Circular Logic of Mohist Views
- lessons of the past had to be tested against the present
- something could satisfy gauge 1 but not gauge three - however there is circular logic, if the sage-kings did it in the past then it would be to the benefit of the greatest number of people
28
Mohist v Confucian Methodolody
Confucius: a virtue ethicist and particularist
- virtuous people perform virtuous acts
Mozi: a consequentalist and generalist
- anyone can use the system of the 3 gauges to arrive at the best course of action
29
Common ground between Mozi and Confucius
- wanted us to put the needs of others before our own interests
- wanted to raise up the good and weed out the bad
- believed the past was crucial
- believed people could change and weren't fixed in human nature
30
Mengzi
- lived during fourth century BCE
- defended Confucius' legacy, after Mengzi died he was recognized as the "second sage"
- was a virtue ethicist and particularist like Confucius
31
Mengzi and Human Nature
- human nature is good
we have to cultivate and nourish the inner sprouts of virtue that all humans have
- must fulfill our destiny to be good
- bad environments make for bad people, but that's no excuse
32
Mengzi and Profit
- calculations of profit/benefit are unnatural and don't allow us to react sensitively in the way each particular situation demands
- thought impartial caring (Mohists) was unnatural and therefore could not be moral
33
Mengzi and Qi
- Qi is the matter/stuff of the universe endowed by Heaven
- different entities (people, animals, objects) have different kinds/amounts/ distributions of Qi
- in addition to cultivating the sprouts of inner virtue we must balance and harmonize our natural store of qi by acting virtuously
34
Mengzi and the Heart-Mind
- honest, careful contemplation and reflection will lead us to moral acts because our human nature is good, we have to try no excuses
- though not necessarily bad, we mustn't let our desires for food, sex, etc. cloud our hearts and what we know is right
35
Mengzi and Heaven
- Heaven endows us with our qi and xing (nature)
- Heaven is moral but not particularly active or predictable (closer to Confucius than Mozi)
36
Laozi
- political philosophy
- not about peace, love, and understanding, it is politically engaging
- Taoism
37
Laozi and the Way
- the Way of Laozi is the way: a cosmic entity that exists at the basis of all things in the universe, the source of life, death, and the universe itself
- subtle, silent, formless, constant, but ever changing
- must brings our minds bodies and actions into harmony with the Way
38
Laozi and Water
- pervasive water imagery in the Laozi
- like water, humans should follow the natural course of things
- water's strength lies in its softness and fluidity; it transforms things over time
39
Laozi and Wuwei
- Wuwei: no forced action
- advocates stillness, waiting,
- don't be proactive, act only in response, act with the grain of the world not against it
40
Laozi and False Distinction
- virtues such as ritual, wisdom, humaneness are not necessarily true virtue, they are man-made terms that lead us away from the Way
- thinks they are self serving concepts that leads to hypocrisy and delusions
- true virtue: harmonizing with the Way
41
Laozi and Suspicion of Language
- maybe all words are misleadings
- don't focus on words or external forms; focus on that which is silent and invisible instead
- the Way cannot be fully communicated through language; it is ever-changing and cannot be pinned down
42
Laozi and Embracing Stupidity
- what passes for knowledge, learning, and wisdom is all fake; better to be foolish
- better to embrace simplicity and even stupidity
- refuses to participate in history --- prioritizes cosmology, the beginning of the universe
43
Laozi and the Feminine
- the Dao gave birth to the universe like a mother
- the Dao is soft yielding, dark, and quiet (yin energy)
- vaginal imagery: empty spaces that accommodate and yield
44
Laozi and Politics
- subtle command and control
- domination through manipulation rather than force
- keep people ignorant and operate silently
- respond and react don't act willfully
- exert influence without people realizing
45
Zhuangzi
- said to have lived in fourth century BCE but almost unknown outside of the text
- not responsible for bulk of the text, could be entirely fictional
- trying to shock us out of our old, stale routines and bad habits
- alternative ways of understanding life
46
Zhuangzi, the text, and polyvocality
- not a sustained argument but a patchwork of themes, ideas, images, stories, and observations
- different voices (historical figures, creatures, beggars, robbers, etc. engaged in conversations
- poking fun at authority and mocking convention
- humorous and sarcastic
- takes citation of historical precedent and quotations from texts to an absurd extreme
47
Zhuangzi - afterlife of the text
- literary as well as philosophical influence
- influenced poetry, painting, and fiction
- later seen along with the Laozi as the fountainhead of "Daoism"
48
Zhuangzi - and false distinctions and multiple perspectives
- very reminiscent of the Laozi; abandon false distinctions such a success/failure, life/death, beauty/ugliness etc.
- goal is not to achieve immortality but to live out one's allotted lifespan in contentment
- life and death are a part of the same unity, so death is nothing to be feared.
- embrace all perspectives and see things from different angles
49
Zhuangzi and language
- follows Laozi's suspicion of language
- plays around with words, using language to mock conventional virtue
- words are a means to an end, not the end itself
50
Zhuangzi and Skepticism and Relativism
Skepticism: we can never truly know anything for sure
Relativism: objective truth does not exist, it all depends on your point of view
- knowledge is not gained through words or doctrine but through practice in concert with the Way
51
Zhuangzi and Transformation and Adaptability
- the Way is in flux and we should follow it
- go with the flow, not against the grain
- be responsive, reactive, and adapt to change; don't act forcefully
- be open to the possibilities available to use in the world and find joy in them
52
Zhuangzi and Uselessness and Muddle-headedness
- being useless allows us to go unnoticed
- standing out from the crowd can be dangerous
- success has its downsides; does it really bring happiness
- muddle your way through life and you might be happier for it
53
Zhuangzi and Serving
- ambivalence about government service
- not about reclusions or disengaging politically, but engaging in the richest fullest way possible
- keep your heart-mind open to the possibilities of constantly flowing Way
54
Yang Zhu
- Fourth Century BCE
- we know nothing about him, except what is recorded in other texts
- cannot even be sure he really existed
55
Yang Zhu and Egoism
- psychological egoism: we can only act out of self-interest (descriptive, not accepted by serious philosophers)
- psych egoism describes a state of affairs as it exists
- ethical egoism: we ought to act only out of self interest (prescriptive, more valid)
- ethical egoism describes a state of affairs that should exist
56
Yang Zhu and Human Nature
- our human nature derives from Heaven and must be preserved at all costs
- acting out of self interest is for everyone, not just ruler
- Following the Way of Heaven means following our human nature, indulging in pleasure and putting ourselves first
57
Yang Zhu and Human Nature v Mengzi and Mozi
Yang Zhu: out human nature is not to be nourished but followed and indulged
- Mengzi: human nature should be nourished
Yang Zhu: pursuing profit/benefit is a good thing, not a bad thing
Mengzi: diagrees
Yang Zhu: it is about profiting/benefitting yourself not others
Mozi: consequentialist - believes it is more important to do cost-benefit analysis for the greatest amount of people
58
Yang Zhu and Robber Zhi
- contained in a chapter of Zhuangzi
- takes aim at the hypocrisy of Confucius, with his insistence on ritual, ethics, and cultivation
- better to follow our natural inclination towards pleasure and self interest, Egoism is the way to live long, happy lives
- Robber Zhi: a man who pilages, murders, rapes and Confucius in the story confronts him with his ethics. Robber Zhi tells Confucius, you are a complete loser, why would I care? What are the benefits of virtue?
- Robber Zhi has an anarchist view, more likely to live out a happy life of contentment and fulfillment
59
Deontology
actions have inherent rightness and wrongness, murder is inherently wrong, no matter what the context is, no matter what a good person would do and no matter what the consequences are
60
Confucius
Study and Practice
Ritual and the Past
Goodness and Humaneness
Heaven, Ghosts, and Ancestral Spirits
Individuals, families, society, and the state
The Way (Dao)
Human Nature??
61
Mozi
Profit/Benefit
Three Gauges
Heaven's Will
Rewards, Punishments, and Potential for Change
Impartial Caring and Hierarchy
Warefare
Rituals, Music and Expenditure
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