Confucius 551-479 BC

Here is a website with selections from Confucius's Analects.

family name K’ung
personal name Ch’iu K’ung-tzu or K’ung-fu-tzu
Latinized name: Confucius

Confucius was very poor as a child, and yet:

–consciously pursued the scholarly life by age 15
–served in minor government positions until 19
–his education included ritual, music, calligraphy, arithmetic, poetry, history

Confucius began a teaching career of his own in his 30's. His teaching philosophy: all people could be improved through learning.
–learning was essential to moral improvement
–potential leaders in particular needed higher learning
–the life of learning was the best life
–learning was not just “education” but character building
–learning was for the sake of self-improvement but led to a duty to the public

Confucius wanted to be involved in and inform government

–politics is about moral persuasion
–government should improve the character of its citizens
–the virtue of kings/leaders was essential to the virtue of the people
–leaders and people needed to understand the meaning in old beliefs and rituals that backed up authority

Confucius met with mixed success. He was a great teacher, but he did not have the influence on government he hoped for. However, his influence has been deeply felt for centuries in Asian society, and continues to be very important.

Confucius was similar to Socrates on these points:

–he came from a simple background
–he thought learning was essential to moral improvement
–potential leaders in particular needed higher learning
–the life of learning was the best life
–learning was for the sake of self-improvement but led to a duty to the public
–politics is about moral persuasion
–government should improve the character of its citizens
–the virtue of kings/leaders was essential to the virtue of the people

Confucius was dissimilar to Socrates on these points:

–he thought all people could be improved through learning (Socrates was not so optimistic) This makes Confucius’s thought more “democratic.”
–he wanted to be directly involved in government, instead of simply critiquing it
–he thought leaders and people needed to understand the meaning in old beliefs and rituals that backed up authority (Socrates had no particular respect for traditions).