The last two systems of thought in our Ancient Philosophy unit are Chinese Confucianism and Greek Stoicism. They take opposite perspectives on society as a source of morals and values. Please watch the videos below and add notes on Confucianism and Stoicism to your Unit I section.
-For Confucians, who oppose the nature-based philosophy of Taoism, preserving social order is always the most important thing. This means hierarchy, tradition, loyalty and ritual are key. -For Stoics, who are inspired by the anti-social thinking of Diogenes, society cannot provide us with satisfaction. Instead of striving for status, we should pursue inner peace at all costs But despite this difference, Confucianism and Stoicism both emphasize self-control as the way to bring about harmony between individuals and their environment. Which philosophy do you think is more likely to bring about a more harmonious existence if followed today, and why? (Extra credit) ________________________________________________________________________________________________
14 Comments
Ryan munzlinger
10/9/2016 04:03:52 pm
Which one is best to have and sustain a harmonious society. Well Confucianism to me is some sounds like a over bearing control freaks idea. Where everything has to be set in stone nothing can be out of place and if it is then everything is a failure. Then there is stoicism which I picture as a non caring person just has absolutely no emotion or passion for anything. I don't think either can lead to a harmonious society. If everyone was control freaks then there would be way to many rules and boringness no creativity. If society where 100% stoicism then there would be no control over anything. There would be a lot of crime. If I had to choose I would choose the stoics because where all gonna end up in the ground and we can't control that. Weather or not there's an after life or not is another thing. But I wanna live my life the way I wanna live it no rituals no order just an absolute free for all. Will it create harmony probably not so the one to create a harmonious would most likely be Confucianism. There both on the extremes like one is control everything the other is whatever with everything. There needs to be a compromise between both. And that would create a little order but not to much to where people can live life as it is.
Reply
Emily Fitzgerald
10/9/2016 04:10:04 pm
I think that Confucianism is more likely to bring about a more harmonious existence if it were practiced today. Stoicism promotes isolation from society as a whole, which to me blocks any sort of obtainable harmony. Yes it probably helps with becoming in touch with oneself, but cutting yourself out of society as a whole seems extreme. I think that Confucianism is easier to practice without completely distancing oneself from society. Someone can easily make time to become in touch with nature each day, without the extremities that Stoicism demands. It's easy to incorporate time to sit and get in touch with nature each day, making Confucianism easy to incorporate into daily life. This to me adds the most harmony.
Reply
Izzy Halloran
10/9/2016 04:09:58 pm
While Confucius presents a few great points on how we should conduct our lives, Stoicism would benefit the people of today because Confucius’ ideas are too focused on the past. Confucius believes in the blind following of leaders. His philosophy that some people are superior to others would not make for a unified and prosperous society. I like the honesty of the Stoics and how they do not believe in hope because it has the tendency to “raise people up for an eventual fall.” Their ideas on suffering and anger should be spread universally. We should embrace suffering because we are more resilient than we think. If we embrace the suffering and misery of life, we will not feel anger because we will have expected anything. That is why Stoicism would bring a more harmonious existence.
Reply
Michael Deitz
10/9/2016 05:42:02 pm
I find it funny that for inner peace it is either never change anything and respect that, or discount everything because it doesn't matter anyway. I think in today's social climate, many people are neo-Confucians, that is they want everything to stay the same while not grasping the full comprehension of respecting everyone. Keep the Bible the same and follow it to the letter, same goes for the 2nd amendment. But this system seems not to be working well. Change is inevitable, and the world trying to stop it merely stalls the tide. People still fight about Gay rights after the Supreme Court made a decision allowing marriage throughout the country. Stoicism will do better, it is the better system for our way of life right now. Because, if nothing really matters, then why fight? We do not need to argue about all of this and instead should focus on rebuilding the society around us better. Don't give false hope, give realistic expectations and work from there. Stoicism focuses on the now, on shutting away the past and reinventing and remaking now into what is best for us all, and for that it is perfect.
Reply
Paige Davis
10/9/2016 06:01:24 pm
I think stoicism is the best choice because it doesn't make you keep social order in order for society to work because Confucianism believes in having a leader and everybody playing a role in society while stoicism is the opposite and is a better way for people to live.
Reply
Olivia Smelas
10/10/2016 03:38:24 pm
While neither philosophy is ideal for today's society, I think that Stoicism is the more applicable philosophy to the world we live in. Confucianism is in theory a fool proof way to preserve society, but think about how many rebels there would be, would the supreme leader have to execute them all? Especially in the liberal world we are lucky enough to exist in, Confucianism really wouldn't provide the best way to live. Confucianism reminds me a lot of communism... Look how that worked out. Though stoicism isn't ideal, it caters best to today, in a sort of anarchic sense. Complete social order is almost impossible, as illustrated solely by the presidential race happening right now... Stoicism wouldn't produce an awesome society, but a stoic society sure as hell would last longer than a Confucian government today.
Reply
Paige Whittle
10/10/2016 05:53:27 pm
While neither Stoicism nor Confucianism may be completely ideal for today's society, I think Stoicism could best be applied to society. I don't think Confucianism would be able to work in our society because many people would not be tolerant of the idea of a hierarchy. Some would not like the idea that certain people are naturally above them and deserve more respect. I think many radicals would try to overthrow this idea of a hierarchy. On the other hand, Stoicism is more about keeping to oneself, which may work better for our society. People must sometimes accept that bad things in life will happen, but they will be able to move on from it and find inner peace. This most prominently pertains to the presidential election, as many people are not satisfied with either candidate. I have heard many people say that they are just going to accept that either candidate will be bad as President, so they just have to make the best out of the candidates they have. I believe this parallels with Stoicism, and thus may best work for our society today.
Reply
Corey Van Huff
10/11/2016 07:47:06 am
I personally believe that the philosophy best suited for today's society is definitely Stoicism. Society today has so many issues, and we are obsessed with how people view us and we are wrapped up in the insignificant details. we need to really find inner peace as we have some of the highest rates of depression and anxiety in years. Peace at any costs seems to be the answer. Now this isn't a complete fix all but it's a step in the right direction.
Reply
Kelly Farley
10/12/2016 02:37:42 pm
If one of these systems were to be followed out today that would bring about a more harmonious existence, it would be stoicism. Nowadays everyone is so focused on self status and if we were to just pursue our inner peace and focus on ourselves, there might be a lot less issues in the world. Confucianism on the other hand, is all about preserving social order and making sure everyone is following the hierarchy. If there was a hierarchy, I believe that we would not be able to follow the social order and there would be a lot of chaos. Stoicism is very depressing though, if you feel life is too hard or difficult then you are allowed to commit suicide. I think there would be a lot of deaths if every time someone found life to be too hard they just decided to kill themselves. That would definitelty not be a harmonious society. Although neither of these philosophy's are ideal, stoicism would probably be less awful than confucianism.
Reply
Gabriella Lopez
10/12/2016 05:50:51 pm
I believe that Confucianism would be able to provide our society a more harmonious existence today. I think that a strict structure, rather than the go-with-the-flow attitude of stoicism, will bring our society the most harmony. If you relate this to our current presidential debates, I can only see harmony through such a strict structure. Allowing a more stoic perception will evidently lead to chaos in our nation. I strongly believe that the only way to have complete harmony is to have strict structure within our society.
Reply
Young Chen
10/12/2016 08:34:45 pm
I believe that Stoicism would be the philosophy that would bring a more harmonious existence today because of people today hate being controlled. People these days usually go with the flow and wing it in life. Many also don't like old traditions and try to break them. That's why I believe that people need to keep inner peace to keep up with the always changing society today to stay up to date.
Reply
tara erving
11/8/2016 06:49:14 am
personally i prefer the philosophy, but i know that as far as people in society living in harmony and working together confucianism is the better philosophy. Because confucianism focuses on resepect and loyalty, all people in society will need to live in respect. people have come a long way; however, there is still and immense amount of hate between people in this world. with confucianism, there will be no room for hat and individuals will be forced to show respect for one another
Reply
Natalie Gunderson
11/18/2016 11:01:52 am
Personally, I think that Confucianism would work better in today's society. Although I think inner peace is the ultimate goal and we should all strive for that, people are too obsessed with their desires to see past them. If we left everyone to their own devices and had no real status in the world, it would fall to shit. Everyone would want to have or be better than the person next to them and they wouldn't be able to focus on themselves because that 's what we've been taught. If everyone would sign a social contract saying they would no longer seek to out-do each other and would instead seek inner happiness it would work, but even then, we would need people to enforce the contract, creating a status. Also, someone might gain inner peace by killing, stealing, etc. Because of this aspect, there would be no real equilibrium. Allow me to compare everyone to a person in high school, the government would be parents in this case. As soon as you take the restrictions given by the parents away from the senior, and they go to college with nobody really watching over them, they go out and party and do things that they would've never done before when they were being restricted. People today would be exactly like that, they'd have a field day and go on a killing spree or something. Basically what I'm trying to say is, although I would love for everyone to just be peaceful and happy, we've been taught that happiness is a secondary goal and we should really focus on what we have, so we would need the structure that Confucianism provides.
Reply
Holly Braverman
1/7/2017 12:09:13 pm
Both Confucianism and Stoicism emphasize self-control as the way to bring about harmony between individuals and their environment. However, each philosophy goes about self-control in a different manner. On one hand, Confucianism advocates self-control in the sense of being compliant with authority, following tenets of deference such as the importance of ceremony, treating parents (in addition to others above us, hierarchically speaking) with respect, and displaying obedience towards honorable people. In contrast, Stoicism stresses self-control in the sense of limiting hope, so as to lessen the pain associated with one’s eventual and probable downfall. The “harmony” between an individual and their environment that both philosophies aim for refers to inner peace and balance in one’s mentality. In terms of being followed today, I believe that Stoicism is more likely to bring about a more harmonious existence. Many aspects of today’s society — at least in western culture — are not in sync with Confucianism. Ceremonies are limited, building a life away from one’s parents is commonplace and generally expected, and the concepts of egalitarianism and individual freedom are widely accepted. As a whole, Stoicism is able to be followed regardless of time period. Disappointment is an experience that everyone has dealt with to some extent, no matter their age, position/status, or years in which they exist(ed). Limiting one’s hope and the routine mental preparation of worst-case scenarios, though is seldom associated with peace, are possible methods of achieving a harmonious existence.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2017
Categories |