Confucius (Chinese: 孔子; 

pinyin: Kǒng zǐ; Wade-Giles: K'ung-tzu, or

Chinese: 孔夫子; pinyin: Kǒng Fūzǐ; Wade-Giles: K'ung-fu-tzu), lit.
"Master Kong," (traditionally September 28, 551 B.C.E. – 479 B.C.E.)
was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher, whose teachings and
philosophy have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese and
Vietnamese thought and life.
• His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social
relationships, justice and sincerity. These values gained prominence in China over other
doctrines, such as Legalism (法家) or Taoism (道家) during the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. – 220
C.E.). Confucius' thoughts have been developed into a system of philosophy known as
Confucianism (儒家). It was introduced to Europe by the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci, who was
the first to Latinize the name as "Confucius."

FROM PESSIMISM TO OPTIMISM

To CONFUCIUS,

 Life is NOT a delusion, a curse, and a misery – assumed earlier by Buddha.

 But a LIVING REALITY, a BLESSING, a NATURAL PRICELESS RIGHT and OPPORTUNITY to be with
your fellows to work together for your common good and finally attain your destiny: HAPPINESS
 MAN’S PERFECTION and HAPPINESS is REALIZED and ACHIEVED IN SOCIAL LIFE
 The social order envisioned by CONFUCIUS is patterned after the natural order of things in the
universe and the moral order reflected and exemplified in the life of the moral man.
 The life of the moral man is an exemplification of the universal moral order. The life of the
vicious man is a contradiction thereof.

MAN, CENTER OF HARMONY

To CONFUCIUS,

• Man transcends in significance the whole world because of his MORAL BEING.

• Being a part of nature, the MORAL MAN LIVES IN ACCORDANCE with the NATURAL LAW that
GOVERNS and GUIDES the MOVEMENTS of ALL THINGS. (Note that in Oriental Ethics, there is
no distinction between the moral and the physical law, both being merely two aspects of one
and the same broader natural law).

Says CONFUCIUS:

TO FIND THE CENTRAL CLUE TO OUR MORAL BEING THAT UNITES US WITH THE UNIVERSAL
ORDER – HEREIN LIES MAN’S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT

THE GOLDEN RULE SPRINGS FROM JUSTICE

Reason and the natural law constantly

enjoin man to live righteously, to offend no

one and to give each one his due.

The last mentioned “to give to each one his

due” is basically the principle of justice from

which CONFUCIUS derived the golden rule of

action which he formulated as:

“TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WISH THEM TO TREAT YOU.”

Or negatively stated:

“DO NOT DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU YOURSELF DO NOT LIKE OTHERS TO DO TO YOU.”

ORDER AND HARMONY IN ALL THINGS

In order that man can enjoy inner peace, harmony and happiness in himself, he should at all
times, according to CONFUCIUS, observe Heaven’s first law enshrined in man’s conscience:

THE MORAL LAW WITHIN AND WITHOUT

“There is nothing more real than that which the eyes cannot see. There is nothing more audible than
that which the ears cannot hear.”

Like truth, the moral law is invisible (unseen or invisible, we see it), intangible (we touch and feel its
presence), imponderable (it outweighs all the gold in the world), yet it is everywhere.

It is that the moral man watches diligently over his thoughts, actions, and desires, so that these may
always be in accord with the moral law, according to CONFUCIUS.

SELF-CONTROL
CONFUCIUS says:

HE WHO CONQUERS OTHERS IS STRONG HE WHO CONQUERS HIMSELF IS THE GREATEST

VICTOR.

PASSIONS AND HAPPINESS

According to CONFUCIUS, the GREATEST OBSTACLE TO HUMAN HAPPINESS is:

• In order to be happy, man must subjugate the Ego, must bar and banish from the
human breast all selfishness and selfish desires.

• Man must deny himself and control his passions.

• This is necessary prerequisite to the practice of virtue, and the attainment of perfection and
happiness, life’s SUMMUM BONUM.

• (Latin for the highest good) is an expression used in philosophy, particularly in medieval
philosophy and in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, to describe the ultimate importance, the
singular and most ultimate end which human beings ought to pursue. The summum bonum is
generally thought of as being an end in itself, and at the same time containing all other goods.
Strikingly, CONFUCIUS’ view of the passions resembles closely the teaching of ST. AUGUSTINE who
propounded profoundly on the nature and purpose of human passions:

1. The passions are good in themselves:

2. They are a necessary part of our human nature.

3. They are inseparable from us in our present state of existence as a compound of body and soul,
passion and reason.

4. Hence passions should not be destroyed nor passionate desires extirpated as the Stoics taught.

5. Passions however, should be controlled by reason, and properly directed by the will.

TOWARDS A PERFECT HUMAN SOCIETY

CONFUCIUS stressed the necessity of harmony and cooperation among men despite their
differences, conflicting claims and interests.

The production of the perfect man in a perfect social order envisioned by CONFUCIUS, comes
with the establishment of enduring harmony and brotherhood among men.

It is an ideal society, where there is perfect LIBERTY and equality because everybody has
become his best.

In law, LIBERTY is contemplated as the freedom to become one’s best.

When every citizen has attained his best, then all have attained perfect liberty

THE JEN
To CONFUCIUS, justice (application and distribution of love to our fellowmen) and
love always go together.
Love is at the very heart of the harmony of all things.
CONFUCIUS defines love as the very blood and current of life, of family and community
life, without which the family and the nation, withers away or breaks apart.

To CONFUCIUS, the JEN is not only the crown of all virtues; it is the only one virtue from
which all the other virtues spring – such as justice, generosity, kindness, liberality, temperance.

Basic concept in CONFUCIAN ETHICS

JEN Equivalent to LOVE, LAW, and HARMONY

• the concept of JEN is strikingly very similar to the name given to GOD in I John 4:8 GOD
is LOVE

In the cosmic vision of CONFUCIUS, all humanity forms one universal family of
individuals and peoples bounded together by love (JEN).