2025년 3월 15일 토요일

The words may ultimately destroy the instincts.

It does not matter what men say in words, so long as their activities are controlled by settled instincts. The words may ultimately destroy the instincts. But until this has occurred, words do not count. — Alfred North Whitehead In Science and the Modern World (1925), 4.

Rectification of names


The Analects states that social disorder often stems from failure to call things by their proper names, that is, to perceive, understand, and deal with reality. Confucius' solution to this was the "rectification of names". He gave an explanation to one of his disciples: 

A superior man, in regard to what he does not know, shows a cautious reserve. If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things. If language be not in accordance with the truth of things, affairs cannot be carried on to success. When affairs cannot be carried on to success, proprieties and music do not flourish. When proprieties and music do not flourish, punishments will not be properly awarded. When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot. Therefore a superior man considers it necessary that the names he uses may be spoken appropriately, and also that what he speaks may be carried out appropriately. What the superior man requires is just that in his words there may be nothing incorrect. — Confucius, Analects, Book XIII, Chapter 3, verses 4–7, Analect 13.3, translated by James Legge 


 The teaching of Confucius consist of five basic relationships in life: Ruler to subject Parent to child Husband to wife Elder brother to younger brother Friend to friend

Plato vs. Sophists: Rhetoric on Trial

https://pressbooks.pub

Michella Maldonado

Plato’s Gorgias: Rhetoric on Trial 

In Gorgias, Plato states that rhetoric is a sham art, and he also claims that many authentic arts, such as cooking good food, makes one feel better. According to Plato, the true art of healing is not rhetoric but justice. Plato criticized the Sophists for various reasons, such as their use of exaggerations and taking money. The sophisticated rhetoricians sought to sway public opinion in their favor, and true justice is founded on the knowledge of the individual and the state. For example mass media, advertising, and political campaigns use persuasion to influence us. Based on Plato’s suspicion that advanced education was only available to those who could afford it; Plato regarded the training of the Sophists as a threat to the traditional aristocratic system. This conflict of values led to severe tensions in the city.

2024년 5월 22일 수요일

Adam Smith, Aristotle, and the Virtues of Commerce

  The Journal of Value Inquiry 32: 43–60, 1998. Adam Smith, Aristotle, and the Virtues of Commerce MARTIN J. CALKINS & PATRICIA H. WERHANE Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia, USA We will argue that Adam Smith’s account of the virtues enjoys a fate similar to that of his account of economics. Smith’s account of the virtues derives from his knowledge of Aristotle and the Stoics. It was influenced by his reading of Pufendorf and others, and was molded by the thinking of his mentor David Hume. Nevertheless, it is Smith who elaborates on the role of the virtues in commercial society, and that elaboration, however intellectually derived, has had an important influence on what later came to be called “bourgeois virtues.” could be virtuous too and, indeed, that the virtues of prudence, justice, and self-command were crucial to a well-functioning commercial, free enterprise, political economy. Unlike his predecessor Bernard Mandeville, whose views often are attributed erroneously to Smith, Smith argued against the thesis that private vices are public virtues, and that greed, avarice, and selfishness can contribute to the public economic well-being. For Smith, commerce is a morally decent activity. People engaged in commerce have the capacity to be morally virtuous while engaged in economic activities. Thus, Smith deviates from Aristotle who appears to focus primarily on aristocratic virtues. A comparison of Smith and Aristotle on the virtues, while neglecting a great deal of the history of philosophy that obviously went in between, illustrates these differences and helps us to be clear on the seminal influence of Smith’s account of virtue.


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2023년 6월 6일 화요일

Adam Smith and Confucius

 

On Adam Smith and Confucius: The Theory of Moral Sentiments and the Analects Hardcover


This book is a part of a broad study about Confucianism and its implications for modernization of the Confucian regions (covering Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Vietnam and Singapore). The purpose of this book is to compare the ethical, social and economic principles advocated by Adam Smith and Confucius. Adam Smith is the most influential thinker in developed economies in modern times. Confucius was the most influential thinker in the Confucian regions (except Singapore) before the West became influential in these regions. It is important to note that among the Confucian regions only Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew has explicitly admired Confucius after the Second World War. The book shows that it is important to compare the two great thinkers in order to understand whether or not Westernization of the Confucian regions is sustainable and whether or not there will be "clashes of civilizations" between the Confucian regions and the West. The reader may also see how China has made fun of Confucius in the last one hundred fifty years and why the world has made fun of China during the same period of time.