Confucius Knowledge about Relativism and Absolutism - Assignment Example

Philosophy Assignment Insert Name Institution assignment#3 Room 107 in the Sahlstrom hall at my university is a constituent of the university’s conference center. This room is said to have been named after the great DR. Stanley Sahlstrom in the year 1997. He is known for his efforts in the foundation and construction of various buildings among them libraries, conference centers as well as gymnasium and sports centres. In addition, room 107 is also referred to as the “Epicurean room”. Epicureanism is a philosophy named after an ancient philosopher from Greece. It teaches that the greatest pleasure is obtained by leading a lifestyle that fosters tranquility and eschews fear. In fact, its philosophy promotes a modest lifestyle of doing things to acquire knowledge of how the world works as well as its limits of one’s aspirations. Sahlstrom hall room 107 is used by the hotel and restaurant management faculty under the department of hospitality and sightseeing management. The name given to room 107 is of paramount significance. Given that the room is used for nourishing activities and learning activities, it relates quite well with its philosophical teachings. It brings out the teaching of knowledge acquisition, which gives students fulfillment in life once they have graduated in their area of specialization. Secondly, the nourishing activities and hospitality that take place in the room give pleasure hence it portrays crucial virtue as in the philosophy of the ancient philosopher. Overall, the activities carried out in this room posit enjoyment and happiness hence a lovely and conducive environment for interaction between students and lecturers in the learning process. assignment#4 Confucius was a highly regarded Chinese thinker of the fifth century. In china he is habitually referred to as Kongzi which implies “ master kong”. He was a renowned intellectual of the East. His philosophy is known as Confucianism. His teachings were mainly in the realm of ethical conduct and moral order in which he claimed that heaven is aligned in such a way that the moral order relies on human agents to implement its will. Confucius was concerned that ritual modesty was the tool through which the human family is aligned with three moral order. Thus, his belief that the hierarchical nature of the moral force through which moral rulers enforce morality to their subjects and consequently, moral children are brought by moral parents. East Asian analects that contain information about Confucius portray him as a person who communicates, but does not innovate. he claimed to be a communication agent of the wise of the Zhou antiquity. In fact, he was a guardian and a custodian of tradition during his era and challenged his followers to emulate moral integrity of the sages of the ancient times. Confucius had four complementary philosophical concerns. These are: theodicy,harmonious order, moral force and self-cultivation (Jeff 2005). Confucius inherited several religious notions from the Zhou world. In fact, he owned up theistic ideologies. The Chinese of the sixteenth century believed that the earth was controlled a single deity whom they referred to as Shngdi (The Lord On High). This acknowledgement is proven by inscription of the name of the deity on animal sacrifices. Confucius philosophy of harmonious order taught that the deities or the moral authority was inactive and instead used human agents to fulfill its will. Thus, he adapted the same way to conduct he teaching silently by training disciples who spread his teachings. This philosophy puts emphasis on maintenance of a moral order in three distinct ways, aesthetic, moral and social. Thus, maintenance of such moral order underlines the self-reproaching trait of morality and social order from the deity of moral order. Practically, the social ritual of the Chinese community were conducted in hirarchical order between rulers and subjects, spouses as well as children and adults. Conficius, most prominent example was the harmonious way of life in which a son co-existed with his biological father and observed his will while alive and even after his demise. Thus, a son who upholds his father’s will even after his bereavement lives up to the moral order hence a good person. The moral force philosophy of Confucius is traced back to the antiquity of the earlier generations of the Chinese society which Confucius attributes to a cultural baggage which was deemed magical but was strictly moral. This was a moral force that united aesthetic concern with morality (Jeff 2005). Indeed, Confucius’ philosophy was acknowledged and integrated into the civilization of the west hence his influence in western philosophy. He is regarded as the key philosopher in understanding the moral order and the subjective role of the living to the deities. Quintessentially, he is perhaps the greatest philosopher from my standpoint in the sixteenth century. Discussion 3. “Is it not the separation of soul and body? And to be dead is the completion of this; when the soul exists in herself, and is released from the body and the body is released from the soul, what is this but death?” The doctrine of recollection by Plato holds the view that the human mind is rich in the knowledge of species and figures hence it is capable of arriving at infomed conclusions. In fact, he likened this awareness to the knowledge of a slave in reference to his relationship with his master who he answers diligently as expected. This doctrine was founded by Socrates and Plato advanced it by proposing elimination of confusion by eradication of inconsistency in belief. Thus, the core problem is disbelief. This theory explains that knowledge is inherent and cannot be learnt merely from experience, but rather a part of the human soul, which cannot be mislaid. It can only be interfered with by acquired experience of false belief. Thus, this a reliable exposition on human understanding about death which is dominant in the quote above. Inherently, human beings are aware that as days progress, a person is a step closer to his grave and that is not the end of life, but a transition to the second life. Explicitly, death is just but a separation of the body from the soul (“Plato Meno, Phaedo, and Republic” et al 2012). Discussion 4. My previous assignment on the three great philosophers of the west was quite propitious. I had been ignorant of a score of facts before I came across the renowned works of these three giants of western civilization. In fact, Socrates’ work challenged me on finding out things that I know am not knowledgeable in just the same way Socrates admitted that he was aware of the things he did not know. For instance, through his work I learned that beauty is the virtue of using ones intellectual or physical beauty for the benefit of the society and people around him otherwise it would not quality to be a virtue. Nonetheless, the main lesson I learnt from Socrates’ work is the knowledge is inherit, it is an inborn ability and can only be brought through teaching thus, one cannot be good in what he is not inherit capable of despite what expereince he might devote to a particular field of interest. According to the philosophy of survival my experience is perhaps a moral guidance to self appreciation and identification of my strengths and accepting my weaknesses. Thus, I am comfortable with what am good at and accept the areas am not successful in, thus I can concentrate on my area of knowledge and prosper to the greatest standard. Consequently, this promotes cooperation instead of competition hence intellectual growth. Discussion 5. The core difference between relativism and absolutism is that relativism suggests that there is no definite morality whereas absolutism proposes that there exists fixed morality. In essence, the difference is not what is moral and what is immoral,. but rather a divergent view what are the appropriate moral principles. In precise exposition, the difference emanates in the question whether there does exist universal moral principles that could apply to everyone irrespective of the person’s approval or disapproval of their legitimacy and whether they do believe in these principles or not (James 2003). For instance, abolitionism proposes that killing a human being is out right wrong. Thus, absolutism holds that anyone who differs with this standpoint is wrong irrespective of his argument. However, relativism agrees that killing a human being is wrong, but leaves room for exceptions with rational reasons hence this is the main difference between absolutism and relativism. Thus, relativism can consider relative innocence if the person who killed did so for a rational reason. Absolutism upholds a single moral principle that treats all cases of murder alike irrespective of whatever reason whereas relativism allows room for exploration of a justified conclusion of the moral relativity of the reason that triggered a person to kill (James, 2003). Personally, I am more inclined to relativism. References Jeff, R. (2005). Confucius (551—479 BCE). The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/confuciu/ James R. B (2003). Ethical relativism. Retrieved from http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jbeebe2/relativ.htm n.p Clarifying some Differences Between Relativism and Absolutism. Retrieved from http://faculty.mc3.edu/barmstro/phi100/clarifyrelativism.html n.p (2012). Plato Meno, Phaedo, and Republic. Retrieved from http://tab.faculty.asu.edu/chapter51.html Read More