The core of Confucianism is humanism, or what the philosopher Herbert Fingarette calls "the secular as sacred". Confucianism focuses on the practical, especially the importance of the family, and not a belief in gods or the afterlife.[2] Confucianism broadly speaking does not exalt faithfulness to divine will or higher law.[3] This stance rests on the belief that human beings are teachable, improvable and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics. Some of the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include ren, yi, and li. Ren is an obligation of altruism and humaneness for other individuals. Yi is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. Li is a system of norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for the failure of upholding the cardinal moral values of ren and yi.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 19:21:48 +0000
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