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EASTERN ETHICS

Confucianism, founded by Confucius, emphasizes ethical humanism and the importance of living a harmonious life within a well-ordered society based on five key relationships. The doctrine promotes the idea of the 'superior man' who embodies virtues such as wisdom, righteousness, and love, and stresses the significance of moral obligations to maintain community harmony. In contrast, Buddhism, founded by Siddharta Gautama, focuses on overcoming suffering through the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path, advocating for a middle way between indulgence and asceticism to achieve enlightenment and nirvana.

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Charles Uy
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15 views

EASTERN ETHICS

Confucianism, founded by Confucius, emphasizes ethical humanism and the importance of living a harmonious life within a well-ordered society based on five key relationships. The doctrine promotes the idea of the 'superior man' who embodies virtues such as wisdom, righteousness, and love, and stresses the significance of moral obligations to maintain community harmony. In contrast, Buddhism, founded by Siddharta Gautama, focuses on overcoming suffering through the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path, advocating for a middle way between indulgence and asceticism to achieve enlightenment and nirvana.

Uploaded by

Charles Uy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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EASTERN VIRTUE

CONFUCIANISM (551-79 B.C.)


This teaching is characterized by its refusal to
deal with supernatural topics as nature of duty,
spirits and death.
Concentrates his attention on
how life should be lived in
world
It reflects the instinctive Chinese concern
to maintain the life of the community as
a harmonious whole
Confucius declared that it is man that can make
the way great and not the way that can make man
great.

His doctrine is called Ethical Humanism.


The great ideal
Well-ordered society based on mutual
moral obligation of five relationships
Harmony of the perfect individual
a. father and minister,
b. father and son
c. elder brother and
young brother,
d. husband and wife; and,
e. one friend and another friend.
His central concern is the superior man and
well-ordered society
The superior man is:
wise,
humorous,
courageous
motivated by righteousness instead of profit
studies the way (tao)
Loves man
Man is good by nature

but by nature men are alike but through


practice they become far apart.
The gentleman or the superior man is
the epitome of the following Confucian
virtues.

A gentleman :
(1) is faithful to
superiors, keep his
promises and admits his
mistakes;
2) minds his own ways, practices what
he teaches;
(3) discovers what is right (righteousness) – tao;
(4) is always happy, accepts what comes with
equanimity (ready acceptance) and conforms
with the Cosmic Conception.
JEN - Virtue
- Love
- Humanity
- Benevolence
- True manhood
- Moral character
- Human goodness; and,
- Human heatedness - emphasis on the heart rather
than the mind
• A human person should live according to the jen

• It’s the ultimate principle of human action,


hence, a human person should not depart
from it.
• For Confucius, a life without jen is not worth
living
• The way of Confucius is no other than the Chung
(conscientiousness) and,

• Shu (Altruism) - extending to others


• The way of chung and shu incorporate reciprocity
which underlies the Golden Rule of Confucius.
Confucius believed that love and justice always go
together.
• Love is the very heart of the harmony of all things.
• Love is the very blood and current of life, without
which, life will definitely be useless.
• Without love, the family and the nation withers
away or breaks apart.
For these reason,
in order to obtain
a good society,
every person must
first have the desire
to improve oneself

This can be made


possible by living
a life according to
how a human being
is supposed to live.
Therefore, if everybody
will be with harmony
with the law of his nature
as a human being, he will
be in line with the harmony
of the whole universe and
thereby obtain peace and
happiness.
BUDDHISM

One of the world’s greatest religions with followers


from both east and west.
• In 800 – 600 B.C., new ideas about human nature
and destiny emerged in India– with its concepts of
samsara and karma.
Its strongly stressed that man must strive to realize
the true nature of his soul by rooting out all
desires in order to continue existing in the world.
Yoga and various systems were invented to achieve
such deliverance especially by accepting of the
brahmans and their traditional ritual system.
• Buddha rejected this brahmanic religion as
harmful
Buddha, the Enlightened One
• The title Buddha means
the enlightened one was
conferred upon
Siddharta Gautama
(563-483 B.C.) who
found Buddhism
around the 6th century B.C.
According to tradition, a prophecy was
made to Gautama’s father that his son would
become either a great ruler or a great ascetic.
Grew into manhood surrounded by all that
was comfortable, lovely and pleasant.
Riding in his chariot, Gautama had four
encounters in rapid succession with the aspects of life
hidden from him:

a) The old man - All are liable to become old


d. he met an ascetic contented and at
peace with himself
• Conscious now of the sufferings inherent in human
life, the 29 years old Gautama left his home and
family and took the life of an ascetic.
• He began to search for peace and enlightenment
• He won a great reputation for his feat of physical
austerity and gained many disciples.
• He persevered for six years but enlightenment did not
come. In great despair, he seated himself under an ob
– tree waiting for enlightenment or death
• Finally, enlightenment came and he understood
the real nature of existence and his release could
be obtained from suffering.
• a) Rebirth:
Man lives many lives, - So, the great task of spiritual
development is to be accomplished in one’s
lifetime.
• Karma is equated with the most fundamental law
of the universe that all deeds produce positive or
negative effects for the one who does them and
these effect are extended from one life to the
next.
• sensual pleasure

• excessive mortification
• Between is the middle path, tathagata,
•this is path that leads to peace,
insight, to higher wisdom and nirvana.
• to get off the Wheel of Life, man must realize that
the aim of life is to achieve a level of spiritual
development that lets up the cycle of rebirth

•The key is contained in the Four Noble Truth


and Eight-fold Path
The Four Noble Truths – Doctrine
of Dharma
1. Life is pain and suffering (dukka) as disease, old
age and death;
2. The cause of pain and suffering is selfish craving
(tanha) as the desire for pleasure
3. The cause of pain and misery can be eliminated;
and
4. The way towards the cessation of pain and
suffering is by the Eight – Fold Path
4. The way towards the cessation of pain and
suffering is by the Eight – Fold Path
The Eight – Fold Path )
The middle-way of Buddhism,

between extreme of sensual indulgence


and rigid asceticism
The Eight – Fold Path )
The middle-way of Buddhism,

between extreme of sensual indulgence


and rigid asceticism
• “Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts
become your words.
• Be careful of your words, for your words become
your actions.
• Be careful of your action, for your action becomes
your habit.
• Be careful of your habit, for your habit, becomes
your character.
• Be careful of your character, for your character
becomes your destiny.”
1. Right View - Buddhist’s teaching
4. Right Action is one’s conduct that conforms to the
five basic moral precepts as:

Refrain from injury to livings things


Refrain from taking what is not given
Refrain from sexual immorality
Refrain from falsehood
Refrain from liquor which clouds the mind
5. Right Livelihood is conducting in whatever
profession according to the nobles truth and
percepts;

8.
6. Right Efforts are steps to purify and strengthen
the mind percepts;
7. Right concentration develops the skill of mental
concentration fostered by yoga; and
8.Right Meditation – the development of the
highest state of mental control.
c) Skandhas
• The so-called person is actually a mixture of
various elements or qualities called skandhas.
Some are of physical nature and form the body,
other are mental or psychical relating to the mind
and emotions.
d) Nirvana
a complete personal annihilation or
extinction. It is not a negative state of being
but positive, beyond all ordinary concepts of
existence.
CONFUCIANISM
(551-79 B.C.)
• This teaching is characterized by its refusal to deal
with supernatural topics as nature of duty, spirits
and death.
It concentrates its attention on how life should be
lived in world.
It reflects the instinctive Chinese concern to
maintain the life of the community as a
harmonious whole
• Confucius declared that it is man that can make the
way great and not the way that can make man great.
His doctrine is called Ethical Humanism.
Well-ordered society based on mutual moral
obligation of five relationships
Harmony of the perfect individual
father and minister,

father and son,


elder brother and young brother,

husband and wife;


and one friend and another friend.
His central concern is the superior man and well-
ordered society.
The superior man is:
wise,
humorous,

courageous
motivated by righteousness instead of profit
• studies the way (tao)
Loves man
Man is good by nature
but by nature men are alike but through practice
they become far apart.
The gentleman or the superior man is the epitome
of the following Confucian virtues.

A gentleman :
(1) is faithful to superiors, keep his
promises and admits his mistakes;
(2) minds his own ways, practices what he teaches;
(3) discovers what is right (righteousness) – tao;
(4) is always happy, accepts what comes with
equanimity (ready acceptance) and conforms with
the Cosmic Conception.
Creation in Confucianism

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