when confucius meets socrates

When Socrates meets Confucius During the 5th and 6th Centuries B.C, two great thinkers, Socrates and Confucius, sprang successively from Greece in the West and from China in the Orient. They have respectively exercised influence over the civilizations of the east and west so deeply and widely that they have been revered as “sage” or “saint” by later generations. However, none of them ever heard of a piece of news of the existence of another. A curious mind might wonder what would happen if the two masters had had a chance to meet each other, say, when one day they were strolling with some of their disciples along the bank of a river. They should have a great deal to say to each other. The two great people both lived in historical periods marked by tremendous social changes: frequent wars, political disturbances, ideological confusion and conflict, and demoralization. Confronted with political and social crises, they both sought moral principles as a basis for understanding those crises and for mending the social fabric. And they indeed eventually find or establish an ultimate “principle”or “reason”for human life, esp. for moral actions through their approaches. The historical Socrates or Socrates of the early Platonic dialogues focused his attention on how to live in this world instead of speculating extensively about nature, the gods, or the character of any existence people might have after death. He held that people were endowed by the Gods with intelligent souls that desire the good and one must consciously devote oneself to the understanding of one’s moral nature and to the purification of one’s soul. This activity is of prime importance in one’s life. In regard to human nature, Confucius said, ”by nature, near together; by practice, far apart”. He thought that at birth people had nearly the same nature; the great differences in morality were caused by practice. He held that the pursuit of morality is more important than that of the physical necessities of life. And in his whole life he had been dedicating himself to the search for “the human-way” as well as trying hard to implement this way in his own time. The essence of “the human-way” was Ren, with kindness and affection as its core. Now you might think the two great thinkers will shake hands on such similarities between their own ethics. However, the so-called “moral reason” that Socrates finds or establishes does not equal to what Confucius finds or establishes. “Virtue is knowledge”is the famous proposition at the core of Socrates’viewpoint on morality. He held that the ultimate principle of moral life lies in nothing other than rational knowledge in human mind. The notorious Socratic paradox is that all wickedness is involuntary and due to ignorance. For him, only under the direction of wisdom could human nature achieve the several virtues. On the contrary, we cannot find a definition of virtue in Confucius’discourses like we can in the Platonic Socrates’. But we can see his general concern with moral issues and according to him, the ultimate principle of moral life lies in nothing other than consanguineous affection in human heart. Morality is more effective than is law in securing and maintaining stability and harmony in a society. With similarities and differences lying in their thoughts, the ethics of Confucius’and Socrates’have been treasures of world culture and their influences have lasted until today. If the two meet each other today in a world that enjoys a thriving prosperity as well as severe challenges posed by tremendous advances in science and technology and by related social changes, they may rethink traditional assumptions and to learn from one another’s traditions. Only in this way can people in both East and West lead to live an abundant, noble and spiritual life.