Good Confucianism book (pdf) - Department of Physics

Teachings I: The Foundation of a Good Person 31Rightness and KnowledgeTo be sincere, we need to know what is right. Rightness (in older textstranslated as “ righteousness ” ) is knowing what is proper, what is right,what is moral. This, like loyalty, is based on one ’ s duty in a situation andthat, of course, is based on one ’ s status. Rightness is what is appropriate.As we will see, Confucius did not teach rule - based behavior, so what isright is based on one ’ s status, one ’ s role, and the specifics of the situation.Rightness is the standard of moral behavior, dependent on the situation.This standard is not determined by our desires or fears in that situation, butstands above them. It is contrasted with self - interest, with profiting oneself,and with gain. 26 We can know whether we are really performing properly,or merely deceiving ourselves, by looking to the standard of rightness.Rightness, the standard of behavior, requires knowledge. Knowledge orwisdom is something that we may not be born with, but, for Confucius, it isalways something that we can work to achieve. “ People who are born withknowledge are the highest level; second are those who attain knowledge bystudying; third are people who continue to study even though they find itdifficult; at the bottom are those who find study difficult and do not eventry to learn. ” 27 Confucius often describes himself as being in the second orthird level, saying that he was not born with knowledge, but, because ofhis fondness for antiquity, was keen to learn; he says that he looked for thegood in what he studied and tried to retain it. 28Wisdom begins with learning about things; Confucius ’ students learnedabout history, poetry, and ritual. This learning should, over time, lead towisdom. What wisdom should bring us to is knowledge of ourselves andthe knowledge of how to deal with the people in the world around us. 29When asked to define wisdom, Confucius said, “ Know other people. ” 30Being a good judge of character is important in being morally effective. Ifyou understand the character of the people you are dealing with, you candeal with them properly.Knowing ourselves means being honest about ourselves: “ To say youknow when you do know, and to say that you do not know when you donot know – this is wisdom. ” 31 Knowledge then is related to honesty andsincerity: we should know that what we say is honest because it is somethingwe can do.CourageIt is all very well to have knowledge, practice filial piety, be loyal, dutiful,honest, and sincere, and know what is right, but in order to act on thesevirtues, we must have courage.