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Confucius the analect analysis
Confucius the analect analysis
Confucius the analect analysis
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Many great civilizations have come and gone and have left a lasting impact in our world. However, very few have had such a lasting impact in world’s history like ancient China and Greece. Both civilizations have influenced us tremendously and have given us much knowledge that guides how we think, behave, and live our lives. Even though both civilizations gave us many things such as philosophical views and values, their contributions in government set them apart based on their contributions to our current governmental system. Although similar to each other in some ways, ancient Greece and China had many dissimilar viewpoints about good government; these viewpoints can be broken down and analyzed to see how Greece’s views of good government were more focused on society while China’s views were more focused on spirituality and morality.
Greece and China had many similarities, which centered on who should rule. For instance, both civilizations had a portion of their beliefs of good government centered on the personal characteristics of the individual. From the works of Sparta, we can see that they focused more on personal abilities of an individual and whether he showed enough qualification to lead them. According to the Spartan Constitution, a person in Sparta would look to another with strength with obedience and respect; as a result, the more strength and respect you can command, the better chance you have to lead (Reader 73). The Chinese can also be shown to center their views in this way by observing the Analects of Confucius which explain to us that the most moral individuals or in other words, the most humane and wisest, are the people who should be allowed to rule. For example, according to the Analects, Confucius says that ru...
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...nt even though they had similar beliefs in how one should rule.
Although similar to each other in some ways, ancient Greece and China had many dissimilar viewpoints about good government; these viewpoints can be broken down and analyzed to see how Greece’s views of good government were more focused on society while China’s views were more focused on spirituality and morality. Ancient China and Greece have been two of the most important and influential societies in recorded history based on what they have given us. However, their work in government has been most important because it has shaped the outcomes of societies around the world. We have only scratched the surface of something extremely interesting in this work; only by further developing our knowledge about these topics can we hope to develop new ways to cope with issues facing our world today.
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The first ancient civilization that Kagan highlights is the Greek. He writes of their republic city-states, and pioneering of a “political life come to be shared by a relatively large portion of people”. He uses the Greek culture as an influence of science and reason. “The Greeks exposed everything they perceived—natural, human and divine—to the searching examination of reason.” Finally he describes the Greek quest for virtue and morality. He uses these examples to show how similar our culture is to the Greek.
The Ancient Greeks were nothing if not influential. Ever since it 's formation in the 8th century B.C., Greek civilization has impacted many of the world 's greatest thinkers and shaped the landscape of Western Civilization. Aside from their art and philosophy, the Ancient Greeks were particularly interested in politics and, in the case of Athens, a new system of government known as: democracy! Long before the American founding fathers declared their independence from Britain, Athenian citizens governed their own state and voted to solve political turmoil. However, ancient Athens was no perfect twin to American democracy, and being an upstanding Athenian citizen meant more than simply voting and going about one 's business. A standout Athenian
Ancient Greece has always been known as the civilization that created the mold of the Western society that we live in today. It had influenced the world in a way that no other civilization had. However, such a great civilization didn’t last long. The reason for this is its people failure to form unity.
Greece and Persia are two of the four great empires that rose to the top rapidly. Both empires have well organized political systems that greatly influenced the way later governments were structured in the United States and Europe. Greece and Persia empire’s structures weighed greatly on their development and growth, but the diverse topographies of Greece and Persia also made a vast impact. These features affected the cultures and even how the political government changed overtime.
It is evident that religions and their place in society have a profound effect on the growth, development, and accomplishments of a civilization. The theocracies that preceded and followed the Greeks certainly had a profound historical impact, but the tradition that would most greatly affect the development of the western mind was that of the Hellenistic world. The birth of democracy and a Golden Age of western scientific and cultural development occurred in the civilization that furthest separated its religion from its government.
Government and its different forms appears many times throughout Herodotus’s Histories, sometimes its positive and other times its negative, however in the readings Herodotus demonstrates that it is not the Athenian democratic values that makes freedom but rather the absence of tyranny along with equality among men. Herodotus’s assessment of Athenian democracy is overall a positive development to Greek cultural identity in the eyes of Herodotus.
...ering the recent changes in China’s politics. Many are wondering what the future holds for Chinese politics and the idea of a democracy with Confucian characteristics is something many have been looking at since Confucianism holds an important place in Chinese traditions. We have witnessed on many occasions the failure of trying to implement a democratic system in a country that either wasn’t “ready” for democracy or a country where the political culture wasn’t compatible with the democracy models we are used to. This idea is very relevant when you talk about China since it’s easy to see how democracy might not fit right with the Chinese political culture. In such a case, the best solution would be a democracy with Confucian characteristics. So we can see here how the relationship between Confucianism and democracy is something worth reflecting on in current times.
Between the years of 508 BCE and 322 CE, Greece flourished under democracy. However, some question if the flourishing of Athens is due to the democracy that was in place as opposed to other factors relevant in building a successful community. This investigation will examine the effectiveness of Athenian democracy in Greek society. Relevance of Athenian democracy can be seen in foundation of many democracies found worldwide. In this investigation the right to vote, protection of minorities, use of social class, the structure of democracy and how Greek democracy has influenced the world will be addressed. The place investigated will be Greece, specifically the capitol Athens. The effectiveness of Athenian democracy can be seen in social structure, protection of minorities, and right to vote, as well as its structure and influence of other countries around the world.
In Ancient Greece people valued democracy, wealth, entertainment, knowledge, and many other things however what is also important is what the Ancient Greeks clearly did not value. Of the many things, people, are possibly one of the most undervalued commodity in Greece include women, and slaves. There are also many other things that the Greeks did not seem to value one of which was anti-corruption measures. The Greeks seem to put most of their time and effort into society in many different ways from Gymnastics to plays even their houses are purpose built for social events. These values or more importantly the lack of value regarding slaves, women, and most importantly good government quite possibly assisted in the downfall of their civilization.
In conclusion one could say we may live in a very different and much more complex global world, but the reality is without the ancient Greeks we wouldn’t have the government structure that we currently enjoy today. The truth and reality is that by the time Aristotle even came into play in history there had already been a large amount of Greek democracies already in existence. The foundations that the Ancient Greeks laid and more importantly the political foundation that the Athenians created had an everlasting imprint on how the democratic structure has taken shape in European countries as well as in the United States.
Since the early beginnings of society, in which people began living in gathered communities, there can be seen a constant progression, upon a steady time line, of the increased order of the organization of society. However, this is not the kind of progress that was sought by two widely known philosophers and teachers, Plato and Confucius. The kind of social reform and alteration displayed in the teachings and writings of both of these men, examine a movement from societies viewed as chaotic and barbaric toward societies consisting of gentleman, practicing prescribed values, morals, and actions. Confucius and Plato both emphasized a moral conduct that went above and beyond the socially accepted norms of their times. Despite the concentration on these factors in Chinese and Grecian cultures, the progress attempted by both of these philosophers was not achieved by their own standards within their own societies.
...d, yet we kill each other.” We are our own worst predators, which is exactly what happened in Athens. It was their own democracy system that led to their downfall. It was one of the most amazing, revolutionary governments in history, yet too much of it led to poor tactical decisions. A Chinese saying purports too much of a good thing can become a bad thing: "Wu ji be fan". The best government system in ancient history caused its own downfall. When the masses held the power to choose, it resulted in a misinformed choice. On the other hand, when a tyrant holds the power, the government becomes oppressive and abusive. Neither is perfect, and both can be dysfunctional. These individuals have shown us that finding a perfect balance in anything is an ongoing trajectory of trial and error. We may never reach perfection, but with each change we move a little bit closer.
Governing has never been an easy task during the times of ancient Athens and Sparta. Both equally were ahead of their time by giving their people an actual voice and weight when making decisions. Unfortunately, neither of these civilizations lasted the great length of time.
Raaflaub, Kurt A., and Josiah Ober. Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
Socrates and Plato were some of the world’s most famous philosophers. Yet, they caused much trouble in the midst of their philosophizing. These philosophers, in the view of the political elites, were threatening the Athenian democracy with their philosophy. But why did they go against the status quo? What was their point in causing all of this turmoil? Plato and Socrates threatened the democracy as a wake-up call. They wanted the citizens to be active thinkers and improve society. This manifested itself in three main ways: Socrates’ life, his student Plato’s life, and their legacy in our modern age.