The teaching of Confucius, one of the doctrines built Chinese philosophy, is the movement of thought that has penetrated politics, education, manners and customs in East Asia for centuries. Reading the principles that advise wisdom and virtue through classical texts, we can find out normative moral knowledge. This teaching, in which ethical standards guiding human relations are regulative, promotes hierarchy as required by patriarchal and patrimonial regime. Social structure is grounded on discrimination between nobles and commons. Since the rights and (...) privileges granted to the aristocracy and bureaucracy humiliate citizens and force compliance, social inequality becomes obvious. Just as Confucius cites the idea of spiritual supremacy of rulers, he also bestows a privilege upon the noble class due to their eligibility. It is the people who are actively industrious in serve, deference and obedience. The problem of nepotism, which favors the closer and excludes the farther in relational words and actions, extends all areas from familial to managerial. Consequently, justice, the main canon of virtue, has been disregarded. In this paper, it firstly will be argued that Confucius practices hypocrisy by his paradoxical statements about behavioral norms. Secondly, positional duties, which subjugate people for the interests of the dynasty, does not correspond to liberal humanism, will be confirmed. (shrink)

Çin anakarasında yirminci yüzyılın başları; dilden edebiyata, geleneksel düşünceden eğitim sistemine ve hatta siyasal rejime dek pek çok alanda modernleşmeye gidilen süreci kapsar. Kültürel çaptaki bu yenilikçi hareketler arasında; antik çağa tarihlenen, Konfuçyüs (MÖ 479-551) tarafından ilkeleştirilen ve Mengzi’nın (MÖ 372-289) insan doğası görüşü sayesinde geniş kitlelerce benimsenen düşünce akımının “Yeni Konfuçyanizm” adı altında kurulması oldukça mühimdir. Konfuçyüs’ün normatif ahlak anlayışının aksine bu yeni akım, Mengzi’nın doğuştancı kuramına daha yakın durmaktadır. Yeni Konfuçyanizm’in temellerini atan Xiong Shili (1885-1968), Mengzi öğretisinde okunabilen (...) ve akılkalp ilgileşimi karşılığını verebilen “benlik” kavramını merkeze alır. Akımın sonraki temsilcilerinden Mou Zongsan (1909-1995) ise, gerek akıl-kalp ilgileşimine gerekse benliğin beslenmesine getirdiği çarpıcı yorumlarıyla dönemin en etkili fikir adamı olarak dikkatleri üzerine çekmektedir. Mou felsefesi; Mengzi’nın bütünleşik kabul ettiği bilişsel ve duyuşsal süreçleri tamamen farklı aşamalarda açıklayan, bu aşamaları benliğin iki katmanlı yapısıyla eşleştiren ve varoluşsal özü insan doğasının özüne özdeş sayan bazı varsayımsal yargılar içermektedir. Bu çalışmada, Mou felsefesinin onto-kozmolojik yaklaşımından hareketle benlik algısının nasıllığı incelenecek; doğuştan var olduğu farzındaki bilginin ve erdemin özümsenmesinde bilişsel farkındalığa karşı çıkan önermenin ayrıntıları analiz edilecektir. (shrink)

The three great sovereigns of ancient Chinese history, which have subsumed almost nine centuries before Common Era, referred to Xia (2070-1600 BC), Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou (1046- 256 BC) dynasties. The people of Shang, who represented the transition from a primitive to a civilized continuum with the invention of writing, were exposed to social stratification due to the self-interests of courtiers indulging in superstitions, relying on prophecy and necromancy. As a result of this stratification, the first examples of class (...) discrimination and hierarchical organization that divided national subjects into ranks, bestowing a privilege on the noble class, occurred. The Shang period has been implied as a process that, on one hand, continued the tradition of ancestral cults initiated by the Xia family, who founded the first official dynasty, but, on the other hand, humiliated the people in terms of status since the rulers who ascended the throne equated themselves with a divine power. The fact that the Shang rulers appropriated the rituals which took place under the name of deference during the Xia period escalated the belief of ancestral spirits’ belonging to heaven into another belief. Thus, the enslavement of those who did not belong to noble blood by forcing them into obedience to the dynasty has revealed an issue that should not be ignored. The Shang rulers, who divided the national subjects outside the noble class considering their mission, position, profession, and demotion, also classified the slaves in the service of the dynasty considering punishments, rules, and sanctions that they determined. Despite this truth, divergences among Chinese researchers underlie the dichotomy whether slavery existed in China. But if the classical texts are examined in detail, it can be sort out that slavery became prevalent in the Shang period and the dynasty was destroyed owing to the tyrannical governance policy of the rulers. In this study, it will be argued that slavery was experienced in early China society based on the idea of private property by discussing class discrimination and hierarchical organization leading Chinese bureaucracy. (shrink)

Theoretical arguments about the normative tendencies of human beings hold an important place within the context of Chinese philosophy, which began to be formed foundations by the intellectual and cultural developments corresponding to the five centuries BC. Traditional thought in China that synthesizes the earthly and unearthly phenomenon, exemplifies the correlation between moral tendencies and natural changes through the argumental doctrines of collected ideas on human nature and existence. Approaches based on this correlation include a variety of opinions regarding good (...) and bad tendencies of human being by different schools of thought and indicate methodological differences in ideal pattern of behavior. Four great movements of thought, emerged in the process referred as golden age of Chinese philosophy, share common purpose to rebuild sociopolitical order but disagree on acquisition of human knowledge and virtue. One of the main issues originates the debate in question is that moral disposition is innate or acquired and whether the motive to know right from wrong is discovered through learning. And so, there occurs some divergences concerning the methods by which secular actions should be formulated. This study aims to reveal reasons of the divergence among Chinese philosophers of early period concerning the norms of actual attitudes attributed to the process of cognitional and behavioral development, associated with their interpretations on Dao, heaven, earth and man. (shrink)