Submitted by: Submitted by fanky5
Views: 96
Words: 601
Pages: 3
Category: Spirituality
Date Submitted: 02/25/2014 06:00 PM
The Ideal Person
Betty Fankhauser
Rel/133
Part 2 The Ideal Person
When looking at the ideal person through the eyes of Confucius, he believed that the human being could respond to kindness and good example. According to Confucianism the perfect person or the ideal person is the junzi or noble person. The junzi is the person who shows humanity at its best. In such a noble human being the Confucian ideals have been inculcated since childhood, and the virtue have been practiced for so long that the whole Confucian manner of relating to the world has become completely natural (Molloy, 2010).
The virtues that Confucius considered to make the ideal person consisted of largely social virtues and individual uniqueness. Confucius also thought that the ideal person should be expected to be muted, subtle, and considerate of all things. When looking at the virtues that Confucius considered, the ren, li, shu, xiao, and wen are all found. These five virtues emphasize harmony between people, not some type of conformity.
The virtue of ren can be defined as, to think of the other. It can be translated in many different ways as meaning kindness, empathy, consideration, or even thoughtfulness. According to Confucius, for one to show ren, following social conventions was an important way to do so. It is said that underlying all of these social conventions is considerateness. The next virtue is that of li. When translated it has the meaning of doing what is right or appropriate in the given situation. It also means that an individual should know the proper words and how to act in the social life. When one has the virtue of li, or good manners, it is putting ren into practice.
The next virtue that Confucius thought to be important is that of shu. It is also known of the Silver Rule. This Silver Rule is stated in negative terms when compared with the Golden Rule. This virtue also implies that obligations entailed by relationships are mutually binding (Molloy, 2010). The...