The Moral Role of the Government and Meditation as a Conflict Resolution Tool

What did you do for Ancient Chinese Philosophy today?

Today, I read a little article entitled "The Perfectibility of Man and the Moral Role of the Government" and ended up comparing the government and government officials of the Confucian thought and the government and government officials of the Philippines.

What idea did you encounter that turned out meaningful?

In the said article, it first introduced the Confucian thought which is the perfectibility of man and how it can be achieved. The perfectibility of man has a great impact in setting a good example especially when one is sitting in a government office. It is said that government official's primary function is to educate and transform the people. This education and transformation of the people are towards becoming a "perfect man". In the Confucian state, the degree of morality was the test in which one person can be chosen in one office. Since the Confucian state is a moral state, then an official is said to resolve a problem or conflict through the means of meditation and not just application of rules that tells whether something is good or bad (according to the Confucian Political Theory). This kind of system does not let the people solely rely on their human intelligence rather it teaches them to seek enlightenment to the most powerful one.

The Confucian political system is a good type of political system since it recognizes that there is one being higher than man that is more powerful than the people running it, yet it is a bad type of political system since it rely solely on that supreme being letting the being enlighten them in resolving such problems or conflicts. The problem in the meditation and enlightenment is that no one can really be sure if that official has the right and exact solution to the problem. An example problem would be that a nearby city will be conquering my city and the general said that he was enlightened through his meditation that in this mountain, it would be the most strategic technique to kill the enemy since you can see all of them coming. Now if the soldiers obey the general, how sure are them that the general is really after their safety? What if the enemy will pass on the back of their position point? So clearly, meditation has a negative impact on the Confucian political system thus making the system itself have a negative impact on the society.

Another reason why the Confucian political system is a good system is that they choose their leaders according to their moral qualities. For me, the moral qualities of a person cannot be faked for the sake of winning one government office because the real sense of the self will prevail in the course of time. If the moral qualities would be the standard in choosing a government official, then it will be assured that he/she would be for the betterment of the society since the moral attitude cannot be faked. In the regards to the political system of the Philippines, choosing political leaders are based on the popularity of these candidates making the people not see if he/she has the capacity to rule and govern the people properly and to not desire self interest. So, the way of Confucian political system choose their leaders is a good way making the system good.

Source:http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1000bce_confucius_intro.htm