Synthesis Paper 1.C

What is Philosophy as demonstrated in Ancient Chinese Philosophy by Confucius in the way he characterizes the ideal human being?

Confucius identified a problem in the society which is the social disorder rooted in the incorrect use of names. Confucius said that the solution to this problem is that the noble man must be educated to the things that would help him in identifying and solving the problems. The noble man must consist the following virtues. Human-heartedness, a man must act according to and for humanity. It is where a man must know humanity to be fully human and be able to serve humanity. In order to achieve this, he must be with other people. The man does not live on his own but lives with other people and builds relationship with them. He respects his position in the society and does not boast of whatever he has achieved. A man of humanity is not selfish. He cultivates himself as well as he cultivates the others but he does not make them dependent on him. Another characteristic of a human-hearted person is he understands each ones view. The man of humanity weighs down each possibility and does not make quick judgments but when he do, he stands for it. A man of humanity does everything he believes and says. Next, Righteousness. A noble man does everything right. He is honest in his intentions meaning he do things also for the welfare of the other and not just for the self, he is not pretentious in doing his works meaning he is doing things because he has a clear intention and purpose, and he is fair meaning he judges according to rightness and not kinship. Next is Propriety.The noble man knows how to respect proper rituals and knows how to act properly in accordance to the society's standards. A man of propriety knows how to be proper even in the smallest details and he sticks to standard norms. When a man is a man of propriety, he knows what to act  and when to act it. Because of this, the man allows harmony between the people in the society and to the society itself. Lastly, Knowledge. A noble man must learn his self, his strengths and weaknesses, to be fully human. When the man accomplishes this, he then tries to know the world and other human beings. When he already knows something, he then evaluates it. Those learnings which will be helpful to him will be then acted by the man. The completion of the knowledge relies on the action the man will do after knowing them. Knowing is essential in dealing other people. The knowledge that the man has will help him in sensing other people's intentions. This will help him warn himself if the other is being inhuman.

Based on the characteristics of an ideal human being, which is to be a noble man, Confucius' philosophy can be seen as developing a person which can be of use to the society. The person is to have the virtues mentioned above in order to fulfill the obligation and role he is tasked to do. It is basically to form a man responsible to carry all his duties and responsibilities to contribute in the formation of harmony in the society. Confucius' philosophy is to create a perfect society that is united in doing all things that are based on the moral principles. Confucius stated that the a man must follow the standard norms of the society which he stated to be morally inclined. That following those is right. The standards are basically made to let people know what is perceived to be right and wrong, thus if people are to observe this, then there is harmony in the society. His philosophy is concerned in creating harmony despite the differences that is why he said that a noble man is to have the above mentioned characteristics. He formulated this because he believe that a noble man must be good and upright and being a noble man, following everything said, will contribute in the formation of harmony in the society.

The characteristics mentioned should be the characteristics of a noble man in order to be a man of humanity, a man which lives for the cultivation of his self and for the others. Through his unselfishness, he creates peace between him and the others, thus he contributes in bringing harmony to the society.