Synthesis Paper 1.A Revised

What is Philosophy as demonstrated in Ancient Chinese Philosophy by Confucius in the way he perceives the philosophical problem?

The Philosophy that Confucius demonstrated in the way he perceives the natural problem is correcting the ways of humanity through redirecting them to the natural ways in accordance to humanity. This is to say that Confucius is trying to remind the people that the ways in which they live is anchored to things that aren’t anymore right for the rest of the race. Meaning, the ways of the people are based on the self and not of humanity.

At the start of this topic, Confucius has been pushing and insisting that there really is a problem in the society since, as stated in Analect 3:24, he is not anymore sitting in any position which is not right because he is a noble man. In their tradition, the noble man is the one who is suited to be sitting in the office because of his proper education on how to be a public servant. Another problem that occurred is that the peasants have been working hard yet they receive little amount as salary and they remain poor while the noble man gets even richer. Lastly, the people are starting to doubt if the ancestors can really bless the living. This uncertainty is because of the people’s observation of their political system wherein the people are only assuming office because of power and not because of public service.

Confucius identified the problem as social disorder rooted in the incorrect use of names. In this part, it can be understood that Confucius is really up for changing the ways of the people and would really like to bring them back to the ways of humanity.  As stated in the Analects, the world is facing problems in the world because the leaders that are seated in throne are not suited in the position. They just got the position because of some ancestral passage. Because of this system, the ones who deserve to be in office are not given any position. One reason for this is that sometimes they don’t have a rich or influential ancestry.

In this example, it can be seen that there is really a problem in the society and that the root cause is the incorrect use of names. As stated above, the political power comes from the rich and influential lineage. Because of this, some officers do not deserve occupying the office. These officers have used the office for some other purposes like the greed of power instead of public service. They kill other aspiring people and replace them, with whoever they want. This illustration is clearly an example of incorrect use of name. The officers were not able to stand and live their name as public officers. They are use the office for some other reasons.

According to Confucius, the incorrect use of names will result to problems like a noble man being out of office, a peasant that still has nothing and the people who doubts their ancestors’ capacity. The incorrect use of names was the root cause of the social disorder because people have no idea about what their words may mean. The names must stand their names for the names and the things have a connection within them that gives meaning. The relationship between the name and the thing makes it whole and asserts its existence and significance.  If people use names and don’t know their proper meanings, it will create confusion in them and thus result to disorder. The disorder will only lead them away from the truth of the thing.

The same thing will happen if people do not know the meaning of their names. If they do not know the connection between them and their names, they will be led far from the truth of their existence and significance. When one is given a name, one has to exercise it. Meaning one has to live up the name assigned to him. When one is tasked to be a politician, he must know what it is to be a politician. He must know that occupying a public office is for public service and that whatever he does is always for the betterment of the people and not of his self. He is trusted to be in that position because of his ancestral lineage and he must learn to live with it. Because of his education, he has the right to be seated in office, thus he must learn to be rightful in the said position.

Therefore, the Philosophy that Confucius demonstrated in the way he perceives the natural problem is correcting the ways of humanity through redirecting them to the natural ways in accordance to humanity.  He wanted people to correct their usage of names so that it would lead them to knowing the things that are ought to be known and done. The proper names will tell the people of what the things and the titles to people mean, thus will guide them in the proper way of living and dealing things. By the proper names exercised, the problem and the solution to this problem would be much clearer. With this, the social disorder can be minimized or stopped.