Arguments Against Confucianism

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Chinese philosopher K’ung Fu-tzu, better known in the Western world of today as Confucius, envisioned and promoted a way of living 2500 years ago known as Confucianism. The first of two driving components to Confucianism is jen (pronounced wren). This is basically adherence to being good-natured and benevolent. The second component, which is in part dependent on the first, is li (pronounced lee). Li is a guide to conduct that directly supports the ideas of jen. There is much debate as to whether Confucianism should be considered a religion, a philosophy, or simply a choice of how to live. Each category has many proponents and many opponents.
Many people consider Confucianism to be one of the major religions of China. They also consider it to have a stronghold in Japan. The question is whether or not a large group of people choosing to live by a set of guidelines qualifies as a religion. A frequently presented argument against Confucianism being a religion is that it contains no deities and no ceremonial worship. If this is the rubric that is to be used, then it becomes much more difficult to consider it a religion compared to a philosophy. …show more content…

One of the points at issue in this sense is whether men and women are inherently good, inherently evil, or a mixture of both. The answer to this would certainly influence the way that Confucians approach situations from day to day. Take, for example, an argument that arises between two people. Wong points out that the spirit of Confucianism would try to avoid if not eradicate such discordant issues. From a realistic standpoint, however, such disagreements are unavoidable and should be met with compromise. Enter the need for the idea of

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