Compare Confucius's Ideas On The Government Of Common People Realistic And Idealism

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Are Confucius’s ideas on the government of common people realistic or idealistic?
Confucius’s ideas are idealistic because it would be nice for a government to be run on the basis of his ideas, but it is nearly impossible. In order for Confucius’s ideas to work a ruler would have to be basically perfect, and perfection is unachievable. To begin, Confucius believes it is not necessary to inflict killing as a punishment. If a ruler is of good moral value, then the people will follow his lead and punishments will not be necessary. However, having rulers of good moral value does not equal having people of good moral value. Not everyone is a good person, and being governed or surrounded by good people will not make them better. Additionally, for …show more content…

For one thing, it is hard to know what is morally right in certain situations. Also, what is morally right is left up to an individual. Everyone has different definitions of what is moral. So, a ruler could make a decision that is morally right in his eyes, but morally wrong in the eyes of others. It is impossible to make a decision that would be morally right in everyone’s eyes. Even more, it would be impossible to find of ruler who fits everyone’s definition of morally right. What is morally right is left up to interpretation, and this is a significant reason why Confucius’s ideas are idealistic. To continue, his ideas also state that when a ruler feels he can no longer govern right, he should retire. Sometimes people do not even realize they are wrong because they are right in their own eyes. So, a ruler who is doing wrong may never come to the conclusion that he should retire. Even if rulers did come to this conclusion, rulers would be retiring frequently. A ruler may feel as soon as he makes one mistake he should retire. People make mistakes all the time, and one mistake should not be end of a ruler’s reign, unless it is detrimental. All in

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