Laozi And Confucius Essay

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Philosophers have attempted to answer the question of how one can best govern people for centuries. Whenever a society is engulfed by turmoil and corruption, philosophers try to figure out ways to fix the problems that they are facing. They offer ideas that they believe can help society recover from its past, and come up with new ways to establish a state of virtue. Confucius, a philosopher of the Autumn and Spring Period of Chinese history whose ideas are compiled within the Analects, describes the importance of individual and governmental morality, social and family relationships, and sincere behavior. Another philosopher from ancient China, Laozi, is regarded as the author of the Daodejing; which emphasizes naturalness, simplicity, detachment from desires, and the notion of wu wei, or non-action. Confucius …show more content…

If more laws are in place, that only allows the people to find more ways to break those laws. Confucius and Laozi seem to concur on that aspect of the role of government. However, a key difference is embedded in wei; which refers to the interference of authority. If people are to behave according to wu-wei, they are acting naturally; and by conducting themselves in such a manner, order will arise spontaneously, without the need for a known leader. Laozi states that people should “Act, but through nonaction” (Laozi 63). If people force themselves to act in certain ways, such as the ways of those whom Confucius would say are their leaders, then they are acting in a manner that is unnatural. However, if people practice the concept of wu-wei with sincerity, then their behavior is spontaneous and effortless; just as water flows naturally around objects that are in its

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