Philosophy as
demonstrated in Ancient Chinese Philosophy by Confucius is self-cultivation. This is seen in the way he lays down the
assumptions of the solution to the philosophical problem. Since this cultivation involves the “self”, it
involves the individual. The individual
is the solution. It gives the emphasis that
it is the individual himself that can solve the philosophical problem of
disunity and disharmony. This individual
solves this “philosophical” problem by his involvement in the learning process,
or his self-cultivation.
This is
justified with the four assumptions that Confucius presented in order to resolve
the philosophical problem of the lack of harmony and unity that is represented
by the issues of social disorder and incorrect use of names.
These
assumptions are applications of self-cultivation in the sense of the
socio-moral way, the sense of tradition, the sense of basic intelligence and
goodness, and the sense of the “chun tzu”. All of these assumptions justify the premise
of the Confucian philosophy. This is
because of the emphasis on the individual, in the terms of exhausting himself
in learning. He learns what is the
ethical way of doing things by the sense of socio-moral way. He learns how to appreciate these ethical
ways by the sense of tradition. He
learns to think in an appropriate way in the sense of basic intelligence and
goodness. He learns the possible
applications of these ethical and appropriate ways in the sense of the “chun tzu”. In these assumptions, it can be observed that
it gives focus on the individual doing the learning.
It is only in learning
by the self through the individual’s experiences and observations that can make
harmony and unity possible. Fung Yu-Lan,
in his book, A Short History of Chinese
Philosophy, he states “It was his business to school himself continually
and persistently to that pure experience in which selfishness and egocentricity
where transcended, so that he would be one with the universe.” 1
What Yu-Lan
tries to say is that it is only from one’s observations, experiences, and
immediate understanding that he can learn.
This is what he meant by his phrase “he would be one with the
universe”. Learning by one’s self is the solution which
immediate understanding can give. This
cannot be done by anyone else but his self alone. This is
where the working out of the problem begins. This is what Confucius tries to point out in
his assumptions to the philosophical problem of the absence of social harmony and
the incorrect use of names, which immediate apprehension can lead one to. This is the meaning of the individual being
the solution.
Philosophy for
the Ancient Chinese is self-cultivation.
This is shown in the way Confucius lays down the assumptions of the
solution to the philosophical problem, which is the sense of the socio-moral
way, the sense of tradition, the sense of basic intelligence and goodness, and
the sense of the “chun tzu”. The notion of self-cultivation is justified in
the emphasis of the individual that is doing the learning. The
very idea of the “self” in the concept of “self-cultivation” gives that needed
emphasis on the individual which Confucius assumes to be the one that can resolve
the loss of harmony and order in the state.
It makes the individual realize that he is not there to point things out
or to ridicule what is wrong. Self-cultivation makes the individual realize
that he can do something about the problems he is pointing out. The fact that he can identify these problems
only mean that he knows what must be done in order to correct these
problems. He realizes in his
self-cultivation that the solution, therefore, must first start within the
self.
Self-cultivation
involves reflective thinking in relation to one’s life. It is in this notion which makes self-cultivation
or learning, philosophical. Self-cultivation
is the simple solution that one can gain from the immediate understanding of
things.
The common
problem of in the world today is that people know what the problems that are
plaguing the society. Examples of these
are corruption, murder, and every selfish crime that is ever known to man. People
are aware of it. Newspapers, television,
radios, and even the Internet shout out propagandas against these crimes. In
educational institutions, these crimes are given attention in school-sponsored
symposia. Yes, people can pinpoint the
problems or corruption with too much greed in some government officials. The problem in here is that it is all about
pointing out what is wrong and not learning from this thinking. All
observations and realizations from immediate apprehension are useless if the
individual cannot recognize himself as the key to resolve these problems. It is
only in one’s self that he can change things.
It is only in one’s self that values are realized. This step must first start from one’s self,
before it can manifest outside of his personal sphere. This head start in resolving the chaos is the
realization of one as the vehicle to manifest the solution.
As a Philosophy student, we are presented with
different types of thinking patterns and unique ideas mapped back from the
ancient times up to the present. It is
undeniable that these ideas open our eyes to the reality we are ignorant with
before the start of the course. It opens
our eyes to a way of reasoning, which influences our actions and our way of
thinking. It can help us think about
the purpose of our daily intellectual discussions. It can help us mold our writing and speaking
skills. All the readings, paper works,
and recitations concerning Philosophy can help us speak about injustices in the
school system, and even in the ongoing political conflicts in the Internet. It
can help us comprehend as to what is wrong with everything that we can
grasp. It can aid us in debating for human rights
and writing essays about a corrupt government.
The point is that the ideas being introduced into our lives aid us in
identifying the problems that are still inherent in such a modern generation.
In the case of studying Chinese Philosophy, a student
in this course is provided with a set of principles which gives emphasis on the
moral way of living. It gives a Chinese
Philosophy student an idea of the problem of the state, which is the disorder
and chaos caused by one’s selfish actions and apathetic attitude towards his
obligations in his life and his community.
With these ideas he can point out
the problems in his own home and in his community, such as government officials
being too selfish and lack of respect for parents or siblings.
These realizations, however, must not be taken for
granted. Instead, the proper thing to do
as a Chinese Philosophy student is that he must use this realization to
discover that all of these revelations go back to him. He
must use this realization as the marker that in the end, the identification of
what to solve is not the only thing that is important. The other important thing is the one
identifying the problem, who plays a big part in solving it. A Chinese Philosophy student must realize
that all of these lessons about propriety, self-cultivation, and many other
Confucian values are signals for him to see that it needed him to start the
solution after pointing out what the problem is. He must use it to take a step back and see
that all of these lessons are preparing him in solving the simple
manifestations of disorder and disharmony in his life like failing grades, required
paper works, and cumbersome projects.
A Chinese Philosophy student then must think that
every lesson in the class makes them see that his school problems are
manifestations of their failure to promote harmony and unity in his life, which
in turn makes him realize that complaining about these problems will not
resolve it. Instead, he must treat every idea that each
lesson gives as a sign that all of his problems point back to him. All of the lessons he had been cracking his
brain up until now must be seen not as an answer to the question his professor
requires him to write on his paper. Rather, he must perceive it as something
which tells him about himself. He must
think of it as something which can affect his life, his way of living. He must perceive it as something which tells
him about what he is supposed to do with his life. He must look at the lessons and the readings
of the teachings of Confucius as something that can tell him that it is his
self that can solve the manifestations of disorder in his life, which is his
bad attitude in writing his paper. With
this realization, he can possibly have the potential to have new insights to
his paper, or even change his attitude towards his paper. All of these cannot be done if all that one
does is complain about how hard the papers are or how incomprehensible the
readings are. The point is that all of the information
learned by one is not given for the sake of pointing fingers or playing the
blame game. All of the lessons that one has stored in his
mind in the course of his academic life is not intended to only see the actions
of other people or of anything outside one’s self. It is
intended to see one’s self, one’s action.
Every lesson
or reading whether it is philosophical, for Philosophy majors or not, always had that notion of pointing back to
the individual reading it. It always points back to the individual learning
from it. This is observable in its
benefits that it can bring to the individual, may it be in terms of higher
intellectual understanding or more efficient work. All of
the knowledge points back to the individual, who is the solution in resolving
the problems of social disorder. The
individual is the solution for the problem because the nature of this problem
is man-made. The individual is the
solution for it is only in man’s hand that he can fix the problems made by the
hands of men before him.
As students,
learning was always about increasing one’s knowledge. It is a common notion for students to equate
knowledge with bulks of what one has read, when in fact it is in the deeper
understanding of it and its impact in one’s life which is true learning. This is the self-cultivation that Confucius
wishes to teach to each one of us, which he introduces in the concept of the
Tao or the Way. The learning that we
know centers on knowledge, but the learning Confucius wishes us to follow is in
accordance with the Tao, in which we can elevate our minds and realize what is
ought to be done. What he means was the
practice of virtue.
This realization, however, is not exclusive to
Philosophy students or in the subject of Chinese Philosophy. It encompasses all people, whether they are educated
or not, young or old, student or employee.
It is in this realization that the beginning of the solution to the
ongoing problem about social discord will soon come into place. Learning and its fruits give one instruments
to practice what is good, avoid what is evil and live in harmony with others.
Source:
1. Fung Yu-Lan, “The Spirit of
Chinese Philosophy”, (New York: The Free Press, 1948), In A Short History of Chinese Philosophy,10.
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