Confucianism

Confucianism
Confucius (551-479 BCE) believed in a government ruled by virtue, rather than a government ruled by punishments and laws. He lived during a time of political and social disintegration and also the immense downfall of morality. Rulers by virtue had been an inspiration to rulers of the past. “His philosophy is about humans and their society instead of nature or knowledge of nature… He regarded the human community as the source of human and social values.” (AP page 271). Confucius’s way of thinking is often times noted as “social humanism.”
Confucius was convinced, although it seemed very idealistic, that society’s well-being relied on the development and exemplification of jen (humanity). by the rulers. “The way of greater learning lies in keeping one’s inborn luminous Virtue unobscured, in renewing the people, and in coming to rest in perfect goodness… when the national life is orderly, then there is peace in this world.” (AP pages 276-277)...