Robert LaFleur, a history and anthropology professor, delves into the wisdom of Confucius and the concept of the Confucian gentleman. He emphasizes the essential traits for leadership, the interplay between personal virtues and familial duties, and the significance of 'consummate conduct.' LaFleur discusses the importance of 'all-in' learning for personal growth, the complexities of filial piety, and remonstrance as a critique of hierarchical dynamics. He highlights how rituals and social gatherings can enrich lives and foster community.
52:19
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
menu_book Books
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Confucius in Western Philosophy
Confucius is less discussed in Western philosophy, possibly due to differing approaches to reading his work.
The Analects require a different reading approach than Western philosophical texts.
insights INSIGHT
Confucius's Era
Confucius lived during China's Spring and Autumn period (551-479 BCE), a time of increasing social and political turmoil.
He believed that societal breakdown stemmed from families usurping privileges and escalating warfare.
insights INSIGHT
Contemporaries of Confucius
Confucius lived around the same time as Plato and Aristotle.
Both Eastern and Western philosophies emerged during periods of political and social upheaval.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
The Analects is a collection of sayings and ideas attributed to the Chinese philosopher Confucius and his contemporaries. It offers insights into Confucian ethics, politics, and social life. The text emphasizes the importance of moral cultivation, ritual propriety, and the cultivation of virtues like ren (benevolence) and yi (righteousness). It's a foundational text for understanding Confucian thought and its influence on Chinese culture and beyond. The Analects' aphoristic style and focus on practical wisdom have made it a significant work in both Eastern and Western philosophical traditions.
The Sociological Imagination
C. Wright Mills
In this book, C. Wright Mills develops the concept of the 'sociological imagination,' which is the ability to see the connections between personal experiences and the wider social and historical forces. Mills critiques the dominant schools of sociology of his time, particularly 'grand theory' and 'abstract empiricism,' and argues for a sociology that is grounded in the real problems of the world. He emphasizes the importance of understanding power relations, historical realities, and comparative social structures, and warns against the bureaucratization of social science research. The book is a call for sociologists to engage in a more humanistic and problem-solving oriented approach to their discipline.
Confucius--the secular as sacred
Herbert Fingarette
Herbert Fingarette's *Confucius: The Secular as Sacred* is a seminal work that explores Confucian thought by highlighting the sacred aspects of everyday human interactions. Published decades ago, it remains influential in Chinese and comparative philosophy, offering insights into Confucius' teachings on human relationships and societal ethics. The book invites readers to reconsider what makes life meaningful by examining the *Analects* and applying its principles to contemporary life.
From Text to Action
Essays in Hermeneutics, II
Paul Ricoeur
In *From Text to Action*, Paul Ricoeur continues and extends his project of constructing a general theory of interpretation, positioning his work in relation to its philosophical background and contemporary figures. The book is an essential companion to *The Conflict of Interpretations*, exploring themes of hermeneutics and philosophical anthropology.
When you think about the word "gentleman," you probably think about the kind of well-mannered, well-educated, civil, virtuous, self-controlled fellows who lived in England and America during the 19th century.
But there was also a not-entirely-dissimilar conception of the gentleman that grew out of the East, though it arose quite a bit longer ago. This gentleman was described by the Chinese philosopher Confucius in a text called the Analects, which my guest says might be thought of as a 2,500-year-old set of advice columns for those who aspire to be exemplary individuals. His name is Robert LaFleur, and he's a professor of history and anthropology and the lecturer of the Great Courses course, Books That Matter: The Analects of Confucius. Today on the show Robert talks about how the Analects are all about learning to rule, and that Confucius believed that you couldn't lead a state, without being able to lead your family, and you couldn't lead a family, without being able to lead yourself. Robert argues that the Analects teach the reader how to integrate the kind of character traits and relational skills that are required to "get good at life," and how this aptitude centrally rests on living with a quality called "consummate conduct." Robert discusses the importance of what he calls "all-in" learning to the Confucian gentleman, the nuance to the idea of filial piety that Westerners typically miss, and the often overlooked check on this hierarchical dynamic called "remonstrance." We end our conversation with why Confucius so heavily emphasized the importance of ritual, and how rituals hold a transformative power that can allow you to become something bigger than yourself.
The translations of the Analects that Robert recommends (he's currently working on his own):
Ames and Rosemont ("All of the translations have something to offer, but I think that the Ames and Rosemont translation brings out more of the social connections in the text than many of the others.")
Annping Chin ("Having said that, the newer Penguin translation by Annping Chin is also very good.")
The Art of Manliness 
